A Year in the Life (1987)

Genre

drama television series

Country

United States

Length

1 season, 22 episodes

Rated

NR

Rating

7.2 of 10 from 6 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

The series follows a Seattle family through a year after the sudden death of the mother. It centers on the father and his four adult children as they navigate grief, relationships, and everyday life.

emotionalfamily-focusedbittersweetslow-pacednostalgiccharacter-drivenmelancholicwarm

What happens

A Year in the Life is an American television drama series that began as a three-part miniseries which was first broadcast in December 1986 and later ran as a weekly series on NBC from September 16, 1987 to April 13, 1988. It was created by Joshua Brand and John Falsey, who had previously created the critically acclaimed series St. Elsewhere, also for NBC. As suggested by the title, the miniseries followed the various members of the Gardner family of Seattle during the course of one year. The major event of that year was the sudden and unexpected death of wife and mother Ruth Gardner (Eva Marie Saint). Following the success of the miniseries, NBC decided to launch a one-hour drama series the following fall. Richard Kiley played Joe Gardner, owner of a successful plastics business and father of four adult children. The children were twice-divorced daughter Anne (Wendy Phillips), who had returned home with her two teenaged children; daughter Lindley (Jayne Atkinson) and husband Jim (Adam Arkin), parents of a newborn baby daughter; black sheep son Jack (Morgan Stevens); and conservative youngest son Sam (David Oliver), married to free-spirited Kay (Sarah Jessica Parker). Diana Muldaur was a later addition to the cast as Dr. Alice Foley, Joe Gardner's new romantic interest. Amanda Peterson played Joe Gardner's granddaughter Sunny Sisk and Trey Ames played Gardner's grandson, David Sisk. The miniseries was the third-highest rated miniseries of the 1986–87 American television season with a 16.9/27 rating/share. The series ran for one complete season, but brought in low ratings and was not renewed for a second season, ranking 63rd with an average 11.9 rating. Despite the lack of viewership, Kiley won the Emmy and Golden Globe awards for Best Actor. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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