 Mirkin served as executive producer for the series , directed most of the episodes , wrote several of them , and oversaw the filming and production of them all , to ensure that they had the correct " tone " . The show 's production process was lengthy ; Mirkin would rise at 5 am to film the show , write further episodes from 7 pm until 1 am , and then repeat that the following day . Unlike most single @-@ camera shows , which have around six days to film , Mirkin had to film each episode in two days . He enjoyed doing it , but described it as " not a healthy way to live " . Due to the logistics of filming the show , especially its many sets and effects , Mirkin convinced Fox to not film it in front of a studio audience and use a laugh track instead . The show achieved steady ratings in its first season , finishing 92nd out of the 129 shows listed in the Nielsen ratings . However , for its second season , it was moved from 8 : 30 pm on Sunday to 9 : 30 pm on Saturday and lost the bulk of its audience ; it was canceled after that second season finished in 1992 . In a 1999 piece about the show 's DVD release , Tom Shales praised the show , concluding , " At its best , Get a Life achieved dizzying heights of surrealist farce . At its worst , it was at least amusingly idiotic existential slapstick . Get a Life is a television classic unlike any other . For one thing , most of the others are better . We 're not talking Playhouse 90 here , after all . But we are talking riotous nonsense , and that 's not to be sneezed at . It 's to be laughed at . Hard . " A strong cult following subsequently developed , and Mirkin noted that although the show was canceled " ultimately we got the audience I was hoping for and they are super dedicated and passionate to this day . " 
