That's Life (2000 TV series)

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That's Life was a U.S. television family drama that ran on CBS from 2000–2002. The show was an hour-long light comedy that followed the life of a young Italian-American woman (Lydia DeLucca, played by Heather Paige Kent) and her family in a suburban New Jersey. The show was set in fictional "Bellefield", obstensibly a play on the combination of Belleville and Bloomfield, two adjacent older working class suburbs on the north side of New Jersey. The show premiered a year after The Sopranos, also about an Italian-American family set in the New Jersey suburbs. Whereas The Sopranos depicted an organized crime family, however, That's Life was a light-hearted depiction of a law-abiding family (headed by veteran motion picture actors Ellen Burstyn and Paul Sorvino) who owned a restaurant. Kevin Dillon played Paulie, Lydia's younger brother who was a young officer on the Bellefield Police Department. Debi Mazar played Jackie, Lydia's wise-cracking friend who worked at a hair salon. The show mixed family situations with situations focussing on Lydia's life as a young single woman looking both a love and stable career, and for more out of life that simply raising children.

The first season revolved around the fallout of Lydia from breaking off her engagement with her fiance. Most of the situations were light-hearted, but plots occaissionally delved into a darker subjects, including Paulie's struggle to resist the temptation to fall into corruption as a police officer. In the second season, Lydia enrolled at a local university somewhat resembling nearby Montclair State University to pursue a career in sports medicine. Her mother Dolly successfully ran for city council of Bellefield. The show developed a small fan base and received generally positive critical response, but languished in the ratings, despite the presence of well-known names in its cast. It was canceled at the end of the second season with numerous unresolved plot lines, including the budding romance between Lydia and one of her doctor-professors.