get a life

Get a life is an American English idiom. Used as a command, the phrase generally instructs its addressee to go out and make their way in the world, without being supported by outside sources such as parents or benefactors. It may also be directed at someone who is perceived as boring or single-minded, to suggest they acquire some other interests or hobbies. Some believe the term was popularized by William Shatner's appearance in a 1987 episode of Saturday Night Live, in which he tells a group of trekkies to "get a life." However, evidence of the term's use in the vernacular extends at least back into the 1970's, perhaps as part of a mainstream backlash against hippies.

Get A Life is the name of a television sitcom that aired on the Fox Network from 1990 to 1992. The show starred Chris Elliott as a 30 year old paperboy named Chris Peterson. Peterson lived in an apartment above his parent's garage (Elliot's parents were played by Elinore Donahue and his real life father, comedian Bob Elliott). Later the character moved out of his parents' house and into the garage of ex-cop Gus Borden, played by Brian Doyle-Murray. The show was a creation of Elliott, friend Adam Resnick, who, like Elliott, was a former writer for David Letterman's "Late Night with David Letterman" TV show, and David Mirkin, former writer and producer for "Newhart" and occasional writer and producer for The Simpsons. The show was unusual and surreal, to say the least. For example, Elliot's character actually dies in eleven episodes. The causes of death included being crushed by a giant boulder, old age, tonsillitis, stab wounds, gunshot wounds, and simply exploding. For this reason, it was a struggle for Elliott and Mirkin to get the show on the air. Many of the executives at the Fox Network hated the show and thought it was too disturbing and that Elliott's character was too insane. One of the more controversial characters on the show was Spewey the Alien, a grotesque extra-terrestrial who secreted banana pudding from under his scales when he became emotionally overwrought. Peterson and his landlord Gus barbecued and ate Spewey at one point, although the disgusting creature was resurrected inside their refrigerator.

Get A Life is an album recorded by punk group Stiff Little Fingers.

External links

IMDB entry

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