That's Life! was a magazine-style television series on BBC between 1973 and 1994, presented by Esther Rantzen throughout the entire run, with various changes of co-presenters. The show was generally recorded about an hour prior to transmission slot, which was for many years originally on Saturday and then on Sunday nights (In latter days, to try to win back falling ratings, it was moved back to Saturday nights).
That's Life is a U.S. television show, created by Diane Ruggiero, that ran on CBS from 2000-2002. The show was an hour-long dramady that followed the life of a young Italian-American woman, loosely based on Ms. Ruggiero's life, (Lydia DeLucca, played by Heather Paige Kent) and her family in a suburban New Jersey. The show was set in fictional "Bellefield", ostensibly a play on the combination of Belleville and Bloomfield, two adjacent older working class suburbs on the north side of New Jersey. The show premièred a year after The Sopranos, also about an Italian-American family set in the New Jersey suburbs. Whereas The Sopranos depicted an organized crime family, however, That's Life was a light-hearted depiction of a law-abiding family (headed by veteran motion picture actors Ellen Burstyn and Paul Sorvino). In the first season, Frank DeLucca worked as a toll-collector on the New Jersey Turnpike, while Dolly was a Housewife. In the second season, Frank retired (after suffering a heart attack on the job, and he and Dolly opened a restaurant. Kevin Dillon played Paulie, Lydia's younger brother who was a young officer on the Bellefield Police Department who still lived at home. Debi Mazar played Jackie, Lydia's wise-cracking friend who owned a hair salon. The show mixed family situations with situations focusing on Lydia's life as a young single woman looking for both love and stable career, and for more out of life that simply raising children.
The first season revolved around the fallout of Lydia from breaking off her engagement with her fiance and moving away from home for the first time. Most of the situations were light-hearted, but plots occasionally delved into a darker subjects, including Paulie's struggle to resist the temptation to fall into corruption as a police officer. In the second season, Lydia enrolled at a local university somewhat resembling nearby Montclair State University to pursue a career in sports medicine. Her mother Dolly successfully ran for city council of Bellefield. The show developed a small fan base and received generally positive critical response, but languished in the ratings, despite the presence of well-known names in its cast. It was cancelled at the end of the second season with numerous unresolved plot lines, including the budding romance between Lydia and one of her doctor-professors.
That's Life is the name of three U.S. television series:
That's Life! is a 1986 film by Blake Edwards.
The film was made independently by Edwards using largely his own finances and was distributed by Columbia Pictures. Although Columbia released the film, Artisan Entertainment holds the rights to distribute them on DVD.
The film was even shot in Edwards and his wife Julie Andrews' own beachside home in Malibu and features their own family in small roles, including their own two daughters. Jack Lemmon's own son Chris Lemmon plays his character's son Josh, while his wife Felicia Farr puts in a brief cameo appearance as a fortune teller.
Because of the films independent status, many of the cast and crew were paid below union-level wages, resulting in the American Society of Cinematographers in particular picketing the film during production and taking an advert out in Variety in protest. As a result, the film's original Director of Photography, Harry Stradling Jr., was forced to quit the film and was subsequently replaced by Anthony Richmond, a British cinematographer.
Lydia DeLucca is a New Jersey bartender who wants more out of her life than just marriage and kids. So she breaks off her engagement, and heads to college. This doesn't make her ex-boyfriend Lou happy, who thinks she is wasting her time getting an education. Her family is none too supportive either. Her mother, Dolly, thinks marriage would be better since she thinks Lydia can't take care of herself. Her dad, Frank, cares more about the New York Giants than Lydia's psych term paper. But that's life... Written by Pat McCurry
Harvey and Gillian Fairchild face a very difficult weekend. Harvey, celebrating his 60th birthday, is stressed and depressed. Gillian is awaiting the results of a throat biopsy. Their lives are further complicated by their three grown children, a ditsy neighbor, a fortune teller, and an alcoholic priest. Written by Jeanne Armintrout
In Queens, N.Y., a young married man who enjoys his modest life filled with beer drinking and cartoon watching, must learn to deal with his sister-in-law, the person he hates the most in the world, who just moved in with him and his wife after her husband left her. Written by Steve Richer
