# What did you think of the NBC series "Life"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 28, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-of-the-nbc-series-life/684776 "2014-03-28T17:48:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wedgehed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8edcca/32.png) [@wedgehed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wedgehed)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-of-the-nbc-series-life/684776/1 "2014-03-28T17:48:05Z")
It ran for two seasons back around 2007-2008 & starred Damian Lewis (Captain Winters on Band of Brothers). I just watched it on Netflix & have to admit I kind of liked it. I suppose a lot of my enjoyment came from seeing familiar faces from other shows: BoB, Deadwood, & others. It’s not a cop show on the level of _The Wire_, but I guess it might compare to _Monk_. It even managed to have something of a resolution in the final episode. I just thought I’d toss it out here for former fans & folks looking for something to watch. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-of-the-nbc-series-life/684776/2 "2014-03-28T19:16:05Z")
It was one of my favorite shows. I loved Damian Lewis in that role: he knew just how to show that Charlie’s violent rage at what had happened to him was still boiling just beneath the surface, ready to come out if he let it. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-of-the-nbc-series-life/684776/3 "2014-03-28T19:22:14Z")
I thought it was fantastic, and was rather bummed when it was canceled. I was already a fan of both Damian Lewis and Sarah Shahi, and was glad to see them again. Unfortunately the creator’s new show, **Crisis** , is terrible. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-of-the-nbc-series-life/684776/4 "2014-03-28T19:34:15Z")
I thought the first season was amazingly good. The second season lost me when they revamped Sarah Shahi’s character and added Donal Logue as their boss, and then made him hit on her in a skeevy way and instead of shutting him down she was okay with it (WTF? He was gross! And her boss! And gross!), and they started a relationship or some shit, at which point I bailed out. Which was a real shame because the first season really was fantastic. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-of-the-nbc-series-life/684776/5 "2014-03-28T19:58:12Z")
I caught it in the middle of the second season and enjoyed it immediately. It had a different vibe than your typical police procedural. And the presence of not only Sarah Shahi, but also Christina Hendricks, in the cast should have made it a lock for lasting a long time. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-of-the-nbc-series-life/684776/6 "2014-03-28T20:20:36Z")
I liked it so much I bought the DVD set. 🆒 I think the first season was better than the second, and the probable reasons were: - either the network decided to not to renew the program for a third series, so the writers had to end all the story threads fast, or the writers just ran out of steam - Sarah Shahi became pregnant during the second series, so they had to minimise her role for many episodes ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-of-the-nbc-series-life/684776/7 "2014-03-28T20:24:07Z")
I absolutely loved the show. Lewis’s character was fantastic and I really liked the overarching search for who framed him plot. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-of-the-nbc-series-life/684776/8 "2014-03-28T20:27:33Z")
I loved the show and hated that it was canceled. I thought it was very clever and different than most other detective-type shows. I can now at least get my Sarah Shahi fix on Person of Interest at least. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-of-the-nbc-series-life/684776/9 "2014-03-28T20:32:45Z")
I loved the show. I loved the interaction between the two detectives. Crews would start rambling about something and Reese would just grip the steering wheel harder and harder. My favorite scene: > [@](#): > > ``` > Crews: What would you come back as? Reincarnation. Don't limit yourself you can choose an animal. > Reese: This one time should be plenty. Thank you. > Crews: I'd like to come back as a giant Flemish rabbit. 15 pounds of pure bunny. Or a whale can you imagine being a whale, thousands of feet under water. Can you imagine that. > Reese: Is it quiet down there? > > ``` I use the “Fifteen pounds of pure bunny” line all the time. ---
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-of-the-nbc-series-life/684776/10 "2014-03-28T21:10:10Z")
I liked season 1 quite a bit, but season 2 started feeling a bit flat. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-of-the-nbc-series-life/684776/11 "2014-03-28T22:42:13Z")
I thought it was decent, not spectacular. It introduced me to [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1mCjq39uPI&feature=kp), which I still love, so I’m glad I watched it for that reason alone. Also, Sarah Shahi is pretty awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-of-the-nbc-series-life/684776/12 "2014-03-29T00:37:09Z")
I was turned off fairly early - I didn’t like that the main character had seemingly near-superhuman investigation abilities and his dickish bullying of his ex-wife’s new husband struck me as abusive. ---
**Author:** ![Mithras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mithras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithras)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-of-the-nbc-series-life/684776/13 "2014-03-29T01:00:35Z")
It’s the only show I remember being disappointed by the cancellation of. I didn’t watch much TV at the time (didn’t have money for cable and internet streaming was virtually non-existent) but happened to catch the first episode and was hooked. It was mainly Damien Lewis’s performance that did it for me. I bought the season 1 DVD when it came out and noticed that they changed all the music used in the show for the worse. Most egregiously, I remember the song that played when we’re first shown the wall being perfect in the broadcast version. I was really looking forward to watching that again but with whatever they used in its place? Meh. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-of-the-nbc-series-life/684776/14 "2014-03-29T01:06:00Z")
Thoroughly enjoyed the show. I believe it was a victim of the writer’s strike. Fell in lust with Sarah Shahi in the first episode, and love that she is now on _Person of Interest_. And you could see Lewis’ talent that really got set free in _Homeland_. Add talented character actors (and soon to be sitcom lead) Garrett Dillahunt and Donal Logue and this series fired on all cylinders… …except when they brought in Gabrielle Union, whom I also lusted, but was a drag on the show. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-of-the-nbc-series-life/684776/15 "2014-03-29T05:27:30Z")
I think it was my introduction both to Damian Lewis and to Sarah Shahi. I liked a lot of it. I remember liking Charlie’s relationships with his old partner and his housemate. ---
**Author:** ![foxymoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d26b3c/32.png) [@foxymoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foxymoron)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-of-the-nbc-series-life/684776/16 "2014-03-29T09:45:22Z")
Loved it. Still miss it.