You Should Be Watching…LIFE on NBC
October 24, 2008 by Kath Skerry
If you’re not watching Life, you really should be. And don’t let the crappy time slot fool you (Friday night at 10pm? Seriously?)—it’s a good show and even if you missed the first season, it is by no means too late to jump in, and I am going to help you do that, right now. It’s gonna be easy, it’s gonna be painless, and it’s not going to ruin every detail if you decide you love it and want to go back and catch up. All I want is for you to be able to watch a few episodes without feeling totally lost.
The premise: Detective Charlie Crews goes to prison for a murder he did not commit. He is released after 12 years and gets a $50 million dollar settlement and is allowed to return to his job on the police force.
The (important) characters: The main character, obviously, is Crews. In the slammer, he became a Zen Buddhist, and a lot of his funny lines and quirks come from that. My favorite is one from the pilot, where a couple of cops ask if he’s making fun of them. Crews responds, “It is the universe that makes fun of us all.” Crews’ partner, Reese, asks why the universe would make fun of us all, and Crews pauses for a moment before replying, “Maybe the universe is insecure.”
Crews’ partner is Reese. Her father was a detective and all we know at this point is that he had something to do with setting Crews up to go to jail.
Ted is Crews’ roommate. He and Crews were in jail together (although I’m not sure why, since Ted committed a white collar crime), and now he manages Crews’ fortune.
Jen is Crews’ ex-wife, who he is still carrying a Statue-of-Liberty-sized torch for. Jen is remarried to Mark, who is more often mentioned than seen, but she may still have some feelings for Charlie since they almost did it in the backseat of a car recently.
Why it’s not too late to start watching…
Really, when it comes down to it, Life is a funny crime procedural. I mean, it’s also a drama and really well done, but I feel like the commercials have made more of the “how Crews wound up in jail” mystery than the actual show does. If you want to catch up on all that, I would definitely recommend renting the DVDs, but as far as just checking out the show, you can jump right in at any time and not be missing very much at all, and the police part is very episodic.
A few little things to get you in the loop…
Crews is always eating fresh fruit because he didn’t get any in jail. He is also constantly buying expensive and/or hilarious cars to convert into police cars, which he OBVIOUSLY enjoys, but also doesn’t mind ruining. He is always driving in his car reminding himself that possessions are meaningless (back to the Zen).
You might like this show if you like…
I actually think House might be the closest thing—they try to solve these quirky little mysteries but the episode is lighter than say an ER or a CSI because it’s injected with humor. Just replace grumpy insults with Zen-like random thoughts, and there you go. Fans of procedurals like CSI and Law and Order may enjoy that aspect of the show, whereas people who go for subtle humor will appreciate it from that standpoint. I promise, I was a huge skeptic at first, but this show reeled me in with the Pilot episode and has stayed consistently good since. Just trust me—set your DVR. You will not be sorry.
— posted by SB
SB has many interests, including photography, her pets, entertainment, traveling and writing. She does have a day job, but that mostly amounts to her being a sarcastic young woman with a lot of time on her hands, which is why she appreciates the opportunity to recap.
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This was one show I wanted to get into last year, but never did. I fell in love with Sarah Shahi on another show, and wanted to catch Life purely for her. But that never came to be. A friend of mine in Germany is healthily obsessed with it, however, and sent me the entire first season on DVD. So I really have no excuse, except that I just haven’t seen promos for it this year, and haven’t seen an episode yet. BUT – if you (SB – whom I am assuming is the same awesome Chuck reviewer) and GMMR are watching it – then I’ll make it a must!
I watched the pilot episode of this over the summer but I keep forgetting about it. I’ve been looking for a new show to watch lately (like I don’t watch enough already lol) so I’ll have to remember to check it out again
This is a really great show – with really good music, too. It’s one I have to sometimes remind myself to watch, because I forget how good it is and how much I like it, partly because I often forget it’s on. I don’t know if it’ll last, given its horrific timeslot and lack of marketing, but with NBC tanking, maybe they ought to give it a good shot. I definitely recommend it, though – it’s a lot of fun.
I tried out watching My Own Worst Enemy, which has the 10 pm Monday slot that Life showed a few episodes in last month, and I’ve got to say, it sucks. Give Life that timeslot and maybe it stands a chance!
Life is one of my favorite shows on television. It’s right up there on my list with Mad Men, FNL, BSG, The Office, True Blood and Dexter.
I don’t really know what to compare it to. I don’t watch House, CSI or those other shows you listed and I still love it. I’m a fan of quirky characters, I guess. It’s smart and fun. I also like it because while every episode’s main plot is unrelated to the last, it still has the b-plot that has been going on from the beginning.
I’m so glad you posted this! I think Life is one of the best shows that no one is watching. It’s gone under the radar…thanks to being relegated to Fridays where shows are sent to die. But it’s really a refreshing spin on the crime procedural (the House comparison is a great one) with some quirky cases and just enough of a dark, mysterious back story woven in. Damian Lewis (Crews) is great in this role and hilarious! Adam Arkin was also a great casting choice for Ted.
This one probably isn’t meant for mega stardom, but I hope it has the opportunity to garner an audience because there is definitely potential for a strong 10:00 timeslot that’s fun, smart, and easy to watch. And much more entertaining than some other crime shows (I’m looking at you, CSI).
You know, I think at one point (maybe last year after they cancelled Journeyman?) Life was on Mondays at 10 after Heroes, and with Chuck leading it off, that was a great night of television. I think what pisses me off most about moving it is that they’re trying to play up that stupid My Own Worst Enemy, and seriously … does ANYONE expect that show to last?
You guys that are looking for a new show or thinking about checking it out, I will reiterate–you really should. Even just set the DVR and watch it on Wednesday night (after Pushing Daisies, of course) when there’s nothing else on. I really thought, based on the promos, that this show was going to majorly suck, but it is just nothing like the promo monkeys make it out to be. Obviously, they need to be watching it too.
Hey! Did you all see that they are moving Life to Wednesday at 9 as of November 5th? Better than Friday…
I gave the show a try right off the bat because i liked Damian Lewis in the Band of Brothers miniseries.
After a few episodes though i gave up on the show. It wasn’t just one thing about the show itself. Its just that i’m sick of cop dramas.
I agree the closest thing would be house which is another show i don’t watch. I’m tired of hospital/doctor dramas as well 🙂 .
Great post and well put! I really like this show and I hope it does well. I love the quirkiness and the cases are different also. I like how they are making Jack Reese less of a black and white bad guy and now we are seeing that he is vulnerable too. Such a great part of the show to have this mystery!
Gotta thank you, SB. I gave Life a chance and watched the first three episodes this weekend. Fabulous! The promos made it seem like more of a stand cop drama/Law and Order type deal. But it’s so not! Charlie is hilarious, and I LOVE Damian Lewis! His obsession for fruit, “enlightenment” and the car he is so not attached to … pure genius. I like the way they switch between the present and past (or a documentary on Charlie’s time in jail, not sure which right now), and I SO want to find out what happened with the crime Charlie was jailed for! With another boring weekend on the way, I think I’ll have the season finished within the week!