Life as We Know It (TV series)

Life As We Know It
Created by	Jeff Judah; Gabe Sachs
Based on	Doing It by Melvin Burgess
Starring	Sean Faris; Jon Foster; Chris Lowell; Missy Peregrym; Jessica Lucas; Kelly Osbourne; Lisa Darr; D. B. Sweeney; Marguerite Moreau
Opening theme	"Sooner or Later" by Michael Tolcher
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13 (2 unaired)
Production
Executive producers	Jeff Judah; Gabe Sachs; Stu Bloomberg
Running time	44 minutes
Production companies	Sachs/Judah Productions; Cabloom! Productions; Touchstone Television
Distributor	Buena Vista Television
Release
Original network	ABC
Picture format	1080i (HDTV)
Original release	October 7, 2004 –; January 20, 2005

Life as We Know It is an American teen drama television series which aired on the ABC network during the 2004–2005 season. It was created by Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah. The series was based on the novel Doing It by British writer Melvin Burgess.

Plot

Set at Woodrow Wilson High School in Seattle, Washington, Life as We Know It's lead was Dino Whitman (Sean Faris), a star ice hockey player. He had an uneasy relationship with his girlfriend, Jackie Bradford (Missy Peregrym), a soccer player. Jackie's best friend was Sue Miller (Jessica Lucas), a very competitive academic star. His best friends were Ben Connor (Jon Foster), who was carrying on an affair with a teacher, Monica Young (Marguerite Moreau); and Jonathan Fields (Chris Lowell), a nervous soul, especially about his girlfriend, Deborah Tynan (Kelly Osbourne). Jonathan was made even more nervous by Deborah's mother Mia (Sarah Strange), a nurse, sitting him down for a frank and graphic discussion about sex and its consequences.

Dino's parents' marriage fell apart after his mother had an affair with his hockey coach. His father, Michael, was played by D. B. Sweeney and his mother, Annie, was played by Lisa Darr. Coach Dave Scott was played by Martin Cummins.

Characters

Regular

Sean Faris as Dino Whitman – lead character and star hockey player
Jon Foster as Ben Connor – one of Dino's best friends who has a rocky relationship with Sue ever since his affair with Monica Young
Chris Lowell as Jonathan Fields – Dino's other best friend who goes out with Jackie's friend Deborah
Missy Peregrym as Jackie Bradford ;– Dino's on and off girlfriend and best friends with Sue and Deborah
Jessica Lucas as Sue Miller – Ben's on and off girlfriend who is best friends with Jackie and Deborah
Kelly Osbourne as Deborah Tynan – Jonathan's witty British girlfriend and friend of Jackie and Sue
Lisa Darr as Annie Whitman – Dino's mother who had an affair with Dino's hockey coach.
D. B. Sweeney as Michael Whitman – Dino's father who left his wife for cheating on him with Dino's hockey coach
Marguerite Moreau as Monica Young – a teacher who was having an affair with Ben, one of her students. Sue eventually found out and told her father who convinced Monica to transfer, or she would go to jail

Recurring

Evan Smith as Max Whitman – Dino's younger brother.
Sarah Strange as Mia Tynan – Deborah's mother
Martin Cummins as Coach Dave Scott – Dino's coach who was having an affair with Dino's mother Annie
Jessica Harmon as Zoe

Character asiding

The show broke the fourth wall by having characters step out of the scene — which proceeded behind them in slow motion — and directly address the camera.

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Production code
1	"Pilot"	Michael Engler	Jeff Judah & Gabe Sachs	October 7, 2004 (2004-10-07)	1.1
Dino wants to have sex with his girlfriend Jackie, but she isn't ready. Jonathan wants to have a secret relationship with Deborah because he is embarrassed of others might say because she is overweight. Ben is hopelessly infatuated with his teacher, Ms. Young.
2	"Pilot Junior"	Michael Engler	Jeff Judah & Gabe Sachs & Donald Todd	October 14, 2004 (2004-10-14)	1.2
Dino sees his mother having an affair with his hockey coach. Dino's secret about his parents' marital problems weakens his relationship with Jackie. Jonathan makes a scary discovery and suspects he may have penis cancer. Ms. Young makes a surprising move on Ben.
3	"The Best Laid Plans"	Michael Engler	Allison Adler	October 21, 2004 (2004-10-21)	1.3
Dino is on a mission to get back together with Jackie. Jackie is now willing to have sex with Dino, but Dino's problem weigh down on him and he leaves. Ben and Ms. Young try to find a way to get some alone time. Deborah admits to Jonathan that she is not a virgin. Jonathan needs to take some time out to deal with the fact that she might be a sexpert while he himself has no experience.
4	"Partly Cloudy, Chance of Sex"	Michael Spiller	Donald Todd	October 28, 2004 (2004-10-28)	1.4
Dino quits the hockey team in protest of his coach's relationship with his mother Annie, which sparks trouble at home. After Ms. Young convinces Ben to be in the school play, he is devastated when he finds out he's been cast as the male lead with Sue. Jonathan is insecure about his relationship with Deb, and Dino meets a new girl, Zoe.
5	"Secrets and Lies"	Michael Spiller	Melissa Carter	November 4, 2004 (2004-11-04)	1.5
Dino wants to move to his father's new apartment as his relationship with his mother hits a new low. When things at home get to be too much for Jackie to handle, she turns to a support group for help. Sue throws all her effort into practicing for the play as Ben and Sue realize they work well together. Ms. Young gets possessive with Ben, and Jonathan witnesses something the two kissing afterhours. Also Jonathan and Deb struggle in their relationship with what they can tell each other while still being loyal to their friends.
6	"Natural Disasters"	Rachel Talalay	Joel Madison	December 2, 2004 (2004-12-02)	1.6
7	"With a Kiss, I Die"	John Peters	Allison Adler	December 9, 2004 (2004-12-09)	1.7
8	"Family Hard-ships"	Rick Wallace	Adam Horowitz & Edward Kitsis	December 16, 2004 (2004-12-16)	1.8
9	"A Little Problem"	Michael Engler	Leila Gerstein	January 6, 2005 (2005-01-06)	1.9
10	"Breaking Away"	Rodman Flender	Jeff Judah & Gabe Sachs	January 13, 2005 (2005-01-13)	1.10
11	"You Must be Trippin'"	Paul Holahan	Luvh Rakhe	January 20, 2005 (2005-01-20)	1.11
12	"Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Junk"	Dan Lerner	Donald Todd	Unaired in the U.S. (Unaired in the U.S.)	1.12
13	"Papa Wheelie"	Adam Davidson	Joel Madison	Unaired in the U.S. (Unaired in the U.S.)	1.13

Reviews

Variety called it "a sly, sweet look at high school . . . so good that you immediately make room on your shelf for the cult-fave DVD because you know this is the kind of show that gets cancelled after five episodes."

Reaction from the Parents Television Council

The Parents Television Council protested against Life as We Know It saying that the October 2004 episode was sexually charged.

Filming locations

The show was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia and Seattle, Washington by Sachs-Judah Productions and (ca)bloom!, in association with Touchstone Television, a corporate sibling of ABC, both owned by The Walt Disney Company. The school used for exterior shots, possibly interior as well, is Point Grey Secondary School in Vancouver.

Cancellation

Life as We Know It originally aired on Thursdays from 9 to 10pm, premiering on October 7, 2004. Pulled during November sweeps, the show was rerun on MTV to good ratings in November and December 2004 but ultimately was cancelled by ABC. The series, including two previously unaired episodes, was released on DVD in the United States in 2005. Life aired abroad after its American cancellation.

In Brazil the show aired on Sony Entertainment Television starting June 13, 2005 at 7:00pm Tuesdays. In New Zealand, the show premiered in December 2005 on TV2, scheduled against America's Next Top Model. It replaced Veronica Mars, another American import, but was rescheduled after four episodes because of poor ratings. The remaining episodes were rescheduled from their prime-time slot (7:30pm Friday) to midnight Saturday, then pushed back after midnight as the season progressed. The final two episodes were played in reverse order. TV2 repeated the series from the beginning during the third quarter of 2006, just after midnight Thursdays, but again played the final two episodes in reverse order.

Life was also shown in the Philippines in the free cable channel Studio 23. While there were reruns after the initial showing, the two DVD episodes weren't released. In Portugal it is shown on SIC Radical cable channel and is popular among teenagers and young adults. In Hong Kong, it is shown on TVB Pearl and in Asia, it is shown on STAR World.

Life was also shown in South Africa on M-Net (DStv Channel 101), a subscription funded channel. The show was broadcast in prime-time and was popular. When the series 'ran out', M-Net received a large number of complaints from subscribers on their internet forums. Subsequently, the show was replayed in an 11:00am morning slot in early 2006. Life was also broadcast in 2005 on the M-Net Series channel (DStv Channel 104), a channel which is part of the DStv offering. This channel is broadcast via satellite to sub-Saharan Africa.

Life showed in Sweden on Kanal 5 during autumn and winter 2006.

In December 2006 (the beginning of the summer non-ratings period), the show began airing in Australia on the Seven Network at 10:30pm Tuesday nights. The show was also sold to FOX8, where it screened at 7:30pm Saturdays. In Ireland RTE2 showed two episodes every Monday (approximately 2:30am) from mid-January 2007. In Norway the show started airing in August 2006, but was cancelled after eight episodes

It was also broadcast in India in the 2007 fall season on the subscription channel Star World, where it ran all the episodes except the two bonus DVD ones. It is being rerun in India in the same channel in the 5:30–6:30 time slot.

Life was broadcast from January to March 2005 on Living TV in the UK. The series has since been rerun on Living's sister channel Trouble.

DVD release

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (formerly Buena Vista Home Entertainment) released the complete series on DVD in Region 1 on August 23, 2005 . It included all 13 episodes, 2 of which were unaired, on 3 discs. Bonus features included audio commentaries, deleted scenes, outtakes, and the producer's photo gallery.

DVD Name	Ep #	Release Date
The Complete Series	13	August 23, 2005

International air dates

Country	TV network(s)	Series premiere	Weekly schedule	Status
Australia	Seven Network FOX8	December 5, 2006 May 26, 2007	Tuesday 12:00am Weekdays 2:00pm	Finished Finished
Croatia	Nova TV	2006	Saturday 10:00am	Finished
Finland	Nelonen			Finished
France	Filles TV	September 8, 2007	Saturday 13:40 CET Saturday 22:10 CET Sunday 18:15 CET Wednesday 14:30 CET	Currently airing
Hong Kong	TVB Pearl	June 4, 2005	Saturday After News Roundup	Finished
Pakistan	STAR World	2007	Monday to Thursday 7pm	Finished
India	STAR World		Monday to Friday 05:30pm	Finished
Israel	HOT3 STAR World			Finished Finished
Italy	MTV	December 29, 2005		Finished
Lithuania	Tango TV	February 4, 2007	Sunday 20:40 CET
Netherlands	BNN / NED 3		Sunday 19:00 CET	Finished
Portugal	SIC Radical			Not currently airing
South Africa	M-Net			Finished
Spain	MTV	2010		Currently airing
Turkey	CNBC-e			Finished
United Kingdom	Living (channel)	January 2005		Not currently airing

References

Josef Adalian. "'Geeks' duo bonds with Touchstone". Daily Variety. June 10, 2004.
Josef Adalian. "ABC's new lease on 'Life'". Daily Variety. December 8, 2004.
Ann Donahue. Review of Life As We Know It. Daily Variety. October 6, 2004.
Virginia Heffernan. "What (Sex) Boys (Sex) Think (Sex) About." The New York Times. October 7, 2004.
Matt Roush. "Down, Boys!". TV Guide. October 10, 2004.
Spain. "Diario adolescente". MTV. September 2007

External links

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