Life As We Know It

infobox television
show_name = Life As We Know It


caption =
format = Drama
runtime = approx. 59 minutes
opentheme = "Sooner or Later" by Michael Tolcher
creator = Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah
starring = Sean Faris
Jon Foster
Chris Lowell
Missy Peregrym
Jessica Lucas
Kelly Osbourne
Lisa Darr
D. B. Sweeney
Marguerite Moreau
country = USA
network = ABC
first_aired = October 7, 2004
last_aired = January 20, 2005
num_seasons = 1
num_episodes = 13
imdb_id = 0411004|

"Life As We Know It" is an American television drama on the ABC network during the 2004-2005 season. It was created by Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah. The series was based on the novel "Doing It" by British writer Melvin Burgess.

Plot

Set at Woodrow Wilson High School in Seattle, Washington, "Life As We Know It"s lead was Dino Whitman (Sean Faris), a star ice hockey player. He had an uneasy relationship with his girlfriend, Jackie Bradford (Missy Peregrym), a soccer player. Jackie's best friend was Sue Miller (Jessica Lucas), a very competitive academic star. His best friends were Ben Connor (Jon Foster), who was carrying on an affair with a teacher, Monica Young (Marguerite Moreau); and Jonathan Fields (Chris Lowell), a nervous soul, especially about his girlfriend, Deborah Tynan (Kelly Osbourne). Jonathan was made even more nervous by Deborah's mother Mia (Sarah Strange), a nurse, sitting him down for a frank and graphic discussion about sex and its consequences.

Dino's parents' marriage fell apart after his mother had an affair with his hockey coach. His father, Michael, was played by D. B. Sweeney and his mother, Annie, was played by Lisa Darr. Coach Dave Scott was played by Martin Cummins.

Episodes

# "Pilot"
# "Pilot Junior"
# "The Best Laid Plans"
# "Partly Cloudy, With A Chance of Sex"
# "Secrets & Lies"
# "Natural Disasters"
# "With a Kiss, I Die"
# "Family Hard-Ships"
# "A Little Problem"
# "Breaking Away"
# "You Must Be Trippin'"
# "Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Junk"
# "Papa Wheelie"

Character asiding

The show broke the fourth wall by having characters step out of the scene--which proceeded behind them in slow motion--and directly address the camera.

Critical acclaims

"Variety" called it "a sly, sweet look at high school . . . so good that you immediately make room on your shelf for the cult-fave DVD because you know this is the kind of show that gets cancelled after five episodes."

Filming locations

The show was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia and Seattle, Washington by Sachs-Judah Productions and (ca)bloom!, in association with Touchstone Television, a corporate sibling of ABC, both owned by The Walt Disney Company. The school used for exterior shots, possibly interior as well, is Point Grey Secondary School in Vancouver.

Cancellation

"Life As We Know It" originally aired on Thursdays from 9 to 10 P.M., premiering on October 7, 2004. Pulled during November sweeps, the show was rerun on MTV to good ratings in November and December 2004 but ultimately was cancelled by ABC. The series, including two previously unaired episodes, was released on DVD in the United States in 2005. "Life" aired abroad after its American cancellation.

In Brazil the show aired on Sony Entertainment Television during 2005 at 7:00pm Tuesdays. In New Zealand, the show premiered in December 2005 on TV2, scheduled against "America's Next Top Model". It replaced "Veronica Mars", another American import, but was rescheduled after four episodes because of poor ratings. The remaining episodes were rescheduled from their prime-time slot (7:30pm Friday) to midnight Saturday, then pushed back after midnight as the season progressed. The final two episodes were played in reverse order. TV2 repeated the series from the beginning during the third quarter of 2006, just after midnight Thursdays, but again played the final two episodes in reverse order.

"Life" was also shown in the Philippines in the free cable channel Studio 23. While there were reruns after the initial showing, the two DVD episodes weren't released. In Portugal it is shown on SIC Radical cable channel and is popular among teenagers and young adults. In Hong Kong, it is shown on TVB Pearl and in Asia, it is shown on STAR World.

"Life" was also shown in South Africa on M-Net (DStv Channel 101), a subscription funded channel. The show was broadcast in prime-time and was popular. When the series 'ran out', M-Net received a large number of complaints from subscribers on their internet forums. Subsequently, the show was replayed in an 11:00am morning slot in early 2006. "Life" was also broadcast in 2005 on the M-Net Series channel (DStv Channel 104), a channel which is part of the DStv offering. This channel is broadcast via satellite to sub-Saharan Africa.

In Norway the show started airing in August 2006, but was cancelled after eight episodes. In December 2006 (the beginning of the summer non-ratings period), the show began airing in Australia on the Seven Network at 10:30pm Tuesday nights. The show was also sold to FOX8, where it screened at 7:30pm Saturdays. In Ireland RTE2 showed two episodes every Monday (approximately 2:30am) from mid-January 2007.

It was also broadcast in India in the 2007 fall season on the subscription channel Star World, where it ran all the episodes except the two bonus dvd ones. It is being rerun in india in the same channel in the 5:30-6:30 time slot.

"Life" was broadcast from January to March 2005 on Living TV in the UK. The series has since been rerun on Living's sister channel Trouble.

DVD Release

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (formerly Buena Vista Home Entertainment) released the complete series on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time on August 23, 2005 . It included all 13 episodes, 2 of which were unaired, on 3 discs. Bonus features included audio commentaries, deleted scenes, outtakes, and the producer's photo gallery.

Trivia

*Characters Greta and Zoe are named after the executive producers' dogs, Greta and Zoe.
*Sean Faris and Martin Cummins also appeared together again on show "Reunion".
*Most of all scenes of the carnival are shot inside a Vancouver church.
*Missy Peregrym got the role as Jackie by commenting on Sean Faris who was wearing slippers during the audition read through.
*Before the end of the television season, Marguerite Moreau had a recurring role on FOX's "The O.C.", which had competed for viewers with "Life As We Know It" in the same timeslot in January.
*Dylan Baker had a freeze frame (pausing while a character is asiding) in one of the episodes. Most of the freeze frames are mostly done digitally, but Dylan actually did it by himself.
*The song 'A fond farewell' by Elliott Smith was featured in episode 11.
* 'The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot' by Brand New was featured in episode 10.
* Chris Lowell stars in Private Practice, which is a spin-off of Grey's Anatomy, the show that replaced Life As We Know It.

Characters

*Sean Faris as Dino Whitman
*Jon Foster as Ben Connor
*Chris Lowell as Jonathan Fields
*Missy Peregrym as Jackie Bradford
*Jessica Lucas as Sue Miller
*Kelly Osbourne as Deborah Tynan
*Lisa Darr as Annie Whitman
*D. B. Sweeney as Michael Whitman
*Marguerite Moreau as Monica Young
*Sarah Strange as Mia Tynan
*Martin Cummins as Coach Dave Scott
*Evan Smith as Max Whitman
*Jessica Harmon as Zoe
*Michaela Mann as Emma
*Samantha McLeod as Marissa Becker
*Nick Lashaway as Christopher "Topher" Flynn.

International Airdates

References

*Josef Adalian. "'Geeks' duo bonds with Touchstone". "Daily Variety". June 10, 2004.
*Josef Adalian. "ABC's new lease on 'Life'". "Daily Variety". December 8, 2004.
*Ann Donahue. Review of "Life As We Know It". "Daily Variety". October 6, 2004.
*Virginia Heffernan. "What (Sex) Boys (Sex) Think (Sex) About." "The New York Times". October 7, 2004.
*Matt Roush. "Down, Boys!". "TV Guide". October 10, 2004.
*Spain. "Diario adolescente". "Mtv". September 2007

External links

*imdb title|id=0411004|title=Life As We Know It
*cite web| url=http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/life-as-we-know-it/| title="Life As We Know It" recaps| publisher=Television Without Pity