A Year in the Life

A Year in the Life
GenreDrama
Created byJoshua Brand
John Falsey
Developed byStu Kreiger
StarringRichard Kiley
Jayne Atkinson
Adam Arkin
David Oliver
Sarah Jessica Parker
Amanda Peterson
Wendy Phillips
Morgan Stevens
Diana Muldaur
ComposerDavid McHugh
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes22 + miniseries
Production
Running time60 minutes
Production companiesFalahey/Austin Street Productions
Universal Television
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseDecember 15, 1986 (1986-12-15) –
April 13, 1988 (1988-04-13)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

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 US television season with a 16.9/27 rating/share.[1]

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.[2]

  1. ^ (Three or more parts.) TV Guide magazine, June 27–July 3, 1987, issue #1787. All figures are based on the Nielsen ratings. The rating represents the percentage of the 87.4 million TV households tuned to a station (sets watching this show). The share represents the percentage of TV sets tuned to a television station at the time of the broadcast (sets in use).
  2. ^ "The TV Ratings Guide: 1987-88 Ratings History".