The show benefitted from vintage Bob Odenkirk writing
Universal Pictures
Odenkirk, who had won an Emmy in 1989 for his writing on “Saturday Night Live,” lent his talents to the show by not just being part of the writers’ room but by penning two episodes solo. The best one, “Bad Fish,” sees Chris convince his friend Larry’s ex-wife, Sharon (Robin Riker), and Chris’ landlord Gus (Brian Doyle-Murray), that they are in fact his best friends. The pair get amnesia after eating some spoiled shellfish and Chris takes full advantage of the situation, but not before enrolling in college and completing a full degree program just to learn what the word “amnesia” means.
The episode is full of the kind of casually bizarre humor that Odenkirk would later showcase in his and David Cross’ seminal HBO sketch series “Mr. Show.” In that and many other ways, “Get A Life” was ahead of its time, giving audiences a glimpse at a surrealist brand of comedy that really wasn’t getting much mainstream exposure back in the early 90s. In fact, multiple ridiculous moments and lines seem, in retrospect, designed for the internet age in their easy gif and meme-ability. It’s for that reason you can find Reddit threads where fans quote their favorite lines and lament the show being as slept on as it was. Elsewhere, on the “Get A Life” DVD collection you’ll find comedy legends such as Judd Apatow singing its praises, adding up to an irrefutable legacy as one of the more influential of the overlooked comedies of the ’90s.
Get A Life Was An Under-Appreciated Sitcom That Showed Off Bob Odenkirk’s Writing Chops
By Joe Roberts/Dec. 18, 2022 8:00 am EST
Chris Peterson was lovably psychotic
Columbia Pictures
Thus, the first season saw Chris’ exploits become increasingly surreal and farcical, to the point that anything, including his own violent death, could and often did happen. Plots involved everything from a clip show where Chris reminisces on the series while falling from a plane and the infamous “Stewey And Me,” which is basically a parody of E.T. that culminates in Chris eating his alien friend.
With such an aggressively subversive and surrealist tone, “Get A Life” could have easily come across as off-putting and inaccessible. Which it kind of did. But there was something endearing about Chris Elliott’s portrayal of Peterson and the show’s attempts at subverting the sitcom format ultimately betrayed an affection for the sitcom tropes of old.
The show benefitted from vintage Bob Odenkirk writing
Universal Pictures
Odenkirk, who had won an Emmy in 1989 for his writing on “Saturday Night Live,” lent his talents to the show by not just being part of the writers’ room but by penning two episodes solo. The best one, “Bad Fish,” sees Chris convince his friend Larry’s ex-wife, Sharon (Robin Riker), and Chris’ landlord Gus (Brian Doyle-Murray), that they are in fact his best friends. The pair get amnesia after eating some spoiled shellfish and Chris takes full advantage of the situation, but not before enrolling in college and completing a full degree program just to learn what the word “amnesia” means.
The episode is full of the kind of casually bizarre humor that Odenkirk would later showcase in his and David Cross’ seminal HBO sketch series “Mr. Show.” In that and many other ways, “Get A Life” was ahead of its time, giving audiences a glimpse at a surrealist brand of comedy that really wasn’t getting much mainstream exposure back in the early 90s. In fact, multiple ridiculous moments and lines seem, in retrospect, designed for the internet age in their easy gif and meme-ability. It’s for that reason you can find Reddit threads where fans quote their favorite lines and lament the show being as slept on as it was. Elsewhere, on the “Get A Life” DVD collection you’ll find comedy legends such as Judd Apatow singing its praises, adding up to an irrefutable legacy as one of the more influential of the overlooked comedies of the ’90s.
The episode is full of the kind of casually bizarre humor that Odenkirk would later showcase in his and David Cross’ seminal HBO sketch series “Mr. Show.” In that and many other ways, “Get A Life” was ahead of its time, giving audiences a glimpse at a surrealist brand of comedy that really wasn’t getting much mainstream exposure back in the early 90s. In fact, multiple ridiculous moments and lines seem, in retrospect, designed for the internet age in their easy gif and meme-ability. It’s for that reason you can find Reddit threads where fans quote their favorite lines and lament the show being as slept on as it was. Elsewhere, on the “Get A Life” DVD collection you’ll find comedy legends such as Judd Apatow singing its praises, adding up to an irrefutable legacy as one of the more influential of the overlooked comedies of the ’90s.
How did this show last two seasons?
“[Fox] gave us notes — an incredible amount of notes. On everything. Like I said, it wasn’t the show they wanted. Believe it or not, I remember them saying when I was first in talks with them that they were looking for a Cosby kind of show […] then we gave them this 30-year-old guy living in a garage in his parents’ house. But their notes always reflected the fact that they still wanted the show to be grounded in reality.”
