This American Life (TV series)

Last updated
This American Life
This american life.jpg
Host Ira Glass sitting at his desk in a promotional card
Directed byChristopher Wilcha
Starring Ira Glass
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes13 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersIra Glass
Banks Tarver
Ken Druckerman
Christine Vachon
Jocelyn Hayes
Christopher Wilcha
Running time26 minutes
Original release
Network Showtime
ReleaseMarch 22, 2007 (2007-03-22) –
May 28, 2009 (2009-05-28)

This American Life is an American television series based on the radio program of the same name. Like the radio program, the series is hosted by Ira Glass. The series premiered on March 22, 2007. Two seasons of the show aired on Showtime. The second season finale aired on September 3, 2008, [1] and Showtime aired one final episode in May 2009. [2]

Contents

In September 2009, Glass announced that he and the other creators of the show had "asked to be taken off TV", largely in part to the difficult schedule required to produce a television program. [3] He went on to state that the show is officially "on hiatus", but would like to do a television special at some point in the future. [3] From January 10 to April 4, 2011, Current TV re-aired the series in its entirety. [4]

Adaptation for television

The television version of This American Life is a twofold shift in media from public radio to commercial television. The TAL staff had already attempted to move their program to television once before in 1999. Even though two different networks offered to screen a pilot, the TAL staff ultimately decided that it would be too difficult to make a television show that reflected its already successful weekly radio show. In 2002, Showtime offered to shoot a pilot, to which the TAL staff eventually agreed. In 2007, the first episode, "Reality Check", aired on television. When the staff was asked why the show moved to a commercial television station, Showtime, instead of public television (i.e., PBS), it responded that Showtime invited them to do a television show while PBS did not. [5] This American Life still runs weekly on public radio distributed by the program's producers through Public Radio Exchange (formerly distributed by Public Radio International, which was merged into PRX in 2018).

Episodes

Season 1 (2007)

No.TitleOriginal release date
1"Reality Check"March 22, 2007 (2007-03-22)

Plans that started out as a good idea or a dream come true, but turn sour: the unpleasant experience known as a "reality check". All of the stories had been aired previously on the radio show, but were developed into film for the TV series.

  • Prologue: Pee Girl – Heather McElhatton
  • Act I. If by Chance We Meet Again – Jane Feltes/Ira Glass (originally from radio episode #291)
    • Ralph and Sandra Fisher's gentle and beloved Brahman bull "Chance" was nearing the end of his long life. The Fishers couldn't bear to live without Chance, so they asked researchers at Texas A&M University to clone him–the result being the first ever bull clone, whom they dub "Second Chance". But Second Chance is not as gentle as his namesake.
  • Act II. The Spy Who Loved Everyone – Jorge Just (originally from radio episode #286)
    • The flash mob group Improv Everywhere decides to give Vermont band Ghosts of Pasha their "Best Gig Ever" and pack a small club posing as highly devoted fans. But when the band realizes it was a prank, the effect is devastating. [6]
2"My Way"March 29, 2007 (2007-03-29)

An exploration of the benefits and costs of stubbornness.

  • Prologue: Side by Side – Ira Glass interviews Larry Wegielski, a man who spends several hours a day with his wife, in the family mausoleum.
  • Act I. Untitled – Ira Glass
    • Joe Kendrick, age 14, doesn't want to fall in love. Thus, he has chosen to never fall in love.
  • Act II. And Nothing but the Truth – Nazanin Rafsanjani
  • Act III. Still Life – Josh Seftel (part of his upcoming documentary feature)
    • Photographer Marcus Halevi discusses a sequence of tragic photos he took that led him to change his career path. [7]
3"God's Close-Up"April 5, 2007 (2007-04-05)
Stories where the faithful and the not-so-faithful cross paths, and where unexpected things happen when people try to get closer to God through pictures: hundreds of Polaroid camera-toting believers gather in the Mojave Desert each month hoping to see God. And an artist, his Jesus model, the model's atheist girlfriend, and her religious father face off over The Last Supper. [8]
4"The Cameraman"April 12, 2007 (2007-04-12)

Stories of how people act differently behind the camera can change a person, even if the camera isn't real.

  • Prologue: Untitled – Cartoonist Chris Ware illustrates a story of an elementary school art project and how a camera, even though it wasn't real, changed the way kids acted
  • Act 1. The Cameraman
    • G. J. Echternkamp makes a documentary of his family life in order to humiliate his parents (particularly his step-father, who was the bass player for the 1980s pop band OXO) for all the trouble they caused him. However, while doing this, he uncovers another side of his parents.
5"Growth Spurt"April 19, 2007 (2007-04-19)

What do you do if you don't like where you are in life? You simply decide to move forward into the next stage by sheer force of will. A widow; an ambitious, first-time screenwriter; and a 13-year-old girl all charge forward into their futures with uneven results. [9]

The first-time filmmaker is screenwriter Susan Knode, who produced her short "Bandida" [10] with help from her cohort at the Burbank Senior Arts Colony. [11]
6"Pandora's Box"April 26, 2007 (2007-04-26)
Three stories of consequences that follow from human beings doing what we do best: poking our noses everywhere, fixing things that may or may not be broken, and opening our big mouths. A hot dog stand in Chicago unleashes dark forces in the human soul and scientists try, unsuccessfully, to create perfect pigs. [12]

Season 2 (2008−09)

No.TitleOriginal release date
7"Escape"May 4, 2008 (2008-05-04)
People escaping home without going very far away. In Philadelphia, teenaged boys find ways to impress girls and break out of the confines of their families, using technology that's been obsolete in their neighborhood since the 19th century. And a mother and son get caught up in a fight that many kids have with their parents. Except in their case, due to some very specialized circumstances, they go through the fight in slow motion, over the course of years.
8"Two Wars"May 11, 2008 (2008-05-11)
Two foreigners try to make sense of life in the United States in the aftermath of two very different wars. A young Iraqi ends up in America after fleeing Iraq and goes on a road trip full of questions for Americans about the War. And a Bulgarian man in Rhode Island realizes that an ongoing argument with his American wife has to do with the life he left behind 20 years ago, on the other side of the Iron Curtain.
9"Going Down in History"May 18, 2008 (2008-05-18)
Stories of people trying to make, and remake, history, while others go down in history in ways they never intended. Two Wisconsin convicts gain local fame for almost escaping prison using dental floss. High school students pose for smiley yearbook snapshots, which capture nothing of the dramas in their lives. A man creates his own World War II inspired safe-haven after an attack left him brain damaged. And a man with a 30-year obsession with one particular bird unveils the grainy, Bigfoot-style video evidence that he saw it.
10"Underdogs"May 25, 2008 (2008-05-25)
There's a whole world of boxing way down the food chain from championship fights, and the stakes are high even without media hype and massive cash prizes. Two boxers in Tennessee who've known each other all their lives face off in a match that neither can afford to lose.
11"Every Marriage Is a Courtroom"June 1, 2008 (2008-06-01)
Cartoonist Chris Ware animates a true story that demonstrates that every marriage–even the happiest–is a courtroom. But most of the episode is devoted to the slow-motion disintegration of one couple's marriage. The husband's obsession with a legal battle forces the most basic marital questions into the open: what do I need? And what can I put up with?
12"John Smith"June 8, 2008 (2008-06-08)
The story of one life, told through the lives of people from all over the country, all named John Smith. Baby John Smith is 11 weeks old, in South Carolina, and his parents are still reeling from the sonograms that predicted he would be a girl. By the time he's 23, John Smith in Laramie, Wyoming, has made some mistakes and is appearing in front of a judge. At 46, he's in Texas, welcoming his oldest son back from Iraq. In-depth portraits of people growing up, growing old, and figuring out how to be fathers, husbands, and men in America today.
13"No Respect"May 28, 2009 (2009-05-28)
This episode examines comedians and their audiences. It includes segments about performing for a rowdy crowd, and a piece about Mike Birbiglia's worst gig ever. [13]

Reception

Critical reviews

Season one was well received. Giving the program four stars, People magazine said the series has an "offbeat sensibility and a reflective, compassionate intelligence," and said that the hosts "overarticulate the ironies instead of just letting you watch. Which you should do. Watch." [14] Entertainment Weekly gave the show a B+, saying "handsomely produced experimental series ought to please flexible fans—as well as so many more who are new to the notion of an artful grab-bag documentary series about real people describing little realities." [15] Commenting on where the program fell in "quirk" culture, Michael Hirschorn of the Atlantic said "the rhythms [of the show] are lulling, and everyone involved appears to be—is—smart, idiosyncratic, charmingly self-effacing, well-meaning," but added that "radio listeners can't really fight through Glass's scrim, so they have to take his word that the story is what he says it is. In the harsh light of television, however, the affectations of the radio show become glaringly clear." [16]

Season two continued to get good reviews. Entertainment Weekly again gave the program a B+, saying, "Purists can rest easy, as the televised version continues to lose nothing in translation." [17] People calls it a "superb series." [18] The A.V. Club named the episode "John Smith" one of the top ten episodes of the decade, saying, "it successfully blends the atmosphere of the radio series with the approach of a top-notch documentary to create one of the most moving non-fiction films of the decade...It’s the kind of riveting television that you stumble upon at 1 a.m. in a motel room and can’t switch off. [19]

Awards and nominations

In 2007, the series won two Primetime Emmy Awards: Outstanding Nonfiction Series and Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming. It was also nominated for Outstanding Cinematography for Nonfiction Programming, Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming and Outstanding Editing for Nonfiction Programming.

In 2008, the series was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards: Outstanding Cinematography for Nonfiction Programming, Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming, and Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming.

Home releases

Season one of the series was released on DVD exclusively to Borders bookstores in January 29, 2008. [20] On May 19, 2008, Showtime announced the release would "go wide" to other retailers on September 23, 2008. [21]

Season two was released on DVD to Borders on January 20, 2009. The set was given a wide release on July 17, 2009. [22]

Related Research Articles

<i>This American Life</i> Short stories radio program and podcast

This American Life (TAL) is a weekly hour-long American radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internationally, and is also available as a free weekly podcast. Primarily a journalistic non-fiction program, it has also featured essays, memoirs, field recordings, short fiction, and found footage. The first episode aired on November 17, 1995, under the show's original title, Your Radio Playhouse. The series was distributed by Public Radio International until June 2014, when the program became self-distributed with Public Radio Exchange delivering new episodes to public radio stations.

Desperate Housewives is an American comedy drama mystery television series created by Marc Cherry, and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a total of 180 episodes. Executive producer Marc Cherry served as showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season included Bob Daily, George W. Perkins, John Pardee, Joey Murphy, David Grossman, and Larry Shaw.

<i>Weeds</i> (TV series) American dark comedy-drama television series

Weeds is an American dark comedy-drama television series created by Jenji Kohan, which aired on Showtime from August 8, 2005, to September 16, 2012. The series tells of Nancy Botwin, a widowed mother of two boys who begins selling marijuana to support her family. Other main characters include Nancy's lax brother-in-law ; foolish accountant Doug Wilson ; narcissistic neighbor Celia Hodes living with her husband and their daughter ; as well as Nancy's wholesalers Heylia James and Conrad Shepard. Over the course of the series, the Botwin family becomes increasingly entangled in illegal activity.

<i>Lost</i> season 1 Season of television series

The first season of the television series Lost commenced airing in the United States and Canada on September 22, 2004, concluded on May 25, 2005, and contained 25 episodes. It introduces the 48 survivors of a plane that broke apart in mid-air, scattering them on a remote island in the South Pacific. Forced to work together to survive, they come to realize it is no ordinary island.

<i>Lost</i> season 2 Season of television series

The second season of the American serial drama television series Lost commenced airing in the United States and Canada on September 21, 2005, and concluded on May 24, 2006. The second season continues the stories of a group of over forty people who have been stranded on a remote island in the South Pacific, after their plane crashed forty-four days prior to the beginning of the season. The producers have stated that as the first season is about introducing the survivors, the second season is about a 1970s scientific Dharma Initiative research station which the survivors discovered on the island and refer to as "The Hatch".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greg Daniels</span> American writer, producer, and director (born 1963)

Gregory Martin Daniels is an American screenwriter, television producer, and director. He has worked on several television series, including writing for Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons, adapting The Office for the United States, and co-creating Parks and Recreation and King of the Hill. Daniels attended Harvard University, where he befriended and began collaborating with Conan O'Brien. His first writing credit was for Not Necessarily the News, before he was laid off because of budget cuts.

<i>The Simpsons</i> season 16 Season of television series

The sixteenth season of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons aired on Fox from November 7, 2004, to May 15, 2005. It contained 21 episodes, beginning with Treehouse of Horror XV. The season was produced by Gracie Films and 20th Century Fox Television. Executive producer Al Jean remained the showrunner. The season contains six hold-over episodes from the season 15 (FABF) production line. Season 16 was released on DVD and Blu-ray in Region 1 on December 3, 2013, Region 2 on December 2, 2013, and Region 4 on December 11, 2013.

<i>30 Rock</i> American television sitcom (2006–2013)

30 Rock is an American satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live, takes place behind the scenes of a fictional live sketch comedy show depicted as airing on NBC. The series's name refers to 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, where the NBC Studios are located and where Saturday Night Live is written, produced, and performed. The series was produced by Lorne Michaels's Broadway Video and Fey's Little Stranger, in association with NBCUniversal.

<i>The Simpsons</i> season 19 Season of television series

The nineteenth season of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons aired on Fox from September 23, 2007 to May 18, 2008. It was the final complete season to be broadcast in 4:3 and in standard definition, although the first nine episodes of season 20, which were holdover episodes of season 19, would also retain this standard. Al Jean served as the showrunner, a position he has held since the thirteenth season, while the season was produced by Gracie Films and 20th Century Fox Television.

<i>Smallville</i> season 7 Season of television series

The seventh season of Smallville, an American television series, began airing on September 27, 2007. The series recounts the early adventures of Kryptonian Clark Kent as he adjusts to life in the fictional town of Smallville, Kansas, during the years before he becomes Superman. The seventh season comprises 20 episodes and concluded its initial airing on May 15, 2008, marking the second season to air on The CW television network. Regular cast members during season seven include Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum, Kristin Kreuk, Allison Mack, Erica Durance, Aaron Ashmore, Laura Vandervoort, and John Glover. In addition to bringing in new regular cast members this season, the Smallville team brought in familiar faces from the Superman media history, old villains from the show's past, as well as new DC Comics characters Kara Zor-El and Dinah Lance.

<i>The Simpsons</i> season 20 Season of television series

The twentieth season of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons aired on Fox from September 28, 2008 to May 17, 2009. The season was produced by Gracie Films and 20th Century Fox Television. The showrunner for the season was Al Jean. With this season, the show tied Gunsmoke as the longest-running American primetime television series in terms of total number of seasons. The season was released on Blu-ray on January 12, 2010, making this the first season to be released on Blu-ray as well as the only one to contain both 16:9 widescreen and high-definition episodes. It was released on DVD in Region 1 on January 12, 2010, and in Region 4 on January 20, 2010. The season was only released on DVD in Region 2 on September 17, 2010, in a few areas.

<i>The Office</i> (American TV series) season 2 Season of television series

The second season of the American situation comedy television series, The Office, premiered in the United States on NBC on September 20, 2005, and ended on May 11, 2006. The season had 22 episodes, including its first 40-minute "super-sized" episode. The Office is an American adaptation of the British TV series, and is presented in a mockumentary format, documenting the daily lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictitious Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. The season stars Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, and B. J. Novak, with supporting performances from Melora Hardin, David Denman, Leslie David Baker, Brian Baumgartner, Kate Flannery, Angela Kinsey, Oscar Nunez, and Phyllis Smith.

<i>The Office</i> (American TV series) season 4 Season of television series

The fourth season of the American television comedy The Office premiered in the United States on NBC on September 27, 2007, and concluded on May 15, 2008. The season consisted of 9 half-hour episodes, and 5 hour-long episodes to comprise the 19 total episodes of material created. The Office is an American adaptation of the British TV series of the same name, and is presented in a mockumentary format, portraying the daily lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictitious Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. The season was originally set to include 30 episodes, but due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, production was called to a halt, in result, the season was shortened to 19 episodes. It stars Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, and B. J. Novak, with supporting performances from Melora Hardin, Ed Helms, Leslie David Baker, Brian Baumgartner, Creed Bratton, Kate Flannery, Mindy Kaling, Angela Kinsey, Paul Lieberstein, Oscar Nunez, Craig Robinson, and Phyllis Smith.

<i>Desperate Housewives</i> season 1 Season of television series

The first season of Desperate Housewives, an American television series created by Marc Cherry, commenced airing in the United States on October 3, 2004, concluded May 22, 2005, and consisted of 23 episodes. It tells the story of Mary Alice Young, a seemingly perfect housewife who commits suicide, fearing that a dark secret involving her, her husband, and their son would be exposed. At her wake, Mary Alice's four close friends and the main characters, Susan Mayer, Lynette Scavo, Bree Van de Kamp and Gabrielle Solis, are introduced. All of them live in the suburb of Fairview on Wisteria Lane. Narrating the series from beyond the grave, Mary Alice describes how her friends try to discover the reason for her suicide while dealing with the problems of their own personal lives.

<i>American Dad!</i> season 3 Season of television series

The third season of American Dad! first aired on the Fox Network in nineteen episodes from September 10, 2006, to May 20, 2007, before being included in two DVD box sets and in syndication. The series focuses on the eccentric upper middle class Smith family in a fictionalized version of Langley, Virginia and their six housemates: Father, husband, CIA agent, and Republican, Stan; his wife and housewife, Francine; their liberal, hippie, college-aged daughter, Hayley; their dorky high-school-aged son, Steve; the family's unusual goldfish, Klaus; and flamboyant, master of disguise alien, Roger.

<i>The West Wing</i> season 6 Season of television series

The sixth season of the American political drama television series The West Wing aired in the United States on NBC from October 20, 2004, to April 6, 2005, and consisted of 22 episodes.

<i>Heroes</i> season 1 Season of television series

The NBC superhero serial drama series Heroes follows the lives of people across the globe who possess various superhuman powers as they struggle to cope with their everyday lives and prevent foreseen disasters from occurring. The series premiered on American and Canadian television on September 25, 2006. The first season, which finished 21st of 142 American primetime television programs in Nielsen ratings, was released on DVD and HD DVD on August 28, 2007. The Blu-ray was released on August 26, 2008. Within the seasons of the show are "volumes", which allow the writers to focus on shorter story arcs. The first season comprises a single volume of 23 episodes called Genesis, which is also the same title of the show's pilot episode.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">W. Kamau Bell</span> American comedian and television host (born 1973)

Walter Kamau Bell is an American stand-up comic and television host. He has hosted the CNN series United Shades of America since 2016, and hosted FXX television series Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell from 2012 to 2013. He is the host of the live radio show and podcast Kamau Right Now on KALW, and also co-hosts the podcasts Denzel Washington Is The Greatest Actor Of All Time Period with Kevin Avery (comedian) and Politically Re-Active with Hari Kondabolu. In 2022, Bell directed and produced the documentary miniseries We Need to Talk About Cosby.

References

  1. ↑ "John Smith". This American Life. 8 January 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  2. ↑ "No Respect". This American Life. 8 January 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  3. 1 2 WBEZ official blog: "Exclusive: Ira Glass dishes on end of TAL TV. Will he return to Chicago? Archived 2013-08-13 at the Wayback Machine "
  4. ↑ "TV Archive by Season – This American Life". Thisamericanlife.org. Archived from the original on 2011-04-14. Retrieved 2011-01-13.
  5. ↑ "This American Life – About Our Television Show". Chicago Public Radio. 2008. Archived from the original on 2009-04-21. Retrieved 2009-05-10.
  6. ↑ "Reality Check". This American Life. 29 December 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  7. ↑ "My Way". This American Life. 29 December 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  8. ↑ "God's Close-Up". This American Life. 29 December 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  9. ↑ "Growth Spurt". This American Life. 8 January 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  10. ↑ "VFF: Film Profile: BANDIDA". Valleyfilmfest.com. Archived from the original on 2018-09-20. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  11. ↑ "Engaged Aging - Burbank Senior Artists Colony". Archived from the original on 2011-05-18. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  12. ↑ "Pandora's Box". This American Life. 8 January 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  13. ↑ "Recap for episode 7". Archived from the original on 2012-09-10. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
  14. ↑ "This American Life". People. 67 (12): 37–39. March 26, 2007.
  15. ↑ Schwarzbaum, Lisa (March 30, 2007). "Surreal 'Life'". Entertainment Weekly. No. 927. p. 62.
  16. ↑ Hirschorn, Michael (September 2007). "Quirked Around". Atlantic. 300 (2): 142–147. Archived from the original on March 16, 2019. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  17. ↑ Barrett, Annie (April 25, 2008). "This American Life". Entertainment Weekly. No. 988/989. p. 114.
  18. ↑ Gliatto, Tom (May 12, 2008). "This American Life". People. 69 (18): 40. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  19. ↑ VanDerWerff, Emily (12 November 2009). "The best TV episodes of the decade (from shows not on any of our other lists)". TV Club. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  20. ↑ McCutcheon, David (28 January 2008). "This American Life Borders DVD". IGN. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  21. ↑ "This American Life DVD news: General Release Date Given For This American Life – Season 1 –". Tvshowsondvd.com. Archived from the original on 2008-05-31.
  22. ↑ Noble, Barnes &. "This American Life: Season Two". Barnes & Noble. Archived from the original on 6 January 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.