Retro Review: Get A Life

Get A Life aired for two season on Fox from 1990 to 1992, starring Chris Elliott as Chris Peterson, a 30-year old paperboy who lived in an apartment above his parents’ garage.

I vaguely remember watching this show when it was originally on, and I guarantee I didn’t understand the humor then. It’s what I heard someone call “sophisticated-stupid,” or maybe I think I heard someone call it that. There is biting, smart commentary on everything from the state of media and television, violence in popular culture, celebrity culture and the shifting demographics of the 1980s involving white male dominance of society combined with painfully obvious attempts at sitcom humor that had grown so stale.

By no means is Get A Life perfect or even entirely successful, but it is fascinating to watch. Chris Elliott’s particular brand of humor is unique unto him and him alone, the same way Andy Kaufman or Larry David basically created their own universe for them to occupy.