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The Worst Episodes of Life Goes On

Every episode of Life Goes On ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of Life Goes On!

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Life Goes On is a television series that aired on ABC from September 12, 1989, to May 23, 1993. The show centers on the Thatcher family living in suburban Chicago: Drew, his wife Elizabeth, and

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  1. #1 Worst Episode
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    Life Goes On Season 3 Episode 9 - Loaded Question
    5.5/10(14 votes)

    #1 - Loaded Question

    S3:E9

    The thatcher household is burglarized. Suspicions center on an Africa-American welder named Marquis ( another aquaintance of Paige's, he taught her how to weld.) Drew and Libby debate over whether having a gun is the best thing to do. Corky and Arnold are alone watching (what else, a cop show) when Corky hears sounds from outside. He gets the gun, goes outside in that sneaky cop fashion (emulating the show) and fires. Turns out Marquis was returning something, and the family realizes how much they overreacted.

    Director:David Carson
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Life Goes On Season 1 Episode 8 - Call of the Wild
    5.7/10(20 votes)

    #2 - Call of the Wild

    S1:E8

    Drew works on a construction project at an Indian burial ground. A wolf who mysteriously gaurds the grounds saves Corky from Dobermans pursuing him in a nearby wooded area.

    Director:Georg Fenady
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Life Goes On Season 2 Episode 15 - Last Stand in Glen Brook
    5.7/10(17 votes)

    #3 - Last Stand in Glen Brook

    S2:E15

    Becca organizes a '60s-style protest in support of a record store owner (Quincy Jones) arrested for selling allegedly obscene material. She begins having nightmares of ""Thought Police"" (censorship cops) storming through Glenn Brook.

    Director:Larry Shaw
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Life Goes On Season 3 Episode 7 - Dueling Divas
    5.8/10(16 votes)

    #4 - Dueling Divas

    S3:E7

    Libby's vivacious cousin Gaby ( also played by Patti Lupone) breezes in from Sicily like a whirlwind, touching everyone's lives-and turning Libby green with envy.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Life Goes On Season 1 Episode 14 - The Return of Uncle Richard
    5.9/10(22 votes)

    #5 - The Return of Uncle Richard

    S1:E14

    Drew's younger brother Richard, a lovable family black sheep, breezes in at a time when Corky is beginning to wonder who'll look after him when his parents die. Drew and Richard don't get along, but needless to say, the kids love him. The culmination of Drew's mending relationship with Richard comes when Libby and Drew entrust the care of Corky to Richard if something were to happen to them.

    Director:Kim Friedman
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Life Goes On Season 2 Episode 13 - Isn't It Romantic
    6.0/10(17 votes)

    #6 - Isn't It Romantic

    S2:E13

    Cupid is shooting arrows at almost everyone. First Hans gets a crush on a lady that delivers newspapers whose husband just died. Kent, Paige's motorcycle man returns and aings ""Wild Thing"" to her at the Grill and they get back together. Becca has to dissect a frog in biology and her partner is a boy named Matt. They have an up and down relationship but still end up together rather than as friends. Tyler catches them smooching in the hall and becomes jealous. He sneaks into Becca's room that night and proclaims his feelings to her only to find out that it is Zoe he is talking to...Becca is out with Matt. Jerry develops a crush on Gina and they go out on a date provided that only the human part of Jerry is allowed on the date and if Jerry shows up, the date is over.

    Director:Michael Lange
    Writer:Unknown

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  7. Life Goes On Season 4 Episode 5 - Love Letters
    6.0/10(19 votes)

    #7 - Love Letters

    S4:E5

    Becca and Co. find old World War II letters at the bookstore. (Martin, Smitrovich, and Burke read selected letters while they palyed, respectively, soldier's girlfriend working at a factory, a soldier working a machine gun in a trench, and another soldier reading a letter in a tent.) Eric gets cozy with Becca, and Jesse does the same with a woman from an art gallery named Jill. Becca returns the letters to the woman who wrote them. I think this is where Corky and Amanda got officially married.

    Director:Georg Fenady
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Life Goes On Season 1 Episode 11 - Pets, Guys and Videotape
    6.1/10(23 votes)

    #8 - Pets, Guys and Videotape

    S1:E11

    Paige goes to work for a veteranarian who is very kind with suffering animals but kind of insufferable with humans. The vet is divorced and has a child. Meanwhile, Becca videotapes a hectic day in the life of her working mother.

    Director:Mel Damski
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Life Goes On Season 1 Episode 6 - Paige's Date
    6.2/10(24 votes)

    #9 - Paige's Date

    S1:E6

    Drew sets up Paige with a charmer whose head is in the clouds; unfortunately his sense of responsibility seems to be mired in quicksand.

    Director:Jerry Jameson
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Life Goes On Season 2 Episode 14 - The Bigger Picture
    6.4/10(17 votes)

    #10 - The Bigger Picture

    S2:E14

    Gina despairs when nothing she does is right in the eye of her mother, and Corky despairs when his special-ed substitute suddenly takes leave.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Life Goes On Season 1 Episode 20 - Save the Last Dance for Me
    6.5/10(18 votes)

    #11 - Save the Last Dance for Me

    S1:E20

    Becca's aged dance teacher (Viveca Lindfors) must enter a nursing home.

    Director:Larry Shaw
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Life Goes On Season 2 Episode 21 - Lighter Than Air
    6.5/10(14 votes)

    #12 - Lighter Than Air

    S2:E21

    Libby cooks up a great ad for a line of diet frozen foods; Corky and Zoe paly Sherlock Holmes and snoop into Tyler's furtive behavior.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Life Goes On Season 1 Episode 7 - Paige's Mom
    6.6/10(23 votes)

    #13 - Paige's Mom

    S1:E7

    Paige's mom comes back. They have a great time, and make plans for a trip to New England. Paige's mom winds up living without Paige. A lot of flashbacks to when Paige's mom, an actress, originally left. Tearful ending with Paige calling Libby mom.

    Director:Gene Reynolds
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Life Goes On Season 2 Episode 9 - A Thacher Thanksgiving
    6.6/10(14 votes)

    #14 - A Thacher Thanksgiving

    S2:E9

    Corky pictures the family at the Pilgrims' first Thanksgiving; Drew, opening the restaurant for the holiday, meets an old classmate who is homeless.

    Director:Charles Braverman
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Life Goes On Season 2 Episode 10 - Libby's Sister
    6.6/10(17 votes)

    #15 - Libby's Sister

    S2:E10

    Tension between Becca and Drew isn't helped by the arrival of Libby's sister Gina (Mary Page Keller) and neice Zoe ( Leigh Ann Orsi).

    Director:Rick Rosenthal
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Life Goes On Season 4 Episode 2 - Exposed
    6.6/10(18 votes)

    #16 - Exposed

    S4:E2

    Jesse paints a nude painting of Becca. (It is never determined if she posed nude or if the nudity was solely the product of Jesse's imagination.) Becca decides to let it be shown in the Nevermore Bookstore, and this leads to a nice scandal. Endless date proposals on her answering machine are just the tip of the iceberg. See, Drew buys his paper there, and when he sees his daughter's voluptuous body immortalized in paint, he goes nuts, even lecturing Becca at school loudly enough for Becca's French class to hear. Drew tries to buy the painting from Harris, but Harris refuses. Drew, Corky, and Jesse conspire to steal the painting back, but get arrested. ( Corky was the mastermind, inspired by the Pink Panther Film Festival at the theatre.) In a subplot, poor Paige ( still hurting over her breakup with the Crown Prince of Irresponsibility Romanov) shows Becca and Libby a cubist tatoo of MIchael on her shoulder. Now, back at the police station, Harris bails out the three art bandits after

    Director:Michael Lange
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Life Goes On Season 4 Episode 7 - Babes in the Woods
    6.6/10(19 votes)

    #17 - Babes in the Woods

    S4:E7

    Becca, Goodman, Ray Nelson Jr., Jesse and two other students from their English class go on a weekend camping trip, chaperones by Harris. Things get bad when Becca gets sprayed by a skunk, knocks over a kerosene lantern, starting a fire at the barn where they are staying, and worse when they find a note from Harris saying they must fend for themselves. And then it rains! Becca also learns that she tends to want to be in control to much: With Jesse and with Goodman ( she went behind her back to try and get Goodman into high school). Goodman does return to school at the end.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Life Goes On Season 1 Episode 4 - Break a Leg, Mom
    6.7/10(23 votes)

    #18 - Break a Leg, Mom

    S1:E4

    An episode showcasing the singing talents of Patti LuPone. A Tony winner for the musical ""Evita"", actually centers around Corky, for whom nothing seems to be going right. First, he has an accident in driver's ed. Moreover, he's not doing well in his remedial arithmetic class, and if he doesn't pass a minimum-competency test he won't be able to stay in the mainstream program. What really gets to Corky, though, is the uneasy feeling that his mom gave up a promising show-business career because he came along. As it happens, Libby has a chance for a comeback of sorts, at the community college's ""Autumn Follies"". She wants no part of it. And Corky doesn't want to take arithmetic tutoring with kids ten years younger than himself. But they work out a deal: he'll take the tutoring if she auditions for the show.

    Director:Rick Rosenthal
    Writer:Toni Graphia

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  19. Life Goes On Season 2 Episode 19 - Ghost of Grandpa Past
    6.7/10(15 votes)

    #19 - Ghost of Grandpa Past

    S2:E19

    Drew is having doubts about the restaurant and keeps having conversations with his Grandfather. I think in the end he decides on the new look for the restaurant.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Life Goes On Season 4 Episode 10 - Choices
    6.7/10(20 votes)

    #20 - Choices

    S4:E10

    Paige finds that she is carrying Michael's baby, and is at first delighted to know this. So's the whole family. But Michael comes back, and decides he does not want the baby. Paige is undecided on whether or not to abort, and Corky and Amanda want to adopt the baby. This all conviently ends with a miscarriage.

    Director:Michael Lange
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. Life Goes On Season 4 Episode 11 - Incident on Main
    6.8/10(26 votes)

    #21 - Incident on Main

    S4:E11

    Gay-bashing skinheads beat up Jesse outside the AIDS hospice. Becca gets his blood on her hands after the beating. She gets tested and comes up negative, but has to get tested again in six months. ( This loose end was left untied, but it is generally assumed that she stayed negative.) Jesse draws a sketch of one of the skinheads, which is displayed at Drew's restautrant. It is trashed by the skinheads after one of them sees it at the cashier. Jesse sees one of them in a lineup as well but cannot, perhaps out of fear, pick him out.

    Director:R. W. Goodwin
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Life Goes On Season 2 Episode 4 - Becca and the Band
    6.9/10(23 votes)

    #22 - Becca and the Band

    S2:E4

    Rona and Tyler break up because Rona lied to him and went to a frat party. Becca becomes manager of Tyler's band and sets up a gig for them at the opening of the new mall with the prerequisite that there has to be a female singer in the band. Tyler asks Becca nad she agrees. At the last minute she backs out and asks a friend to do it and Tyler ends up leaving with Becca's friend, leaving the Bec depressed. Also, Libby is offered a chance to leave the restaurant and return to her old high-pressure, but higher-paying job.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. Life Goes On Season 2 Episode 11 - The Buddy
    6.9/10(18 votes)

    #23 - The Buddy

    S2:E11

    A fun-loving old buddy brightens up Drew's life, but the man has a shady side. Meanwhile, Becca and Zoe squabble over room sharing.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. Life Goes On Season 2 Episode 20 - Arthur
    6.9/10(19 votes)

    #24 - Arthur

    S2:E20

    Corky befriends an older man with Down Syndrome who leads a kind of life that Corky would like to lead.

    Director:Michael Nankin
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. Life Goes On Season 3 Episode 18 - Hearts and Flowers
    6.9/10(17 votes)

    #25 - Hearts and Flowers

    S3:E18

    Inspired by her grandparents' upcoming 50th wedding anniversary, Becca proposes to Jesse, and he agrees! But then they think twice. Part of the problem with Jesse and Becca is that one of the guys at the hospice is about to die from AIDS. This guy doesn't want to have any thing to do with his wife- doesn't want her to see him in the pain he's in, etc. Jesse does the same thing to Becca and breaks things off completely, saying she doesn't know what she's in for, and she should live a normal life. The man dies and Jesse talks to his wife, who makes him realize that maybe Becca can handle this. Becca is also worried about handling it, but Libby tells her about finding the strength to raise Corky. They get back together, but marriage is put off. Subplot: Kenny wants Paige to marry him, but Paige isn't so sure. What's more, a remark he makes about Corky ticks her off. Michael acts as psychiatric help.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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Worst Episodes Summary

"Loaded Question" is the worst rated episode of "Life Goes On". It scored 5.5/10 based on 14 votes. Directed by David Carson and written by Unknown, it aired on 11/24/1991. This episode scored 0.2 points lower than the second lowest rated, "Call of the Wild".