This show debuted when I was in the 6th grade, and it quickly became one of my favorite TV shows. I remember feeling bowled-over when seeing the opening credits and theme song for the first time - it was one of the funniest, most realistic portrayals of a regular family I had ever seen. The same can be said for the rest of the show. Being only a few years younger than Becca, and nerdy like her, I completely related to her trials and tribulations. At the time I didn't think the inclusion of a Down Syndrome character was that big of a deal, but looking back I realize how groundbreaking it was for a family show to portray a main character with a mental disability. I enjoyed Corky just as much as Becca.The first three seasons were great, and it stayed on track as a unique family show that focused on Corky and his challenges going to a regular school and trying to live a regular life. However, the fourth season took a sharp turn as it focused 90% of its time on Becca's boyfriend Jesse, who had AIDS. At the time, AIDS was just starting to become a mainstream cause, though there were still many misconceptions about the disease. I'm glad the show, never afraid of being edgy, portrayed a character with AIDS, but I wish he wasn't the focus. I actually grew tired of Becca and Jesse's constant dramas every week, and wasn't surprised when the show ended. It was kind of depressing for me to see Becca's life constantly consumed by Jesse and his AIDS status, and I wish the writers let her have a bit more fun during the last days of her high school years. The final episode, which wrapped up the Becca/Jesse storyline, was particularly strange and I wish they had went full circle and focused on Corky instead.

This show was a GREAT show, it was about a middle class American family who had to deal with a great deal of different "drama's" that life threw at them to include everything from business problems (they owned a restaurant) to marital problems, to coping with mainstreaming their son w/ down syndrome, to their daughter being in love with a man who has HIV / AIDS and then eventually what he had to deal with and what they as a couple had to deal with.It was a great show, i was just a kid when it was on, but i just loved it and my family greatly related to it in many ways, my father having a sister who has down syndrome, and us coming from a regular middle class American family who've seen the ups and downs this glorious ever evolving and continuing life has brought us.It wasn't always easy to watch. It wasn't always hard. But it was always consistently a caring, warm, relatively honest depiction of middle class American life at that time.

Every week I watched "Life Goes On" and it was the best show ever. Kellie Martin was the breakout star; she was great. Her boyfriend, Jesse McKenna, played by Chad Lowe, was wonderful. Corky was terrific. There is only positive about this show. It was great and I wish some network would rerun it now.

The other day I watched an episode were Corky was a bit depressed because he wasnt creative like his sister and mother. So his father talks to him and explains that creative can also be to make people happy. Corky looks at him and learns another thing about life. In his somewhat naive way he is wiser than many people, even if he has downs syndrome. During the series tune at the start they sing happy ever after in the market place etc., and there is a short picture of the caracters. Corky sits in bed making his bag ready for school, and he looks at the camera who probably is one of his parents, and smiles that smile. Another great/entertaining thing is Tyler (Beccas friend who always needs tutoring to be able to play sports) wearing those big 80+s sneakers and washed jeans and of course the mullet head hair style. GREAT for this but most for depicting a really nice family and their struggles, good times and hardships.