Overview
The drama featured the Thacher family, whose son, Charles "Corky" Thatcher (played by Chris Burke), had Down syndrome, while their daughter Becca (played by Kellie Martin) was gifted but socially awkward with her classmates. Tony Award winning stage actress Patti LuPone played the mother Elizabeth ("Libby") and Bill Smitrovich played the father Drew. Eldest sister Paige Thatcher was played by Monique Lanier during the 1989–1990 seasons and by Tracey Needham during the 1990–1993 seasons. Becca's boyfriend and Corky's buddy Tyler Benchfield was played by Tommy Puett. Jerry Berkson (Ray Buktenica) was Libby's quirky boss. In the latter two seasons of the show Becca's boyfriend Jesse McKenna was played by Chad Lowe.
Executive Producer Michael Braverman first cast Chris Burke in the 1987 television movie Desperate, based on Braverman's favorite book, Lord Jim. After seeing Burke's work, ABC executives asked Braverman to create a show around Burke.
The show is set in the Chicago suburb Glenbrook, Illinois, which is named after the high school attended at the time by one of Braverman's children, the name itself a blend of the real suburbs served by the school, Glenview and Northbrook.
The opening credits of each episode end with a shot of Arnold, the family dog (billed as "Arnold the Semi-Wonder Dog"). Apparently forgotten by the family, he sits forlornly in the kitchen with his empty food bowl in his mouth and lets it drop to the floor. The show's producers received a constant trickle of letters each week from viewers who thought this was cruel, so in the final episode's opening credits, a bag of dog food spills out of a nearby cabinet.
Read more about this topic: Life Goes On (TV series)