My Life and Times (1991) User Reviews

Why'd they cancel it so fast?

[naturman · 9/10 · 29 April 2008]

This was a terrific show that barely got out of the starting gates before ABC got rid of it. Couldn't understand it then and don't now.

It was a novel concept and though the actors obviously went on to bigger (not always better) things, i.e. My So Called Life, Mad About You, this had the potential to run for a long while, and a chance for the audience to really get to know this man's life.

I remember him looking back on the one that got away, Claudia Christian as I remember, and it was just so well done.

The acting and writing were terrific. The networks don't always realize that shows take a while to build an audience, but this one was, like Claudia Christian,

the one that got away.

A Wonderful Show -- and killed before it had a chance...

[kdladage · 1 January 2005]

I cannot recall how I first discovered this little gem, I just recall falling in love with it almost immediately. I watched it religiously. I had to hunt for it, since in San Diego it seemed like they moved its time slot every single week... it was on Wednesday at 8pm, then Saturday at 9pm, then I had to locate it at almost 1am... but I found it, and I watched it, and I loved it. Then it was gone.

Why? Was the acting sub-par? Hardly. It was some of the finest performances on television.

Was the writing bad? Not a chance. It was witty, intelligent, tender, and amazing. It was written as a story of a man that was telling his own life story, of what it was to live and learn in the 1980s. And it was told in such a way that, each time you thought you knew him, you learned something else to make you appreciate all that he had gone through.

So what was it? I haven't the faintest. It did, however, begin a trend -- each time I have really begun liking a television show, it gets canceled almost immediately. From "My Life and Times" all the way up to "Firefly" -- I just cannot seem to win.

Find this series memorable enough to comment on it

[Miles-10 · 6/10 · 17 October 2000]

"My Life and Times" was an uneven series. There were episodes that were just simply mundane. At moments, however, the poignancy for which the show reached came through--then disappeared again, to turn up the next week, or perhaps not. Part of the problem may have been that the situation of a Boomer reaching his eighties simply has not happened yet. The Boomer in the audience could not or did not want to identify with Ben Miller. Yet his fate will undoubtedly be that of some of us: When he tries to explain his life to the young nurses taking care of him in 2035, they do not know the difference between the 1960s and the 1980s. (Come to think of it, this is a problem of already since the Millennial generation does not remember the '60s at all and only barely recalls the '80s.) On the other hand, one of my favorite episodes was the somewhat flawed attempt to imagine from the vantage of 1991 what it would be like on New Year's Eve 1999. That would be a good episode to see again to see what they got right and what they did not. Speculative fiction always risks a great deal when it looks to the future. It imagines that some things will change more than they will and that others will change less, but the show rightly guessed that there would be a few nut cases running around predicting doom at midnight and that the clock would bring in the New Year with nostalgia and celebration but no doom. All in all, an unusual show but one that did not have enough steam, enough daring, to execute an ambitious and provocative idea.

The Best Six Episodes Nobody Saw

[vinmar · 24 July 2001]

I know of only a handful of people who actually saw or remember this show. Some remember it fondly, others get it confused with "My So-Called Life" (which ironically stars the same actor, Tom Irwin). This was one of the most creative shows I had ever seen, with a concept that could have led to an almost endless number of episodes and ideas. The "Jessie" episode stands out as the most poignant 30 minutes of television I can remember. Watching how they handled a time-period/event that had already happened (i.e. the 1989 S.F. Earthquake in the pilot) and then seeing how they handled the future in '91 (i.e. New Year's Eve 1999) kept this show entertaining and original in it's brief run. It would have been a classic by now had it been allowed more time to find an audience than the six-episodes ABC gave it.

Best show nobody saw

[veejmar · 25 August 2004]

Six episodes aired on ABC in the spring of 1991 and that alone was enough to make this my favorite TV show of all time. A unique concept, great writing, and an endless list of possible story lines had they given the show a chance to grow. The first episode dealt with the '89 San Francisco earthquake, subsequent episodes took place in New York City in the '70s ("Jessie") and 80s, as well as New Year's Eve, 1999. Whoever came up with the concept for this show had something unlike anything we've seen on TV before or since. Helen Hunt was terrific, as were all of the characters, but Tom Irwin as Ben Miller really stood out. He later went on to star in another great show that was pulled way too soon, My So-Called Life. Great memories of this show. A true classic. "I'm Ben Miller....and these are My Life and Times..."

Six episodes and you are out.

[doctardis · 14 August 2001]

This was a low rated by critically acclaimed show. It was original clever and well acted. It up a lump in my throat each time I watched it. I loved the one where the old man is tells his grandson what life was like in the 1980's. This is a show that deserved more of a chance to build an audience. This show was probably ahead of it's time, since most baby-boombers would have to imagine themselves living at a retirement home. In a few years, they probably will be better able to imagine it.

A Once in a Lifetime event.

[HyperPup · 1 October 2003]

Perhaps it was the fickleness of the 90's or the fact that we were actively forgetting the identities of the 70's and 80's but when this show debuted it came off to such great critical acclaim and then like most critically acclaimed shows, it vanished. I am proud to have seen this series. As someone who considers himself a true lover of scifi and not just pulp or space operas this was a vista as open as any epic scifi novel. With the gentileness of one listening to their Grandparents tell stories of their youth and "salad days" we watch as elderly retiree Ben Miller regails all that will listen (including us) of his loves, losses, triumphs and pitfalls. The show was definately ahead of its time. When most scifi shows were exploring space, this one was more concerned with exploring the human condition, of the future and society on family and I think that has made all the difference. This was definately television too good for television.

What a great show

[doctardis · 7 March 2004]

This show had all the makings of a very soap oprea like show, but with fine acting and writing it created something wonderful. There are not may episodes, and it is hard to know if they would have been able to keep up the show. What was there was great. The whole show is told in flashback as an old man talks about his life with his grandson. His first wife is played by Helen Hunt. He has a number of jobs during his life time, and sees history from one man's view. He worked as a cab driver in the go-go 80's. He made and lost a fortune on a passenger's stock tip. When Helen Hunt died, I got a lump in my throat. But like most people he learns to live and love again. The only unrealistic scene is when one of the grandson's friends likes one of his stories.

See you in 2035!

[magm · 28 January 2003]

This was an awesome show. I guess I am one of the few who did see it, and, fortunately, taped 5 of the 6 episodes. "Jessie" was so well written, acted and edited I've watched it a number of times to just enjoy something done so well.

That episode was the first thing I saw Claudia Christian in, and have been a fan of hers ever since. Met her once (lucky me!) and got to tell her that also! She said she really enjoyed working on that and was quite proud of it.

Ditto for Helen Hunt, that's where she first came to my awareness too, and I followed her happily to "Mad About You".

My second favorite episode (close behind "Jessie") is "Fare on Park Avenue" -- SO well done. Like too many exceptional quality shows that don't fit a preconceived formula, it didn't get a chance to build an audience.

Why? Why? Why? did it disappear.

[plaporta · 6 June 2006]

Perhaps my all-time favorite show. I still remember the earthquake which prohibited Ben from seeing the birth of his child. It truly showed how things which are so important to us can be overshadowed by other events. We should not place too much value on anything.

Maybe what ended up making this show so great, fresh and well-written was the fact that it didn't have a chance to become redundant or stale. The show which stated that the only constant in life is change was, in fact, a victim of itself. In this day and age when shows are just thrown together it was so well written that every event was tied together - nothing was left hanging. I just wish I had taped the show so I could relive those shining moments of true literature on TV.

One of my favorites

[suzanneesq · 2 February 2009]

I was so disappointed when this was canceled. I was immediately drawn in to this show.

Why was it canceled? The 30-min drama format has never been successful, except for daily soaps . . . before 1980. Sports Night did better but that was a witty drama. This show was a straight half-hour drama. And at the end of each episode I was frustrated it was over. For me, I couldn't wait for the next episode, but most viewers were just frustrated, I guess.

Tom Irwin was just on 24. Dead in one episode--this guy's such a good actor; will we ever really see him in something again?

Too good for TV

[Gregorso · 28 January 2009]

The series was created by the same guy who gave us the emotionally powerfully "Beauty and the Beast" TV series.

I loved the way that, no matter how sad the events in Ben's life would be, you knew that as an old man he would be able to look back at it with peace. Hopefully, we all will be able to share what we've learned in life with our grandchildren.

It was really able to put life's events in perspective. Like one of the previous comments said: It was just too good for TV. I can only hope that the series will be made available to view again through some means.