this show was the best!! My wife and i loved it! Why do they cancel excellent shows like this ? We remember waiting all week for the show. I think it was a series after the initial mini- series. Maybe some time in 1987. Sarah Jessica Parker was great as a free spirited woman, opposite "sam" , her conservative husband ( or was it boyfriend). The father , Richard Kiley, did his best to keep the family together through a series of real -life (or so it seemed) situations. I remember he met a woman while bike riding and they met for coffee.. Then a romance began. It was the woman who played Roz Shays on LA LAW. The show was wholesome, sad, and funny, all at the same time.. They should bring it back as a one time movie or mini series. It seems like many people remember it fondly!!

The original "A Year in the Life," mini-series aired on NBC during the evenings of December 15, 16, and 17, 1986. This is one of the most heart warming and well produced movies that has ever been broadcast. Very few movies impact me the way that this one did. I simply can't understand why it was never released on either VHS or DVD. The musical score, composed by Elizabeth Swados is every bit as moving as the storyline. The writers of this mini-series did an exceptional job and the acting was superb. I was very sad to learn that David Oliver, who plays the role of Sam Gardner, died of AIDS in 1992. Richard Kiley, who died in 1999 does an outstanding job as the father and the overall emotional up and downs portrayed by the rest of the cast reminds me of very real life situations. I originally recorded the movie on VHS, EP mode, so the quality is marginal at best. If anyone learns that this exceptional mini-series becomes available on DVD or if the musical score becomes available on CD, please contact me at [email protected]. If you are reading this but have never seen the original mini-series, try to get your hands on a rare copy that was recorded on VHS and may be available on eBay or from some other source. I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

I remember watching the series '' a year in a life '' in 1986 it was shown at Christmas, from that day i have always have had fond memories of the show.whatever happened to Amanda Peterson the last film i saw her in was '' can't buy me love'' with a young patrick dempsey does anybody out there knows what happened to amanda peterson like i said i first saw the series '' a year in a life '' many years ago and it still remains a favorite of mine if anybody has any info on amanda peterson could you please post it.thank you

I agree that this was a simply wonderful, heartwarming and intelligently written show. Richard Kiley was at his best. How it lasted only one season just shows that networks care more about shows appealing to a mass audience -- just witness the endless reality TV shows on now.If anyone has tapes of this show I would TOO love to see it again. I had taped a few episodes when it aired but my NO CLUTTER sister tossed them when she "helped" me move -- it was like a free-for-all with stuff leaving I didn't even know what was going out the door.Another quality show that came and went quickly and starred "Early Edition's" dreamboat Kyle Chandler was "Homefront."