 Mirkin wanted to produce a surreal , Monty Python @-@ esque , single @-@ camera comedy series . He had a development deal with Newhart 's producers MTM Enterprises and persuaded them to buy the rights to produce a pilot for an American adaptation of the British sitcom The Young Ones . The pilot was entitled Oh No , Not Them ! , and featured Nigel Planer from the original series , as well as Jackie Earle Haley and Robert Bundy . Mirkin had wanted to cast comedian Chris Elliott in the pilot , but was prevented by Fox , which wanted Elliott for another show . Oh No , Not Them ! , in Mirkin 's words , " tested through the floor " because it was too " surreal " and " sarcastic " and was not picked up . Mirkin and Elliott decided to develop a show together , along with Adam Resnick . In 1990 , they created the sitcom Get a Life , which was conceived as a dark , surreal , psychotic version of the cartoon Dennis the Menace . The show stars Elliott as Chris Peterson , a 30 @-@ year @-@ old newspaper delivery boy who still lives with his parents , and who is increasingly losing his grip on reality . Fox was lukewarm about the idea , but Mirkin convinced them to order a pilot by understating how dark the show would be . The network executives disliked the pilot after seeing an initial run @-@ through , but Mirkin felt that this was because they " didn 't get " the show and opted not to change it . The executives enjoyed the finished pilot and it was aired . However , throughout the show 's run , the network 's initially negative attitude prevailed . According to Mirkin , many of the executives struggled to understand it and objected to the darkness and surrealism of the show 's humor , which included the frequent death of Elliott 's character , and regularly threatened to shut down production . After its first season , on the insistence of the network , Chris moves out of his parents ' garage , attempts to get additional jobs to his paper route , and attempts to get a girlfriend . However , Mirkin and Elliott refused to " [ compromise on ] the essential goofiness of the show . " 
