Where do I even begin?
I remember this show from when I was a kid. I was 11. At the time I thought it was one of the greatest shows ever, and having watched it again now at 30 years old I understand why an 11 year old would find this so amusing. I get the feeling that Tom Green's movie "Freddie Got Fingered" was very heavily inspired by this series.
The concept of the show is that Chris Elliot plays a character named Chris Peterson. A 30 year old man who lives over his parents garage and has a paper route. The series follows Chris through his various daily adventures. Chris's real life Father plays his Dad on the show which I thought was kind of cool.
The first season was tolerable, but the second one gets exponentially ridiculously stupid with every passing episode. Don't get me wrong... I was entertained, but it was no mystery why this show didn't make it past 2 seasons on FOX. The second season Chris moves out of his parents into the garage of a man he meets played by Brian Doyle Murray who then becomes a regular on the show as a half drunk retired ex-cop.
I think the shows lowest point was the episode where an alien falls from outer space, and Chris takes him in. He names him "Spewey" on account of the fact that it spews brown goo out of it's mouth, ears, and... elbows... which Chris of course has no problem eating.
To give you even further evidence of this show's ridiculous nature... Chris Peterson dies 12 different times throughout the course of the series including such deaths as being crushed by a boulder, old age, tonsillitis, being stabbed, shot, strangled, run over by a car, choking on cereal, falling from a plane, and... exploding.
As a supplement to the series I also watched Chris Elliot's movie from 94' "Cabin Boy" which was made by the same creative geniuses behind "Get A Life". It was just more of the same.
Perhaps it's a sign of old age but there were just some points of this show that were too ridiculous even for me. Though I do believe it certainly holds a place in television history. I'm just not sure what it is. I will also say that if there's one thing that I did consistently enjoy it was the intro to the show. For some reason I just thought it was perfect.
Do I regret watching this series? Absolutely not. There was definitely some nostalgia for me in reliving this show, and getting a closer look at it. Have I made my peace with "Get A Life"? Yes.
I am ready to move on to my next series... the Three's Company spin off: "The Ropers".
I give "Get A Life" 3 out of 5 stars.
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