Get a Life (1 Viewer)

[Radioman970]

The Ediflex system used by Get A Life means it will never look that great. They shot the show on Super 16mm. The negatives all went to video instead of a one light print. The tapes were loaded up into the Edifex system which was 16 VCRs that outputed to the master tape via the computer.

Interesting. I think Alf looks a bit better though, if it uses that same system... .
yeah, Chris is so terrific in this! It's like his character is more of a loser than everybody and you just love him for it.

 

[Corey3rd]

Interesting.  Was this same system employed with Alf as well?  I watch the Alf Christmas Special at least once or twice a year, and always noticed that it has that 'video tape' look to it.

Alf was probably shot on 35mm before being transferred to tape for editing. So it would have a better resolution than "Get A Life>"

 

[The Drifter]

I was a mild fan of Get a Life when it was originally on TV (1990-1992). Funny series, but I only saw a handful of episodes at the time.

I finally picked up the Complete Series boxed set (from 2012) late last year, and just recently started getting into this. This is a truly hilarious, sick/demented/twisted & clever series. I'm amazed that this was a non-cable show. It's definitely ahead of it's time, and seems like it would have done better if it had come out on HBO (or a similar channel) in the late '90's/200X's. Glad that it lasted 2 seasons; even that was surprising, given how truly #$%@#%-up the show is - ha ha.

I heard that the reason it took so long to release the entire series on DVD was due to needing to secure all of the original music. If so, it was worth the wait, especially given that there are a lot of great pop/rock songs throughout the show - and, it definitely wouldn't have been the same without them.

I've seen all of the first season, and have started watching the second. General comments about the series:

-Very funny contrast between Chris' irresponsible life & his childhood friend Larry's "established, family man" life. Especially amusing is the blatant contempt/hatred that Chris & Sharon (Larry's wife) have for each other - hilarious.

Spoiler: SPOILER

- It's funny that CE "dies" horrific deaths so often throughout the series, and miraculously comes back to life - ha ha

-Chris Peterson's parents (played by CE's real-life father Bob Elliott, and Elinor Donahue) are great as well; their extremely sarcastic one-liners & obvious contempt for Chris is very transparent & amusing. It's also funny that they rarely change out of their bathrobes, even if it's the middle of the day/evening (emphasizing their retirement - ha ha).

Comments about some specific episodes:

-Much to Sharon's rage & chagrin, Chris gets the lead role in a bizarre play titled "Zoo animals on wheels"; this is about anthropomorphic zoo animals having adventures while wheeling around on roller skates - wow; what a $#%#@#-up & strange idea for a play....which is the whole point.

-Chris temporarily acquires a "super power", where he briefly "sees" future events (that all come true). Extremely funny, especially when he thinks his friend Larry is out to smother his wife - when they're actually just doing some harmless "role playing" - LOL.

-Due to violating a sacred Indian Burial ground, Chris & Larry switch places for roughly a day - literally. Extremely funny.

-The naive Chris goes off to the "big city" in search of adventure, and experiences a classic rags to riches...and back to rags story. Extremely funny sequences, and great use of stock?! footage.

 

[The Drifter]

My technical review of the DVD set:

-Just OK picture quality (PQ). Some episodes are better than others. Overall better than a VHS rip, but not by much. However, while I would probably not say this for any other show...but, in this case, I don't mind. The sub-par PQ just emphasizes the intentionally low budget, cheap aspect of the show. Much of the series uses sets that look like they're straight out of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, so the restoration doesn't need to look that great - ha ha. And, I don't think the source material was that great to begin with - so I doubt the PQ can look that much better than it does.

-As I mentioned in my last post, it's great that all (I think) of the original music is included - fantastic.

-Decent audio.

When I finish the series, I will post more. Here's the opening theme:

 

[David Deeb]

I was to be a mild fan of Get a Life when it was originally on TV (1990-1992). Funny series, but I only saw a handful of episodes at the time.

I finally picked up the 2012 boxed set of the whole series late last year, and just recently started getting into this. This is a truly hilarious, sick/demented/twisted & clever series....

I've got to pick this up. Your review is timely. Just a couple of days ago, I stumbled onto Chris Elliot in Action Family on YouTube. It's laugh out loud, demented as well. Apparently it was part of a Cinemax or one-off cable special. Almost looks like a series pilot. He plays a ridiculous cop with a family. When he's at home, it's like a Brady Bunch sitcom complete with laugh track. Then back to the police drama/office with no laugh track but equally ridiculous. You should check it out.

After watching it I remembered I need to revisit Get a Life. Thanks for your post!

 

[The Obsolete Man]

When I finish the series, I will post more. Here's the opening theme:

In 2000, I remember USA (I believe) airing an hour of Get A Life midday. They had chopped Stand and replaced it with some generic song, but hey, it was the only way to see Get A Life at that point so I accepted it.

When the DVDs were complete years later, I was thrilled. It's nice to see the generic crappy replacement music become the odd rarity you'll never see again.

 

[The Drifter]

Yes, back in the 200X's there were a couple of crummy GAL DVD Volumes that had a handful of episodes each. I saw (but never owned) these. They were abysmal, and IIRC did have music replacements.

The Ediflex system used by Get A Life means it will never look that great. They shot the show on Super 16mm. The negatives all went to video instead of a one light print. The tapes were loaded up into the Edifex system which was 16 VCRs that outputed to the master tape via the computer.

Good to know. No wonder the PQ looks so lousy. But, again - this just adds to the low-budget appeal of the series.