Life Goes On

I couldn't wait to see this show every week. It was one of those things I was looking forward to every day of the week. If I had a bad day, I thought about the fact that the show would be coming on and my day would be better. A series that would make you laugh and cry, depending on the episode. Corky was my hero !!! The fact that he dealt with life the way he dealt with should be an example for everyone. You think you got a bad day ? Put yourself in Corky's shoes. Or his family's for that matter. Not too mention the fact I had a bit of a crush on Kellie Martin...... This is definitely one of those groundbreaking shows that I would watch again. We can all learn from this.

Life Goes On was a wonderful show. It never failed to make me cry or laugh. The relationships between the family were heartwarming. I wish it had run longer. I'll never forget the time that Corky rescued a pig and was hiding it in the house! I wish they'd do a reunion show.

I remember watching my first prime time drama at the age of six years old with my mother and younger brother. My mother was a huge fan of "Life Goes On", the show which focuses on the Thatcher Family. She somehow got me so interested in the show that it became the first program I watched on a regularl basis. The story revolves around the two parents who guide their wayward daughter Paige, the blossoming Becca, and Charles, or Corky, their first and only downs-syndrome child. The breakout star of the show became Kellie Martin, whose portrayal of Becca captured the hearts of many awe-struck spectators every Sunday night on ABC. Her first boyfriend, Tyler, dies in a car crash and her second boyfriend was HIV positive. Words (and especially not mine) can not do this show justice. The emotion is just to pure and real that you feel Becca's pain over Jesse and vice versa. It was an incredible show. ABC, of course cancelled it in it's fourth season. "Life Goes On" and "My So-Called Life" will always be my favorite dramas for the 90's and I suppose I will always hate ABC for cutting them down in their prime. You can check out re-runs of the show if you get PAX and see a very different (and blond) Kellie Martin scrubbing for surgery on ER.

When I saw Chris Burke's smiling face on the screen for the very first time, I knew that I was seeing a barrier being broken down. At last someone had gotten the great idea of portraying the life of the Developmentally Disabled on screen and the sacrifices that parents all over the world make daily to keep children in their families and try to give them as normal a life as possible.

The only thing that I didn't like as the series moved on was that it left the focus of life with Corky Thatcher to life with Becca Thatcher, portrayed by the more popular actor. It lost out on what could have been some very interesting story lines by doing that. The only thing that rather redeemed that switch was the storyline that dealt with Corky getting married.

Otherwise, the producers of this show are to be congratulated. Without this series there may not have been movies like "The Other Sister" or a hero for so many of the Developmentally Disabled named Chris Burke, who proved that what so many of them want could be done.

This show debuted when I was in the 6th grade, and it quickly became one of my favorite TV shows. I remember feeling bowled-over when seeing the opening credits and theme song for the first time - it was one of the funniest, most realistic portrayals of a regular family I had ever seen. The same can be said for the rest of the show. Being only a few years younger than Becca, and nerdy like her, I completely related to her trials and tribulations. At the time I didn't think the inclusion of a Down Syndrome character was that big of a deal, but looking back I realize how groundbreaking it was for a family show to portray a main character with a mental disability. I enjoyed Corky just as much as Becca.

The first three seasons were great, and it stayed on track as a unique family show that focused on Corky and his challenges going to a regular school and trying to live a regular life. However, the fourth season took a sharp turn as it focused 90% of its time on Becca's boyfriend Jesse, who had AIDS. At the time, AIDS was just starting to become a mainstream cause, though there were still many misconceptions about the disease. I'm glad the show, never afraid of being edgy, portrayed a character with AIDS, but I wish he wasn't the focus. I actually grew tired of Becca and Jesse's constant dramas every week, and wasn't surprised when the show ended. It was kind of depressing for me to see Becca's life constantly consumed by Jesse and his AIDS status, and I wish the writers let her have a bit more fun during the last days of her high school years. The final episode, which wrapped up the Becca/Jesse storyline, was particularly strange and I wish they had went full circle and focused on Corky instead.