Side Order of Life (2007)

8.5

Side Order of Life is a dramatic television series broadcast by Lifetime on Sunday night. In its first five weeks it aired at 8:00pm ET/PT, then switched to the 9:00pm time slot. Marisa Coughlan plays Jenny McIntyre, a photographer who reconsiders her life and is reawakened to her options after her best friend, Vivy Porter, is diagnosed with a recurrence of cancer. Jason Priestley returns to regular series television as Ian Denison, Jenny's fiancé. Christopher Gartin rounds out the main case as Jenny's boss Rick Purdy at the fictional In Person magazine; he is in love with Vivy, who has rejected him. Lifetime broadcast Side Order of Life with State of Mind and Army Wives in an effort to offer a night of new original programming aimed primarily at female viewers during the summer hiatus. Side Order of Life premiered on Lifetime on July 15, 2007. Initial reviews were positive, with Variety.com's Brian Lowry saying, "writer-producer Margaret Nagle brings a level of wit to the proceedings superior to most chick-lit-inspired TV drama." The Seattle Times, after describing the premise, said, "If this all sounds kind of corny, well, it kind of is until you realize the story line hits its mark, making you recall your own missteps and regrets for not having taken better charge."