102 EMMY
ABC had asked producer-writer Michael
Braverman (Quincy M.E., Chicago Hope) to create
a show for Burke, then a twenty-four-year-old
novice actor. A high-functioning young man, he
had appeared in Desperate, a 1987 ABC telefilm
written by Braverman. After Desperate, Burke
worked as an elevator operator at a school for
children with disabilities. Then Life Goes On came
along and changed his life.
Corky faced many struggles, including
attempts to learn math and to drive a car. In
one episode, he accidentally set fire to his dad’s
restaurant. In time, however, he became an usher
at a movie theater and married a young woman
(Andrea Friedman), also with Down.
Produced by Warner Bros. and shot on the
studio’s Burbank lot, the affecting, uplifting show
had perhaps its biggest impact in season four,
when Becca dated an HIV-positive boy played by
Chad Lowe. Airing Sundays at 7 p.m. opposite 60
Minutes, the show ran four seasons and won two
Emmys.
Emmy contributor Jane Wollman Rusoff
interviewed Braverman — Life Goes On’s creator,
executive producer and director — and the
principal cast about the groundbreaking series.The Genesis
Michael Braverman: I have a nephew named
Charles who has Down syndrome, so I was aware
of how beautiful young men and women with
Down syndrome are. There’s a certain nobility in
their honesty. In the interviews, Chris stood out.
After [Desperate], ABC came to me, saying, “Let’s
do something with Chris” and asked me to come
up with a bunch of ideas.
At the time, there was an outcry that there
were no family shows on television. The studio
heads had to testify before Congress. So they
created Primetime Access, the hour before
primetime, when they would run only family
shows. I thought, “I’ll write about my nephew.” I
presented the show to ABC, and they bought it.Chris Burke: The show focused on the parents
having a child who was born with a disability. It was
about the ability of the parents and their support.
Corky had a lot of challenges and struggles, but
he never gave up.Bill Smitrovich: The show had a message
contained within the entertainment. It was funny.
It was dramatic. It was informative.Monique Lanier: We were doing something
different. We felt it mattered. It was a special thing,
so we thought, “Let’s do it well.”Kellie Martin: The show had a purity of mission.
It set itself up as this real look at a family dealing
with a child who has significant challenges — and
what the reality of that is. The show wanted tobe very grounded in real life. They didn’t want to
present shiny, happy people.The Actors
Patti LuPone: I was doing Anything Goes [on
Broadway] and got a call from my agent to come
in for a test for a television show. I was living in
Connecticut, two hours north of Manhattan. The
next day I woke up and thought, “I’m not going to
the city this morning.” So I canceled the test and
came in the following day. Before the test, I said,
“I’m real sorry I canceled yesterday, but I wasn’t
feeling it.” They told me that my talking to the
camera like that was more interesting than the
test and gave me the part. I was shocked, because
I never get parts through auditions. It was the first
time that I did episodic television.Smitrovich: Patti and I auditioned separately, and
then they put us together in a studio in New York.
We did a couple of scenes beautifully. I thought we
fit together really well, a compatible couple.Martin: I was turning thirteen and had about five
auditions. For the final one, for the network, I
decided not to wear my red glasses, which I’d
worn for the first audition, because I wanted to
feel prettier. But the producer said, “Where are
your red glasses? We need those red glasses! Put
them on!” So I put on my prescription glasses over
my prescription contacts — and I couldn’t see a
thing!Lanier: Patti was fantastic and very New York. She
wasn’t rude, by any means, but I wouldn’t mess
with her. I feel lucky that she liked me.Tracey Needham: Patti is a huge, strong
personality. She always knew exactly what she
wanted and how she wanted it done. She was
super-supportive and really funny, in a snarky
sort of way. She played up the diva, but you could
tell it was an act. It was done to keep everybody
entertained and keep up their energy, because the
hours were long.Burke: Patti is a Broadway musical genius. She
taught me a lot, because of her Broadway musical
background and her film and TV roles.Martin: Working with Patti for four years was the
most incredible acting class. I learned so much
from her. She’s my second mom! She’s so well
trained, yet she’s very spontaneous.Braverman: There was nothing Kellie couldn’t
do. Every actor says, “I missed that. Let me
take it again.” Not Kellie. She never missed a
line. It was astounding! Bill is the consummate
professional. Without fail, Bill and Patti almost
always instinctively made the right choices for the
moment.Needham: They brought me on to write off the
character of Paige, but I ended up staying. I was
so green to acting. The first couple of episodes, I
affected an accent that I thought would make me
sound smarter. I think Paige was originally sort
of a hippie. But then she became awkward and
dorkier. Maybe I added that because I can be a
tiny bit awkward.Working with Chris
Braverman: Chris was amazing. We wrote to his
abilities. We didn’t write heavy dialogue scenes
for him. We’d prepare cue cards, but generally he
didn’t need them. At the end of the pilot, Corky
recites a part of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven.”
Chris had memorized that entire part of the
poem. We had made up cue cards, but he didn’t
want to use them. We got it in one take.Burke: Memorizing lines came easy to me. I went
over them with my father, and I had two dialogue
coaches.LuPone: Chris was funny and sweet and joyful.
I watched him mature as he was given more
responsibility. Seeing him come into his own was
really moving.Smitrovich: Chris started out as a kid with Down
syndrome who wanted to be an actor. By season
three, he was an actor who just happened to
have Down syndrome.Martin: The gift of working with Chris is that he
reacts to everything honestly. When you’re doing
a scene with him, you get a real reaction.Lanier: Chris’s enthusiasm to be an actor
was so pure and not wrapped up in ego or
defensiveness. Bill was like my dad off set too,
kind of fatherly. He was kind and humble and
available and very concerned about my career.LuPone: One had to know how to encourage
Chris in a scene to relax him, to make it as if we
weren’t acting. When you could get him to that
level, it was fine. But he would have meltdowns
if his nervousness got in the way of his focus.
There were times when we had to do several
takes because he couldn’t pronounce a word
or he’d get lost. That happens to a lot of actors.
He’d get really upset with himself. He’d try to say
the line again, and he couldn’t because he was
tied up in a little knot in his head.
The producers and writers weren’t
necessarily prepared to deal with this. The
schedule was grueling. But Chris’s wonderful
father, Frank, and mother, Marian, were always
on the set. Frank was always able to talk to Chris
and calm him down and help him out.Martin: Every once in a while, there was a line