The Good Life

I remember something about John Caponera demanding more money per episode. NBC had just plugged the show by airing an episode after the Super Bowl, and people liked the show. Unfortunately, air-times were changed, and I got the impression that when NBC heard Caponera's demands, they were like "you're not all that", and rewarded him with a cancellation.

I'm surprised nobody mentioned Justin Berfield who went on to star in "Unhappily Ever After" and "Malcolm In The Middle". I never saw Jake Patella after that series, and barely saw Eve Gordon.

I'll be first on the list if they ever release this show on DVD. I think I have one episode on tape, the Marry Lou Murray episode. "Ahh, we'll always have tape."

My buddy and I were at Universal Studios in CA and were recruited to go be in the audience of a TV show. They told us the title of the show was "The Bowmans." They put us in a bus and took us to the studio and then dropped us off back at the park about 3 hours later. It was pretty cool.

What I remember most is Drew Carey. I knew who he was from his stand-up. The warm-up comedian was really stupid and no one was laughing. He had his girlfriend there and seemed to be trying to impress her. So after a bit, Drew Carey took over doing the comedy between takes and was hilarious!! I thought it was a shame the show got canceled.

The summer of '94 saw three replacement shows - "The Boys," "The Building," and "The Good Life" - that beat the hell out of the majority of network sanctioned tripe. Of the three, "The Good Life was easily the best. When Drew Carey hit it big, I hoped it might spark some interest in this forgotten gem, like say a run on a certain cable comedy channel. Alas, "The Good Life" remains buried in the annals of TV history, with only Drew's show and Shay Astar's role on "3rd Rock" as pale reminders of what once was. I fondly recall the episode in which those two discovered a mutual love of the Grateful Dead. Drew's tie-dye was a sight to behold. And "Don't forget to Clark the door!" - that should have gone down as one of TV history's classic lines.

Absolutely hilarious sitcom! It had a fresh, distinctive comic tone, unlike anything else on the air before or since. The acting was great, the writing was crisp, and the situations and characters were unique. And above all, it wasn't just another sex-sex-sex sitcom, like every OTHER show on TV. So naturally, it was misinterpreted by critics, ignored by audiences, and only lasted a few months.

Caponera and Carey had a fantastic chemistry. If the show had lasted, we'd be talking about them as one of TV's great teams. Eve Gordon was hot(and funny) as Caponera's wife. The whole cast was good. They had a fantastic rapport.

"The Good Life" ran two or three months, tops. It's just another example of NBC squandering a good show while they keep garbage on the air for years. "The Good Life" and a wonderful Al Franken sitcom called "Lateline" got the shaft while junk like "Suddenly Susan" ran for years. What a way to run a railroad!

One fast anecdote: in one episode, Monty Hoffman's character Tommy is playing ping-pong when the boss walks through the office. Instead of scrambling to get back to work, Tommy just shrugs and says "Good thing I'm union!" I still use that line.

Where can we get this gem on tape? I'd buy every episode offered without hesitation.

I remember watching the show whenever I could. My NBC affiliate kept preempting it for garbage they were airing. I can remember the comment about the CFL teams. "What would you like to name yourselves?" "Rough Riders." "Nah... We've Already got a Rough Riders" "How about.... Rough Riders?" "C'mon, we need the teams..." Thank goodness Drew got his own vehicle, but what a shame that this dissolved away into nothing. The kids were cute, but I remember a guest appearance by one character later on Full House. I know that Drew even had him on his show as a guest once, too, but by then it was WAY too little, too late. It seemed like he was doing a dying man a favor. Or, how about the promo during the Olympics of the three-man Bobsled team. It didn't suffer from lack of promotion, just consistency, and local network support, along with LOW watching.