Life As We Know It was an American television drama on the ABC network during the 2004-2005 season. It was created by Gabriel Sachs and Jeff Judah , the same team that created the criticallly acclaimed (but short-lived) series Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared, from the novel "Doing It" by British writer Melvin Burgess .

Set at Woodrow Wilson High School in Seattle, Washington, Life As We Know It's lead was Dino Whitman (Sean Faris ), a star ice hockey player. He had an uneasy relationship with his girlfriend, Jackie Bradford (Missy Peregrym ), a soccer player. His best friends were Ben Connor (Jon Foster ), who was carrying on an affair with a teacher, Monica Young (Marguerite Moreau); and Jonathan Fields (Chris Lowell ), a nervous soul, especially about his girlfriend, Deborah Tynan (Kelly Osbourne). Jonathan was made even more nervous by Deborah's mother, a nurse, sitting him down for a frank and graphic discussion about sex and its consequences.

Dino's parents marriage fell apart after his mother had an affair with his hockey coach. His father, Michael, was played by D.B. Sweeney and his mother, Annie, was played by Lisa Darr . Jackie's best friend was Sue Miller (Jessica Lucas ), a very competitive academic star. Coach Dave Scott was played by Martin Cummins .

The show broke the fourth wall by having characters step out of the scene--which proceeded behind them in slow motion--and directly address the camera.

Variety called it "a sly, sweet look at high school . . . so good that you immediately make room on your shelf for the cult-fave DVD because you know this is the kind of show that gets cancelled after five episodes." TV Guide, however, disliked "the show's relentless obsession with sex", saying Life As We Know It "is Dawson's Love Canal or Mind of the Obsessive Horndog, as sweaty and anxious in its depiction of male adolescent cravings as it is trite and predictable in its gooey soap opera."

The show was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, by Sachs-Judah Productions and (ca)bloom!, in association with Touchstone Television, a corporate subsidary of The Walt Disney Company for the Disney-owned ABC Channel. It originally aired on Thursdays from 9 to 10 P.M., premiering on October 7, 2004. Pulled during November sweeps, it was to return on January 6, 2005 at 8 P.M. Reruns of the series appeared on MTV to good ratings in November and December 2004.

The theme song was "Sooner or Later", performed by Michael Tolcher .

References

• Josef Adalian. "'Geeks' duo bonds with Touchstone". Daily Variety. June 10, 2004.
• Josef Adalian. "ABC's new lease on 'Life'". Daily Variety. December 8, 2004.
• Ann Donahue. Review of Life As We Know It. Daily Variety. October 6, 2004.
• Virginia Heffernan. "What (Sex) Boys (Sex) Think (Sex) About." The New York Times. October 7, 2004.
• Matt Roush . "Down, Boys!". TV Guide. October 10, 2004.

External links

• Official site