Life in Pieces is an American television sitcom created by Justin Adler that aired on CBS from September 21, 2015 to June 27, 2019, with a total of 79 half-hour episodes spanning four seasons. It was produced by 40 or 50 Years, Inc. and Kapital Entertainment, in association with 20th Century Fox Television, with Adler serving as showrunner. CBS canceled the series after four seasons on May 10, 2019.
The series chronicles the lives of three generations of the Short family as they go about their daily lives in Los Angeles County. Each episode is told as four short stories, typically one for three of the four Short family branches and one that involves the fourth and ties the other three stories together.[1]
On January 22, 2015, CBS placed a pilot order, under the title Life in Pieces.[8] The pilot was written by Justin Adler and directed by Jason Winer. On May 8, 2015, CBS placed a series order.[9] The first season was picked up for a full 22-episode order on October 27, 2015.[10] On May 11, 2016, CBS renewed the show for a second season,[11] which premiered on October 27, 2016.[12] Life in Pieces was renewed for a third season on March 23, 2017,[13] which premiered on November 2, 2017.[14] Life in Pieces was renewed for a fourth season on May 12, 2018,[15] which premiered on April 18, 2019.[16]
On May 10, 2019, it was announced that CBS cancelled Life in Pieces. A combination of factors, including declining ratings, CBS's desire to have an ownership stake, and the network needing to clear space in getting four new sitcoms in the fall 2019 and mid-season schedule, led to the show's demise.[17]
The show debuted on September 21, 2015 on CBS.[18] The first five episodes aired on Mondays, before it was moved on November 5, 2015, to a new time slot of 8:30 p.m. ET/PT (7:30 p.m. CT) on Thursdays, directly after CBS finished its NFL broadcasts.[19] In the United States, all seasons are available on Hulu. The first season airs on Netflix, with all seasons being available in Canada for a time.[20] All seasons were removed from Netflix in Canada on October 17, 2024.[21]
In the United Kingdom, all seasons are available on Amazon Prime and Life In Pieces is shown season by season on Comedy Central UK and Ireland.
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released region-free, MOD versions of the first two seasons on Amazon on May 22, 2018.[22][23] This was followed by the third season on June 12, 2018[24] and the fourth on July 9, 2019.[25]
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports a 62% approval rating for the first season, with an average rating of 6.58/10 and based on 39 reviews. The website's consensus reads "Life in Pieces strong cast delivers funny, offbeat stories even if they're not always relatable".[26] On Metacritic, the season holds a score of 64 out of 100 based on 24 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[27]