Life Sentence

First off I have to say Lucy Hale is a real cutie pie. She plays the lead role as Stella Abbott, who in her teens developed a case of terminal cancer. She has been receiving the best treatments but in a flashback of sorts we see she was given 6 to 8 months to live. So her dad sent her off to Paris for a "bucket list" trip, and she met Elliot Knight as Wes, they hit it off, they fell in love, they married.

They return to her small Oregon community (actually filmed in Canada) and live happily, expecting ever-after to be a few months. But the show kicks into high gear when Stella gets the word from her Oncologist that her cancer is gone, she has been cured.

So this show takes the unusual premise that life is easy and straightforward when you only have a few months to live, you do what you want, everyone treats you with kid gloves, friends and family want to make your last days as pleasant as possible.

But the real hard part of life happens when you find out that you may have 60 or 70 more years to live. What will you do for a career? Will you want to have kids? And what do you do when you find out your family has a number of big issues they have been hiding from you?

The two main characters are in all 13 episodes of the first season, so we are destined to see how the happy couple cope with all this.

Good start, a somewhat serious show with lots of humor.

I adore Lucy Hale, even before anyone had ever heard of Pretty Little Liars I've been a fan so it goes without saying that I was going to give this show a chance. However with that said, Life Sentence is a pretty good little show in its own right for a first outing. You have to wonder, whatever your disease of choice, you effectively put your life on hold, for years possibly, and told you're near certainly going to die. Then against all odds...you don't. Then what do you do? Did you bother with much of an actual life - not just the highlights - because you didn't expect to have one? Do you find out just what kind of sacrifices were made on your behalf? This show attempts to answer those questions and so far, admittedly on the pilot episode, it was a fun outing...

That being said, I really thought what Stella's family really is like and the sacrifices and facade they've made for her should've been teased out over the next few/several as things felt a bit rushed. They also made sure to check just about every box on the PC checklist now a days with your recreational drugs, stoner family member, kids to soon and sexual orientation and marriage that's falling apart (as opposed to a strong loving marriage but guess that's not PC...). Regardless I have to give a shout out to how minorities are portrayed in the episode, as just people just like anyone else. They're not portrayed as ethnic, eccentric or stereotyped and a particular shout out to Sadie the young black female cancer patient Stella relates to late in the episode as it could've easily been just a pretty generic white girl but yes regardless of race or color we all come down with things, even minorities... About the only thing not checked was Stella's college professor of a father having a relationship on the side with one of his students young enough to be his daughter (but it was only the first episode...).

So I'd give it a seven to an eight out of ten and we'll see where it goes...

Although the premise of the show is unique enough the show suffers from lackluster acting and writing. The writer showcases the story through the voice of Lucy Hale's character (Stella), which is one of the most exasperating acts of the show, not to mention some very poor writing and direction for most of the supporting actors, two siblings seem to be there just as a necessity. The parents' characters, maybe due to fact that they act better, seems passable. The saving grace for this show which is the love story between the lead and the Brit.

Going ahead the show will focus on the whole family and how Stella moves on with her life with them, this is where the show will fail. What it lacks is jovial and quirky bits to make the show better and the lackadaisical performance of the brother does not help. The show could have really used a friend instead of the siblings (at least one) maybe this will change as the show goes on. But as the show is right now I see it being canceled at the end of the season or next season(because Lucy Hale has some TV fandom that might pull some viewership in).

Tan(A)

This show starring Lucy Hale has comedy potential, but the story most certainly is all over the place. You kind of get a headache when you are taken along for the ride with Stella (played by Hale) and discover with her all the secrets her family kept to themselves while she was sick. There are sweet messages dropped in throughout the pilot and crazy interactions between siblings, parents, etc. but nothing to really grab onto except for Stella's humorous marriage relationship. Wes (played by Elliot Knight) and Stella were probably the best part of the series beginning. Her readjustment for the future basically drives the show...however I'll mention once again that Hale and Knight are the real gems. All the other characters make for okay curveballs as the series tries to continue, though they tug more at your pity than your funny bone. Also, the medical aspect of the series and how Stella is cured from her cancer does a fine job of throwing in a unique angle at how to perceive "living" and takes away the dark and off-putting circumstance that cancer can be. Instead, Life Sentence chose to approach cancer in a more light-hearted way that causes you to view the disease as a hurdle rather than an antagonistic monster...not allowing cancer the satisfaction of winning (something I appreciate).

Ok, no cancer isn't funny and should be taken seriously. This is just a fun new series about a girl who gets cured of it and has to figure out how to live! Lucy Hale is fabulous, as is the rest of the cast, as they all have to figure out there lives moving forward. Truths and lies come out along the way. Unlike cancer folks this should be enjoyed and not taken seriously. It is just a T,V show so relax.