| That's Life | |
|---|---|
| Format | Comedy-drama |
| Created by | Diane Ruggiero |
| Starring | Heather Paige Kent Kristin Bauer Peter Firth Kevin Dillon Danielle Harris Debi Mazar with Paul Sorvino and Ellen Burstyn |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 36 (4 unaired) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Anita W. Addison Maddy Horne Lynn Marie Latham Frank Renzulli |
| Producer(s) | Peter Dunne W. Mark McNair Peter Woronov |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBS |
| Original run | October 1, 2000 – January 26, 2002 |
That's Life is an American dramedy series created by Diane Ruggiero, that was broadcast on CBS from October 1, 2000 to January 26, 2002.
Contents |
The hour-long series followed the life of a young Italian-American woman (Lydia DeLucca, played by Heather Paige Kent), loosely based on Ms. Ruggiero's life, and her family in suburban New Jersey. The show was set in fictional Bellefield, ostensibly a play on the combination of Belleville and Bloomfield, two adjacent older working class suburbs on the north side of Newark, New Jersey. The show premièred 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).
In the first season, Frank DeLucca worked as a toll collector on the New Jersey Turnpike, while Dolly was a housewife. In the second season, Frank retired after suffering a heart attack on the job, and he and Dolly opened a restaurant. Kevin Dillon played Paulie, Lydia's younger brother who was a young officer on the Bellefield Police Department who still lived at home. Debi Mazar played Jackie, Lydia's wise-cracking friend who owned a hair salon. The show mixed family situations with situations focusing on Lydia's life as a young single woman looking for both love and stable career, and for more out of life than simply raising children.
The first season revolved around the fallout of Lydia from breaking off her engagement with her fiance, Lou (Sonny Marinelli, who was written out after a few episodes), and moving away from home for the first time. Most of the situations were light-hearted, but plots occasionally 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. Paulie started dating Plum (Danielle Harris), a classmate that Lydia made friends with in the first season. 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 cancelled at the end of the second season with numerous unresolved plot lines, including the budding romance between Lydia and one of her professors.
| Year | Award | Result | Category | Recipient |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Artios Award | Nominated | Best Casting for TV, Dramatic Pilot | Mary V. Buck and Susan Edelman |
| 2002 | Golden Reel Award | Best Sound Editing in Television - Music, Episodic Live Action | Lisa A. Arpino (For episode "Touched by a Biker") |