Lifestories
Lifestories is an American medical drama television series that premiered August 20, 1990, on NBC.[1] Done in a documentary style with off-screen narration by Robert Prosky, Lifestories was an attempt to make an extremely realistic medical drama answering questions like, "Exactly what goes on during the first 45 minutes of a heart attack?" "What is it like to be told that you have advanced colon cancer?"
| Lifestories | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Medical drama |
| Created by | Jeffrey Lewis |
| Narrated by | Robert Prosky |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Jeffrey Lewis |
| Running time | 45 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | August 20, 1990 – July 14, 1991 |
Episodes
| # | Title | Original airdate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Don Chapin" | August 20, 1990 | |
| Don Chapin (Richard Masur), an executive in the construction industry, is diagnosed with colon cancer. | |||
| 2 | "Rebecca McManus and Steve Arnold" | September 30, 1990 | |
| A childless couple in their 40s pursue a variety of fertility options. | |||
| 3 | "Frank Brody" | October 7, 1990 | |
| Following a heart attack, efforts to save a retired Navy man's life are counted in real time on-screen. | |||
| 4 | "Beverly Whitestone, Dan Drabowski, Sadie Maxwell, Lois Barnes" | October 14, 1990 | |
| Following four patients in a day at a plastic surgery clinic on the same day. | |||
| 5 | "Wes, Laurie, Georgia" | October 28, 1990 | |
| 6 | "Jerry Forchette" | November 4, 1990 | |
| An exterminator has an inoperable brain tumor. | |||
| 7 | "Art Conforti" | November 11, 1990 | |
| A husband stages an intervention to save his wife from alcoholism. | |||
| 8 | "The Hawkins Family" | December 2, 1990 | |
| Parents search for a child they gave up for adoption 15 years earlier in hopes of obtaining bone marrow for their son. | |||
| 9 | "Steve Burdick" | December 18, 1990 | |
| A gay TV anchorman loses his lover to AIDS and is HIV-positive himself. He tells their story on the air. | |||
| 10 | "Darryl Tevis" | July 14, 1991 | |
| A high school basketball player suffers a stroke. | |||
"Steve Burdick" controversy
"Steve Burdick" was originally scheduled to air on December 2, 1990.[2] Had it aired on that date it would have been one of several programs relating to AIDS airing in early December, which has been designated as World AIDS Month (December 1 being World AIDS Day).[3] Gay and AIDS activists accused NBC of pulling the episode out of fear of advertiser backlash, a charge that NBC denied.[4] A network spokesperson also denied that network schedulers were aware of World AIDS Month and, in a perhaps unfortunate choice of phrase, characterized the decision to pull the episode as a "straight programming decision".[5] Series producer Jeffrey Lewis also believed there was an economic motive, saying "I suspect a show about AIDS would not be popular with advertisers — particularly (when it focused on) a gay person with AIDS."[5] NBC changed Lifestories from a weekly series to a monthly one in December and on December 5 confirmed that "Steve Burdick" would be the first of the monthly episodes aired.[4]
Notes
- Rosenberg, Howard (August 20, 1990). "An Early Fall - Television: NBC will introduce five new series this week. 'Hull High' and 'Lifestories' offer a bizarre pairing tonight". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
- Weinstein, Steve (November 20, 1990). "NBC Pulls AIDS-Themed 'Lifestories'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
- Brenner, Elisa (1992-12-06). "Changing Face of AIDS in the County". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-01-12.
- Knight-Ridder Service (1990-12-10). "Hunter's Partner Killed". Aiken (SC) Standard. p. 4A.
- The Hartford Courant (1990-12-18). "NBC series takes close look at AIDS case". The Santa Fe New Mexican. p. B-8.
References
- Tim Brooks; Earle Marsh (2003). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present (8th ed.). New York: Ballantine Books. p. 687. ISBN 978-0-345-45542-0.