Life's Work

infobox television
show_name = Life's Work
genre = Sitcom
runtime = Approx. 28 minutes
country = USA
network = ABC
first_aired = September 17, 1996
last_aired = June 10, 1997
language = English
num_seasons = 1
num_episodes = 18
creator =Warren Bell
starring = Lisa Ann Walter
Michael O'Keefe
Jenny O'Hara
website = |

"Life's Work" was a situation comedy that aired from 1996 to 1997 on the American Broadcasting Company channel that starred Lisa Ann Walter as Lisa Ann Minardi Hunter, the assistant district attorney. Lisa had a husband named Kevin Hunter (played by Michael O'Keefe). Kevin was a basketball coach and the father of their two lovely kids [cite web | url = http://www.tv.com/lifes-work/show/2258/summary.html| title = Series Summary | publisher = TV.com| date = | accessdate = 2008-08-15] . During the entire run of the series, a simple electric guitar instrumental solo was used as the show's opening theme. Laugh tracks were used in all episodes in the sitcom as it was filmed "live before a studio audience."

Boss

One of the most crucial episodes in the series was titled "Boss". This episode was originally aired on December 3, 1996. During this episode, Lisa's mother Connie (portrayed by Jenny O'Hara) was recruited to help take care of the children [cite web | url = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115245/| title = Cast and crew information | publisher = The Internet Movie Database| date = | accessdate = 2008-05-16] . She was frugal as well as conservative in her spending ways as well as her view on life. In her time as the family matriarch, she decided to impose her beliefs on her daughter's family.

Connie bought food at a discount food store to the objection of the other family members - who were used to buying name brand products. She also managed to turn the heat down to 60 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees Celsius) on a cold winter day, blocked out MTV from her daughter's television, replaced her daughter's G-strings with white cotton classic briefs. Insult was eventually added to injury put the grandchildren on a strict sleeping schedule. Trying to make a comeback from being forced to wear classic briefs when it took 4 of her G-strings to "make a decent rag," Lisa referred to her new underwear as big kid pants, suggesting that she was handed a pair of underwear that only children should wear. The "big kid pants" part of the joke is the fact that white cotton full cut panties somewhat resemble the Pull-Ups Training Pants of that era and that their then-current slogan was "I'm a big kid now" [cite web | url = http://www.geocities.com/owepar2/epguide.html| title = Episode summary #1 (Boss) | publisher = Geocities| date = | accessdate = 2008-08-15] . Eventually, a mother-daughter screaming match occurs and it has surprising results for both Connie and Lisa Ann [cite web | url = http://www.tv.com/lifes-work/boss/episode/37107/summary.html| title = Episode summary #2 (Boss) | publisher = TV.com| date = | accessdate = 2008-05-16] .

Cancellation

The show was official put on hiatus on after airing the episode "Neighbors" on January 27, 1997. Months later, the show was officially canceled even though it earned higher ratings than "The Drew Carey Show" and held on to 9 out of 10 viewers who watched the final season of "Roseanne". Towards the end of the final season, "Home Improvement" and Michael J. Fox's "Spin City" flourished in the ratings, taking away viewers from this show. All of this combined with the fact that the ratings for "Roseanne" saw a major decrease that eventually contributed to the cancellation of this show [cite web | url = http://www.geocities.com/owepar2/canceled.html| title = Why Life's Work Didn't Last | publisher = Geocities| date = | accessdate = 2008-08-15] .

References