Life in Pieces

Premise

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.

Cast

Main

Colin Hanks as Gregory "Greg" Short: Husband of Jen Short; youngest child of John and Joan Short; younger brother of Matt Short and Heather (Short) Hughes; father of Lark and Talia Short; worked for a crowd funding website until he quit his job in "Crytunes Divorce Tablet Ring". He ends up running a small company by accident in "Graffiti Cute Jewelry Shots".

Betsy Brandt as Heather (Short) Hughes: Wife of Dr. Tim Hughes; oldest child and only daughter of John and Joan Short; older sister of Matt and Greg Short; mother of Tyler, Samantha, and Sophia Hughes; a stay at home mom.

Thomas Sadoski as Matthew "Matt" Short: Divorced shortly before season 1 began (wife was Bonnie); middle child and oldest son of John and Joan Short; brother of Heather and Greg Short; dates Colleen Brandon Ortega until the end of "Hair Recital Rainbow Mom". He and Colleen get back together in "Cinderella Fantasy Prom Dougie". They become engaged in the second half of the two-part season 1 finale, "Crytunes Divorce Tablet Ring". They get married at the end of season 2, "Poison Fire Teats Universe". They adopt Lucas, an orphan boy, before season 4 episode 6.

Zoe Lister-Jones as Jennifer "Jen" Collins Short: A lawyer; mother of Lark and Talia Short; wife of Greg Short. She announced that she is pregnant with their second child in season 1 finale, "Crytunes Divorce Tablet Ring"; however, it was later revealed that she had a miscarriage in the season 2 premiere, "Annulled Roommate Pill Shower". She told her husband that she is pregnant again in "Video Piercing Model Hangover". She gives birth to their second daughter in "Lost Math Art Glam".

Dan Bakkedahl as Dr. Timothy "Tim" Hughes, M.D.: An ENT doctor; husband of Heather (Short) Hughes; father of Tyler, Samantha, and Sophia Hughes.

Angelique Cabral as Colleen Brandon Ortega Short: Granddaughter of Tonita; owns a male puppy named "Princess"; dates Matt Short until the end of "Hair Recital Rainbow Mom". She and Matt get back together in "Cinderella Fantasy Prom Dougie". They get engaged in "Crytunes Divorce Tablet Ring". They get married at the end of season 2, "Poison Fire Teats Universe". They adopt Lucas, an orphan boy, before season 4 episode 5.

Recurring

Ann Guilbert as Shirley "GiGi" Pirkle: Mother of Dr. Joan (Pirkle) Short; widow (husband was Winston); lived at Hidden Harbor (Retirement Community), then lived at Rocking Hill Nursing Home. Following Guilbert's death in June 2016, the GiGi character's death was written into "Eyebrow Anonymous Trapped Gem" as a tribute, and all four stories of the episode revolved around GiGi.

Jordan Peele as Chad: Ex-fiancé of Colleen. Chad had some legal troubles and hired Jen's law firm to represent him. He rented his share in Colleen's apartment to Dougie, who was part of his legal team (she's currently Colleen's roommate).

Fortune Feimster as Dougie: A coworker of Jen; daughter of Jen's boss; member of legal team hired by Chad; Colleen's roommate since the season 1 finale, "Crytunes Divorce Tablet Ring". Dougie is loud, boisterous, uncouth and abrasive physically and emotionally. Despite that, she showed a more vulnerable side when she came out of the closet to Colleen and Matt. She had her very first lesbian kiss with Heather, Tim's wife. When Matt moved in with Colleen and Dougie, it was discovered that Matt wrestled in high school and both he and Dougie went undefeated in their high school careers. In the season 2 premiere, "Annulled Roommate Pill Shower", Dougie challenged Matt to a wrestling match to determine whether or not she has to move out of the apartment. Dougie won the match using her patented "hook, line, and sinker" move to keep her spot in the apartment.

Martin Mull as Gary Timpkins: neighbor, president of the HOA in the neighborhood Joan lives in and a patient of Joan; a recent widower

Susan Park as Dr. Sally Hong: Jen's OB/GYN

Tonita Castro as Tonita: Colleen's grandmother. Tonita was very close to Colleen's ex-fiancée, Chad.

Mercedes Ruehl as Mia: Colleen's mother. Married four times. Colleen fears she is turning into her mother.

Bella Shepard as Lexie: one of Samantha's friends

Production

On January 22, 2015, CBS placed a pilot order, under the title Life in Pieces. The pilot was written by Justin Adler and directed by Jason Winer. On May 8, 2015, CBS placed a series order. The first season was picked up for a full 22-episode order on October 27, 2015. On May 11, 2016, CBS renewed the show for a second season, which premiered on October 27, 2016. Life in Pieces was renewed for a third season on March 23, 2017, which premiered on November 2, 2017. Life in Pieces was renewed for a fourth season on May 12, 2018, which premiered on April 18, 2019.

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.

Broadcast

The show debuted on September 21, 2015, on CBS. 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. 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. All seasons were removed from Netflix in Canada on October 17, 2024. Shortly after, they became available on Disney+ in Canada.

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.

Home media

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released region-free, MOD versions of the first two seasons on Amazon on May 22, 2018. This was followed by the third season on June 12, 2018 and the fourth on July 9, 2019.

Reception

Critical response

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". On Metacritic, the season holds a score of 64 out of 100 based on 24 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".