Trivia / Get a Life

• Channel Hop: Actually, more like a production company hop; the first season was produced by New World Television, and when they sold most of that division to Sony, they used that library to reactivate TriStar's TV division, which then produced the second season.
• Charlie Kaufman wrote two episodes, as did Bob Odenkirk.
• Creator Backlash: Chris Elliott and Adam Resnick were very disappointed with the direction the show took starting around the end of the first season. While Elliott and Resnick imagined a show more rife with extremely dark Black Comedy, show-runner David Mirkin and The Fox Network took the show into a Lighter and Softer direction. Elliott and Resnick basically threw their hands up in frustration and allowed Mirkin and Fox to do whatever they wanted, with Elliott only showing up on acting days. This is why Elliott and Resnick refused to participate in any of the commentaries or extra features when the show was finally released to DVD, since they sincerely felt that the show had been taken away from them and was nothing like what they originally wanted it to be.
• Real-Life Relative: Fred Peterson was played by Chris Elliott's real-life father Bob Elliott (of Bob & Ray fame).
• Real Song Theme Tune: "Stand" by R.E.M..
• What Could Have Been:
  • Word of God says the show started out as a pilot for an American version of Britcom The Young Ones, with Elliott in the Rik Mayall role. the pilot was shot, but was shelved for Mirkin and Elliott to come up with a new idea.
  • David Mirkin also said if the show had had a third season, "Chris would have moved out of Gus' garage and become a homeless drifter. And he would have traveled the country, in every place touching someone else's life and making it a little bit worse".
• You Look Familiar: Brian Doyle-Murray played Ted Baines, runner of Handsome Boy Modeling Agency in Season One, and then showed up as forcibly-retired cop Gus Borden, Chris' landlord in Season Two.

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