Shout Factory long ago established itself as the Mr. Smith Goes To Washington of DVD releasing, regularly sticking up for the lost causes of canceled cult TV shows by freeing them from studio vaults and putting them back in the hands of fans. And today we learned that it’s finally picked up one of TV’s most loveable losers: Get A Life, Fox’s short-lived Chris Elliott-starring sitcom, which will finally get a complete series release this fall, after years and years of bureaucratic red tape and hollow promises. The revelation was made by Elliott himself, who dropped the following while talking to A.V. Club contributor Will Harris for a soon-to-be-published interview—and unlike past assurances, Elliott sounds pretty confident:
“Get A Life is going to be coming out as a complete series on Shout Factory. I’m not entirely sure when—I think probably in the fall?—but, yes, it will be actually coming out…finally! At the end of April, we’re going to be doing the special features. Commentaries and that sort of stuff.”
As often lamented by fans of the surreal show—which boasted scripts from Bob Odenkirk and Charlie Kaufman, and had Elliott playing a dimwitted, insane, man-child paperboy who traveled through time, cared for vomiting aliens, and, with notable frequency, died—Get A Life has only seen release in various, out-of-print “best of” collections, with attempts to get the whole series out there repeatedly stymied by “suits,” in Elliott’s words. The involvement from Shout is the best indication yet that it’s finally coming out, reinforced by the fact that Shout confirmed to us that, yes, the DVD is happening, and that an official release date is imminent. These are, indeed, the prettiest years of our lives.
Speaking of handsome boys and fancy lads, in case you were wondering, Elliott did see the recent induction of Cabin Boy into the New Cult Canon (and its enthusiastic reception in the comments), and he was pleased. Quite pleased:
“Yeah, that was nice to see. You know, I’ve always said that I stand by that movie. I think Adam (Resnick) did a great job directing it, and every time I see it on TV, I’m amazed at how interesting it looks and how bizarre it is. Of course, at the time it came out, it was just vilified, but it seems to have grown on people.”
The same can, of course, be said for Get A Life.