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LIFE GOES ON: INCIDENT ON MAIN (TV)

Summary

One in this dramatic series about the challenges facing the Thacher family -- parents Drew and Libby, their daughter Becca, their son Corky, who has Down's Syndrome, and Drew's daughter Paige.

In this episode, Jesse and Becca attend a ceremony at the AIDS hospice for a woman named Jean who has lived with HIV for six years. As they leave, a group of men accost them, and though Jesse orders Becca to run, she stays by him. Later, Becca’s family arrives at the hospital, where Jesse has been admitted after being beaten up. The doctor says that he sustained only minor injuries, but Libby and Drew ask if Becca could have been exposed to HIV. Ed, Jesse’s friend from the hospice, comes to visit, and Becca says that Jesse was attacked because the men believed he was gay. Later, she admits to her parents that she had to touch his blood as she held him, waiting for the ambulance. At school, Becca is disturbed to find a newspaper article about the attack, in which she is not mentioned by name, stuck to her locker, implying that the attackers know who she is. Jesse’s mother Mary arrives at the hospital and begs him to return to Phoenix with her. Becca tells Jesse that that he is still in danger, but he refuses to run away and leave her behind. He sketches one of the men’s faces from memory and gives it to the police, and then seeks out Becca, worrying that they are in the school and will find her. Drew tells Jesse that Becca went to the clinic to be tested, and he is horrified to realize that he may have infected her.

Drew posts Jesse’s sketch at the restaurant, and a man who resembles the image sees it at the counter, but leaves without comment. Becca returns to the hospice and learns that Jean passed away. She then confronts Ed, admitting that she is irrationally angry at him and other gay AIDS patients for Jesse’s attack. Jesse finds her and asks about her contact with his blood, telling her that she needs to be “smarter than that,” but she counters that love often requires risk. Libby and Drew talk, learning that Becca didn’t yet go through with the HIV test, and debate Jesse’s possible plans to move away. When they return to their restaurant, they find that it has been vandalized by bigots. Jesse blames himself and his drawing, but the police tell him that they have a suspect because of it. The hospice team arrives to help clean up, and Becca talks to Ed again, who points out that the gay community is “not responsible” for AIDS, as it can infect anyone. He tells her that he was angry when he was first diagnosed, but managed to move past it over time. Drew and Hans serve dinner to the hospice crew, thanking them for their help. Jesse goes to the police station for a line-up, but cannot bring himself to identify his attacker and goes home, tearfully telling Mary that he cannot continue putting Becca at risk and wants to return to Phoenix. He admits that he recognized one of the criminals but was afraid to acknowledge it. She encourages him to stand up for himself and remain with Becca after all.

Becca finally goes through with the HIV test and learns that she will not have a definitive answer for some time. At home, Corky tells Becca that he will care for her if she is sick, just as she has helped him over the years. Jesse bids his mother good-bye as she leaves for Arizona without him, and he returns to the police station as Becca observes Ed continuing to help others at the hospice. Jesse then goes to the home of one of his attackers and asks why he did it, but the man replies “why not more often?” Jesse then informs him that AIDS is not only a “queer disease” and that he will have to get tested himself because of his exposure to Jesse’s blood. The police arrive to arrest him. Becca finds Jesse and tells him that she did the test, and whether she is positive or not, she knows she will not be alone. Includes commercials.

Details

  • NETWORK: ABC
  • DATE: January 10, 1993 7:00 PM
  • RUNNING TIME: 1:00:00
  • COLOR/B&W: Color
  • CATALOG ID: B:28379
  • GENRE: Drama
  • SUBJECT HEADING: Drama; Families; AIDS; LGBTQ+ Collection - Drama
  • SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 1989-1993
  • COMMERCIALS:
    • TV - Commercials - Clean & Clear cleansing products
    • TV - Commercials - General Motors MasterCard credit card
    • TV - Commercials - Instant Cream of Wheat cereal
    • TV - Commercials - Listerine mouthwash
    • TV - Commercials - Lubriderm lotion
    • TV - Commercials - Minute rice products
    • TV - Commercials - Ortega salsa
    • TV - Commercials - Orville Redenbacher's popcorn
    • TV - Commercials - Partnership for a Drug-Free America program
    • TV - Commercials - Shower to Shower antiperspirant
    • TV - Commercials - Sinutab sinus relievers
    • TV - Commercials - Soft Scrub bathroom cleanser
    • TV - Commercials - Tavist-D antihistamine medication
    • TV - Commercials - Tic-Tac breath mints
    • TV - Commercials - Weight Watchers program
    • TV - Commercials - Wrigley's chewing gum
    • TV - Promos - "Doogie Howser, M.D."
    • TV - Promos - "Full House"
    • TV - Promos - "Hangin' With Mr. Cooper"
    • TV - Promos - "Life Goes On" upcoming episodes
    • TV - Promos - "Taking A Stand"
    • TV - Promos - "Wonder Years"

CREDITS

  • Michael Braverman … Executive Producer, Created by
  • Michael Nankin … Co-Executive Producer
  • R.W. Goodwin … Co-Executive Producer, Director
  • Phillips Wylly, Sr. … Supervising Producer
  • Lorenzo DeStefano … Producer
  • Thania St. John … Producer
  • Toni Graphia … Co-Producer
  • Bruce Ettinger … Co-Producer
  • Scott Frost … Writer
  • William Olvis … Music by
  • Craig Safan … Theme Music by
  • Bill Smitrovich … Cast, Andrew 'Drew' Thacher
  • Patti LuPone … Cast, Elizabeth 'Libby' Thacher
  • Chris Burke … Cast, Charles 'Corky' Thacher
  • Kellie Martin … Cast, Rebecca 'Becca' Thacher
  • Tracey Needham … Cast, Paige Thacher
  • Chad Lowe … Cast, Jesse McKenna
  • Dan Butler … Cast, Ed
  • David Byrd … Cast, Hans
  • Juanita Jennings … Cast, Detective Davis
  • Dorothy Lyman … Cast, Mrs. McKenna
  • Kiersten Warren … Cast, Goodman
  • Mariangela Pino … Cast, Clinic Doctor
  • Paul Collins … Cast, Doctor
  • Marilyn Bradfield … Cast, Nurse #1
  • Jack Black … Cast, Skinhead
  • Hill Harper … Cast, Nurse #2
  • Marcia Magus … Cast, Woman
  • Lyndsay Riddell … Cast, Girl