| ER | |
|---|---|
 Life Intertitle (2007-present)
| |
| Format | Drama |
| Created by | Callie Darveston |
| Currently Starring | Eric Evans Laura Martins Marcus Harrison Kelly Frandston Paul Newton Alexander Snick Brittany Soaton Philipa Yves Xavier Charmicael Meg Itford Josh Barver Ryan Craig Emily Heiston Michael Pallas Natalie Wright |
| Opening theme |
"Imagine" by John Lennon |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 14 |
| No. of episodes | 300 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Location | Rockland, Ananois (various others) |
| Camera setup | Single |
| Running time | 22 minutes (1998-1999) 45 minutes (1999-present) |
| Production company(s) | Drama Television Ryan Broadcasting |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | DC (1998-2003)
RBC (2003-present) |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV)
1080i (HDTV) |
| Original run | October 9, 1998 - May 17, 2012 |
Life is a DC/RBC Ryanland drama television series created by Callie Darveston that aired on DC from 1998, to 2003 and now currently airs on RBC from 2003 to present. It is set primally in Rockford, Ananois however sometimes other locations will be set. The show has been running for 13 seasons and is still acitve today, becomming the longest primetime drama in Ryanland teelvision history. Life has been officially renewed for a 14th season to air in the 2011-12 television season.
On June 29, 2011, it was announced that season 14 of Life would be it's last and that it would premiere on September 20, 2011. The final episode of the series was broadcast on Thursday, May 17, 2012 for two-hours.
Cast & Characters[]
The list of the cast members is to the side, however due to the large number of cast members that have been in the show, only the current cast is listed.
Production[]
Development[]
Even with the success of Make It Or Break It on The Dramatic Channel (DC) the network saw the lack of local shows so decided they needed some drama. They saw hundreds of ideas but when Callie Darveston suggested her ideas the network immediatly fell in love. On February 27, 1998, the network contacted Darveston and told her that they had accepted the series along with another upcoming series called 'The Adventures Of Lola' which would premiere the year after in 1999. The casting began and the search for writers and directors also began and by May 24, 1998, everything was sorted. In June, the network picked up the first season for 20 episodes, even before the show began. However The Adventures Of Lola (in 1999) was only picked up for a 13 episode season and was cancelled in 2001. The first season premiered on September 18, 1998 and attracted a huge amount of viewers and did the same until 2003. The Dramatic Channel closed down and shortly after, merged with TheRN and became RBC (RyanTV then). The network, knowing of it's success, automatically brought the series to the network and aired it on Friday's as well. The series wasn't as strong, but it was still the most watched show on the network. However in the 2008-09 season the episode number decreased from 22 to 16 for unknown reasons, it got worse next season when the episode count dropped to just 13. However for the 13th season the episode count has increased to 23, the highest amount since season 4 in 2001-02 with 25 episodes. The series has been officially renewed for a 14th season.
Broadcasting[]
The first season of the show was in the Friday night timeslot and has remained there except for the second half of the 13th season will be on Saturday nights, however for season 14 it will air on Tuesdays. For the first season, each episode only ran for about 25 minutes and was at the 8/7c timeslot. After the length increased to about 45 minutes and still runs that long today. Seasons 2,3,4, half of season 6 and and season 12 the episodes timeslot was 8/7c, for seasons 5, half of 6 and 7,8,9,10,11 and 13 all air at 9/8c. The series has been renewed for a 14th season, and for the first time will air Tuesdays at 9/8c.
Episodes[]
Main article: List of Life episodes
For the first season, each episode lasted for 22 minutes approx, but season two to present they each run for 45 minutes approx. The show started to broadcast in HD television (1080i) on the sixth season in 2003. DC was never available in HD even though HD was introduced in 2000 in Ryanland.
Impact[]
Ratings[]
The official ratings of seasons one to present of Life on DC and RBC
| Season | Timeslot (RET) | Network | Season Premiere | Season Finale | TV Season | Rank | Viewers (in millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Friday 8:00 pm (September 18, 1998 - April 13, 2002) | DC | September 28, 1998 | March 19, 1999 | 1998-1999 | #14 | 22.24 |
| 2 | September 24, 1999 | March 31, 2000 | 1999-2000 | #1 | 26.65 | ||
| 3 | September 22, 2000 | May 4, 2001 | 2000-2001 | #51 | 20.88 | ||
| 4 | September 28, 2001 | April 13, 2002 | 2001-2002 | #58 | 16.04 | ||
| 5 | Friday 9:00 pm (September 27, 2002 - April 11, 2003) | September 27, 2002 | April 11, 2003 | 2002-2003 | #54 | 13.73 | |
| 6 | Friday 9:00 pm (September 26, 2003 – December 12, 2003)
Friday 8:00 pm (January 23, 2004 – April 17, 2004) |
RBC | September 26, 2003 | April 17, 2004 | 2003-2004 | #56 | 10.92 |
| 7 | Friday 9:00 pm (October 1, 2004 - May 22, 2009) | October 1, 2004 | April 1, 2005 | 2004-2005 | #60 | 10.48 | |
| 8 | September 23, 2005 | April 21, 2006 | 2005-2006 | #59 | 10.46 | ||
| 9 | October 13, 2006 | April 27, 2007 | 2006-2007 | #62 | 10.06 | ||
| 10 | September 21, 2007 | April 25, 2008 | 2007-2008 | #62 | 10.02 | ||
| 11 | September 19, 2008 | May 22, 2009 | 2008-2009 | #69 | 9.41 | ||
| 12 | Friday 8:00 pm (September 25, 2009 - August 6, 2010) | September 25, 2009 | August 6, 2010 | 2009-2010 | #54 | 12.23 | |
| 13 | Friday 9:00 pm (September 24, 2010 – December 10, 2010)
Saturday 9:00 pm (January 15, 2011 – April 23, 2011) |
September 24, 2010 | April 23, 2011 | 2010-2011 | #51 | 6.94 | |
| 14 | Tuesday 9:00 pm (September 20, 2011 – January 31, 2012) | September 20, 2011 | May 17, 2012 | 2011-2012 | TBA | TBA |
Distribution[]
Home video[]
Screen Home Video has released Life on DVD in Regions 1, 2, and 3. Seasons 1–12 have been released to Regions 1 and 2 and Seasons 1-9 have been released in Region 3, season 13 has not been released, because the series is still airing.
| DVD Name | Ep# | Release dates | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | ||
| Life: The Complete First Season | 23 | January 17, 2002 | January 19, 2002 | February 18, 2005 |
| Life: The Complete Second Season | 23 | March 6, 2002 | March 8, 2002 | February 19, 2005 |
| Life: The Complete Third Season | 24 | May 23, 2002 | May 25, 2002 | February 23, 2005 |
| Life: The Complete Fourth Season | 25 | August 16, 2002 | October 21, 2002 | February 27, 2005 |
| Life: The Complete Fifth Season | 23 | July 3, 2003 | September 23, 2003 | May 19, 2006 |
| Life: The Complete Sixth Season | 24 | June 28, 2004 | October 15, 2004 | May 18, 2007 |
| Life: The Complete Seventh Season | 24 | June 29, 2005 | September 16, 2005 | June 17, 2008 |
| Life: The Complete Eighth Season | 24 | July 15, 2006 | November 15, 2006 | June 15, 2009 |
| Life: The Complete Ninth Season | 23 | July 5, 2007 | October 23, 2007 | July 2, 2010 |
| Life: The Complete Tenth Season | 23 | July 4, 2008 | October 22, 2008 | May 17, 2011 |
| Life: The Complete Eleventh Season | 17 | August 17, 2009 | December 3, 2009 | TBA |
| Life: The Complete Twelfth Season | 13 | November 12, 2010 | January 24, 2010 | TBA |
| Life: The Complete Thirteenth Season | 24 | August 2, 2011 | TBA | TBA |
| Life: The Complete 14th And Final Season | 28 | |||
Multiple Season Sets[]
Screen Home Video has also released multiple seasons in one boxset.