Get a Life

Get a Life is a television sitcom that was broadcast in the United States on the Fox Network from September 23, 1990, to March 8, 1992. The show stars Chris Elliott as a 30-year-old paperboy named Chris Peterson. Peterson lived in an apartment above his parents' garage (Elliott's parents are played by Elinor Donahue and his real-life father, comedian Bob Elliott). The opening credits depict Chris Peterson delivering newspapers on his bike to the show's theme song, "Stand" by R.E.M. The show was a creation of Elliott, Adam Resnick (like Elliott, a writer for Late Night with David Letterman), and writer/director David Mirkin (former executive producer/showrunner for Newhart and later for The Simpsons). Mirkin was executive producer/showrunner of the series and also directed most of the episodes. Notable writers of the series included Charlie Kaufman, screenwriter of Being John Malkovich; and Bob Odenkirk, co-creator of Mr. Show with Bob and David and Tenacious D. The show was unconventional for a prime time sitcom, and many times the storylines of the episodes were surreal. For example, Elliott's character actually dies in twelve episodes. The causes of death included being crushed by a giant boulder, old age, tonsillitis, stab wounds, gunshot wounds, falling from an airplane, strangulation, getting run over by cars, choking on cereal, and simply exploding. For this reason, it was a struggle for Elliott and Mirkin to get the show on the air. Many of the executives at the Fox Network hated the show and thought it was too disturbing and found Elliott's character to be too unlikeable and insane. After only two VHS/DVD volumes were released, Shout! Factory released the complete series on September 18, 2012 – the first time all of the show's episodes were made commercially available.