A Year in the Life

I remember watching this back in December of 1986 and I couldn't believe how great this mini series was. Richard Kiley was at his absolute best as the patriarch of a typical American family and we got to see Sarah Jessica Parker in one of her early roles. The ensemble acting was first rate. I recorded it on VHS,but lost the tapes about ten years later. I did happen to come across Sell.com, where they seem to have everything ever shown on television, of course bootlegged,but lets face it, not everything you want is commercially released. I got the mini series and the episodes that comprised the shows one year run from 1987 to 1988.

To this day, "A Year in the Life" remains one of the greatest shows ever produced. It's too bad it was only on for a year.

Now that "Parenthood" is ending, I recall how much I loved this show and how sad I was to see it canceled. It seems like the best series don't survive the ratings but it probably says less about the viewers and more about who dictates what we watch. Perhaps networks just don't give the public credit for having the consciousness to value anything more than sex and violence. One of the reasons this show didn't get a following is because the network kept moving the air date to different days and times during the week. Family dramas like, "A year in the Life," "Once and Again" and "Parenthood" seem to suffer the same fate. They reflect real life experiences... & that's my kind of "reality TV!"

This started out as a mini-series and then ran as a regular series for a short time. I would like to see it again in either reruns, or it should be remade. As I recall, much of the music that was a part of each episode was popular at the time, so that may be one of the reasons why we do not see it in reruns. Never-the-less, the storyline was very good and the cast of characters were a good blend. Fans of Sarah Jessica Parker would enjoy seeing her in her role as a free-spirited young woman involved with a rather conservative young man. If it is being shown as a re-run somewhere, please tell me when and where. Thank you.

TWIMC,

I loved this show... Thought it was one of the better weekly shows on TV in 1986... I would love to find a copy of that one season.. What I remember most is Amanda's Peterson character was named "Sunshine" so they called her Sunny and Sara Jessica Parker was crazy about Sam, who was in love with her but marrying someone else... I thought the portrayals of a family dealing with the death of the their mother, the oldest daughter (Wendy Phillips) trying to hold onto her marriage... the children dealing with their grandmother's loss and their mother's failing relationship and trying to find their way, as well as the patriarch trying to live make a new life without his life mate... I thought it was all pretty amazing and believable... The show made me laugh and it made me cry.

Is anyone out there willing to sell copies of this series? I hope so.. Get in touch...Please.

I loved this movie and was thrilled when it was made into a series. It didn't last more than one season. I can remember watching the movie during Thanksgiving break from college. I was hooked. I loved Sarah Jessica Parker's "Kay" and her romance with Sam. I would LOVE a copy of this movie and any of the subsequent television episodes. Even though it's been over 20 years (I can't believe that), I can still remember some of the most minute details of this amazing show. Acting was excellent, plots were relevant to the times, and the music used was perfect. I'm sure if it were on today they'd sell, "A Year in the Life" soundtracks similar to Grey's Anatomy. I was so sad to see that David Oliver (Sam) died several years ago. I really loved his character. Trey Ames was great as young David and I liked Adam Arkin's character and his wife, Jayne Atkinson. Great, great show. Came on same year as Thirtysomething and I think was overshadowed by the hype of that show.