Chasing Life

April, an aspiring journalist, is balancing her ambitious career with her family and a new office romance. In an unexpected twist of fate, April learns that she has leukemia.

Chasing Life (2014-2015) is an American family drama series created by Susanna Fogel and Joni Lefkowitz for ABC Family. Italia Ricci plays April Carver, an aspiring journalist whose ambitious career and new office romance with Dominic Russo (Richard Brancatisano) are suddenly overshadowed when she learns she has leukemia. Mary Page Keller plays her mother Sara Carver, and Haley Ramm plays her younger sister Brenna, whose lives are pulled into the diagnosis alongside April's. Aisha Dee rounds out the principal cast as Beth Kingston. The engine of the show is April's struggle to keep her newsroom ambitions and personal life intact while hospital visits, treatment schedules and family strain keep pressing in. The series runs for two seasons and thirty-four episodes, moving in a serialized, character-driven format where each hour mixes clinic scenes with workplace and romantic storylines. Set in present-day American cities, it balances hopeful, wry warmth with the fear and grief of illness, and its tone sits between a network family drama and a young adult dramedy. Fans of Grey's Anatomy, My So-Called Life and Girls will find resonance in its blend of medical stakes, young adult ambition and family intimacy. The show was canceled after its second season, leaving its story unfinished.

Audiences praised the first season's blend of career drama, family warmth and emotional honesty about illness, while the second season was rated noticeably lower.

• Grey's Anatomyshared serialized family drama tone with a young woman's illness at its core
• My So-Called Lifeshared young adult drama with a hopeful, emotionally direct register around illness and family
• Girlsshared ambitious young woman balancing career, romance and family crisis in a dramedy register

Created by

Susanna Fogel, Joni Lefkowitz

Release Date

2014-06-10

Episode runtime

60 min

Rating

7.8 / 10 (57)

What is Chasing Life about?

An ambitious young journalist balancing career, romance and family learns she has leukemia and must fight for her future.

What is Chasing Life like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Chasing Life as measured, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as easy to follow.

Is Chasing Life violent?

No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in Chasing Life.

What did critics think of Chasing Life?

Audiences praised the first season's blend of career drama, family warmth and emotional honesty about illness, while the second season was rated noticeably lower.

Which shows are like Chasing Life?

Shows with a similar feel include Grey's Anatomy, My So-Called Life, and Girls.

How long is Chasing Life?

Chasing Life: 2 seasons, 34 episodes.

Is Chasing Life still running?

No, Chasing Life was canceled.

Where can I watch Chasing Life?

In United States, Chasing Life is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies.