The Good Life (1971 TV series)

The Good Life is an American sitcom that was aired on NBC as part of its 1971–72 lineup. The series stars Larry Hagman and Donna Mills, and was produced by Lorimar, in association with Screen Gems.

The Good Life is the story of a middle class American couple, the Millers (Hagman and Mills), who have tired of their mundane existence. Instead of following the time-honored premise of "hitting the road" to seek adventure or engaging in a stereotypical period activity such as joining a communal farm, they just decide to seek new employment as the live-in butler and cook of a millionaire industrialist, Charles Dutton. He notices that they are not particularly talented at their jobs, but finds them to be agreeable enough. Their limited skills most definitely are not enough for his stuffy sister Grace, however, and she constantly works to get them fired. Dutton's teenaged son, Nick, is the only one aware of what the Millers are doing in their new roles, but, finding great fun in their situation, he helps them to become accustomed to the social etiquette of high society and the wealthy in an effort to improve their skills in their roles.

The theme song was the 1962 pop song The Good Life, written by Sacha Distel and Jack Reardon, and sung under the titles by Tony Orlando.

This program did not garner much of an audience and it was cancelled at mid-season. It was replaced by the action drama Emergency!.

A decade later, Hagman and Mills were reunited onscreen when he guest-starred on Knots Landing, on which Mills had become a series regular in 1980. Being a spin-off from Dallas, Knots Landing featured Hagman in the role of J. R. Ewing, who was often in cahoots with Mills' character Abby Cunningham. Both series were also Lorimar productions. David Wayne would also reunite with Hagman on Dallas, where he originated the role of Willard "Digger" Barnes.

The British television series The Good Life was released as Good Neighbors in American syndication to avoid confusion with this earlier series.

• Larry Hagman as Albert Miller
• Donna Mills as Jane Miller
• David Wayne as Charles Dutton
• Hermione Baddeley as Grace Dutton
• Danny Goldman as Nick Dutton

• Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present
• Wallop, Douglass, The Good Life (1969 novel on which the TV series was based)

• The Good Life at IMDb
• The Good Life at Television Obscurities