History Series / ChasingLife

* BiTheWay: [[spoiler:Brenna]], who has a relationship with both Kieran and Greer in season 1.

* BoyishShortHair: April's hair is very short in the second half of season 1, as it's slowly growing back after her chemo treatments.

* CockFight: Leo and Dominic exchange blows when the latter tells the former that he's still in love with April.

** Brenna transfers to a public school in season 2, which just so happens to be the same school that [[spoiler: the boy she donated bone marrow to]] attends. Neither of them are aware of the connection initially.

* CryIntoChest: [[spoiler: April cries into Dominic's chest after she finds out about her father's affair.]]

* DisappearedDad: April's father, who died in a car accident a few years before the series starts. [[spoiler: [[AmbiguousSituation And season 2 implies that it might not have been an accident after all]].]]

* FakeGuestStar: Scott Michael Foster (Leo) is credited as a Special Guest Star in season two, despite being a regular character since season one[[note]]This is most likely due to the numerous other projects he's also working on[[/note]].

** Greer as well, in the season 1 finale.

* WhamEpisode: 'One Day', the season 1 finale. [[spoiler: April's cancer is back and she has twenty-four hours to get her affairs in order before starting her second round of chemotherapy. Meanwhile, The Post is laying off employees, Sara and Uncle George get stuck in Cleveland when their flight home is delayed, Brenna learns that she's a positive match for someone on the bone marrow waiting list and agrees to donate, Dr. Hamburg pushes April to finally confront her feelings about her relapse, and Leo proposes to April. And she says yes.]] Whew.

** The final shot of Brenna in season 1, as she orders coffee from a street vendor, unaware that she's standing next to [[spoiler: Finn, the boy who will be receiving her bone marrow]].

* BlatantLies: Richie Miranda publicly denies that he's been doing drugs after April breaks the story that he's fallen OffTheWagon.

* FriendlyRivalry: April has a professional one with Danny, her coworker in the cubicle next to hers.

* ImportantHaircut: After April's hair starts falling out, she has Beth gradually start cutting it shorter, going through several different hairstyles before finally asking Leo to shave her head for her. He shaves his off too.

--> April: "You know, you're not as much of an ass as you pretend to be."
--> Leo: "Dammit, my secret's out."

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: "[[SelfDeprecation This is the slowest moving soap opera ever.]]"

* NotSoAboveItAll: Leo steals a sport car for a joy ride in 'Clear Minds, Full Lives, Can't Eat!', while April yells at him for breaking the law. He basically rolls his eyes and reminds her that she's never going to have another chance to drive a nice car like this, so why not make the most of it? She glares at him... then hops in the driver's seat and takes off.

* ThePollyanna: Greer is almost eternally cheerful. Brenna even comments in one of their early scenes together that she never stops smiling. Later subverted when [[spoiler: she reveals that her parents have had her on medication for anxiety and depression since she was seven]].

** Uncle George leaves Boston in 'Cancer Friends with Benefits'. TheBusCameBack in the finale.

* RomanticFalseLead: Dominic, for April.

* TimeSkip: There's a four month time jump between episodes 11 and 12.

* {{Workaholic}}: April is extremely dedicated to her job, and is devastated when she realizes that her treatments will necessitate a medical break just as her career is starting to take off. After she finishes chemo and is in remission, she jumps right back into work as soon as her doctor clears her.
** She quits her job at The Post in the season 1 finale (in order to save Danny's job), and Season 2 sees her ultimately subverting this trope by taking a step back from her career to focus on her health and her personal life.
* WorkingWithTheEx: April and Dominic, after their breakup. It's awkward, to say the least. It slowly gets better.

* NotSoAboveItAll: Leo steals a car for a joy ride in 'Clear Minds, Full Lives, Can't Eat!', while April yells at him for breaking the law. He basically rolls his eyes and reminds her that she's never going to have another chance to drive a nice car like this, so why not make the most of it? She glares at him... then hops in the driver's seat and takes off.

* ThePollyanna: Greer is almost eternally cheerful. Brenna even comments in one of their early scenes together that she never stops smiling.

* UpperClassTwit: Zig-zagged with Leo. He never took a dime of his parent's money before he had cancer, and actually lived on his own in Paris for several years, working in a crappy bakery to support himself. After he got sick, he had no choice except move back home and accept their help to pay for his treatments. His lifestyle has less to do with the amount of money in his trust fund and more to do with the fact that he has a terminal brain tumor and without surgery he only has a few months to live.
* UrbanLegendLoveLife: April's investigation of Dominic's social media pages indicates that he's quite the ladies man, but aside from a few one-night-stands, his onscreen relationships so far have been limited to April and [[spoiler: Natalie]].

* WhatDidIDoLastNight: After a night of heavy drinking, April wakes up in Dominic's bed, unsure of what exactly happened or [[DidTheyOrDidntThey if they slept together]]. She gets even more unnerved when the man himself comes in to ask how she's feeling and reassure her that she can stay and rest as long as she needs to given her "condition", leaving her to wonder if she told him about her cancer. [[spoiler: Turns out he was actually talking about her hangover.]]

* AbusiveParents: Greer's parents, especially her mom, are extremely controlling and neglectful. [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech Greer finally calls them out on it]].

* BridalCarry: After talking April down from her 'escape attempt' at the hospital, Leo carries her out of the chapel this way.

* ContrivedCoincidence: In 1x03, Sara discovers that her new therapy patient is the wife of Ben, the man she's dating.

* CoolBike: Leo's first appearance on the show features him almost running April over with his very expensive motorcycle. He gets an even nicer one a few episodes later as a bribe for giving a speech at his father's fundraiser.
* CoolOldLady: April's grandmother, Emma. If you need an example, just remember that she once made April pot brownies.

* FakeGuestStar: Scott Michael Foster (Leo) is credited as a Special Guest Star in season two, despite his status as a regular character[[note]]This is most likely due to the numerous other projects he's also working on[[/note]].

* IllGirl: April, who was diagnosed with leukemia at age 24. All the other girls at her support group qualify as well, obviously.

* ImportantHaircut: After April's hair starts falling out, she has Beth gradually start cutting it shorter, going through several different hairstyles before finally asking Leo to shave her head for her. He shaves his off too.
** In 'One Day', she cuts and shaves it ''herself'' [[spoiler: before being admitted to the hospital for her second round of chemotherapy]].

* LoveTriangle: Leo makes no secret about his interest in April, and she eventually develops feelings for him even though she's still in a relationship with Dominic at the time.

* PairTheSpares: Dominic and Natalie get together for a while.
* ParentWithNewParamour: April and Brenna are very supportive of their mom's decision to start dating again at the beginning of the show. Her first relationship with a financial executive doesn't work out, she starts a relationship with [[spoiler: her late husband's brother, George]], but they break it off due to the stress it would cause their family.

* TimeSkip: There's a four month time jump between episodes 11 and 12.

* UrbanLegendLoveLife: If his social media is anything to go by, Dominic is quite the ladies man.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: In the first episode, April plays up her fainting spell in front of Richie Miranda by joking that she's dying and the only cure is scoring an interview with him. Fifteen minutes later in the episode... she finds out that she has cancer and might actually end up dying.

* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: After Shawn and his buddy try to slut shame Brenna in public, Kieran alters the Chinese tattoo designs they requested from reading "Brotherhood", to reading "I am slow".

* InformedJudaism: Shawna, a lady from April's support group, invites the members to her bat mitzvah.

* MulticoloredHair: One of the first signs that something is off with [[spoiler: Greer]] is when she shows up to school with purple stripes in her hair.

* NonIndicativeName: Greer and Ford are both girls.

* RichIdiotWithNoDayJob: Zig-zagged with Leo. He never took a dime of his parent's money before he had cancer, and actually lived on his own in Paris for several years, working in a crappy bakery to support himself. After he got sick, he had no choice except move back home and accept their help to pay for his treatments. His 'devil may care' attitude has less to do with the amount of money in his trust fun and more to do with the fact that he has a terminal brain tumor and without surgery he only has a few months to live.

* StonersAreFunny: April eats half of a pot cookie to help with her anxiety, and becomes very mellow and talkative. She also eats a ton of food.

* TheTopicOfCancer: The entire premise of the show.

* WhatHappenedLastNight: After a night of heavy drinking, April wakes up in Dominic's bed, unsure of what exactly happened or if they slept together. She gets even more unnerved when the man himself comes in to ask how she's feeling and reassure her that she can stay and rest as long as she needs to given her "condition", leaving her to wonder if she told him about her cancer. Turns out he was actually talking about her hangover.

----

->''"I mean, I don't know if there's a heaven, but I know that April's going to be OK, no matter what happens."''
--> -- Greer

* BaitAndSwitch: 'Clear Minds, Full Lives, Can't Eat!' opens InMediasRes, with a POV shot from someone lying on the ground, looking at a cop standing overhead asking for a their name, and April replying off-screen (leading viewer to believe something bad has happened to her). After flashing back to the previous day and showing HowWeGotHere, the person on the ground is revealed to be [[spoiler: Leo, who has collapsed from a seizure caused by his brain tumor]].

* BloodFromTheMouth: Bleeding gums is a symptom of leukemia, and April is shown spitting out blood after brushing her teeth.

* BrokenPedestal: April's opinion of her father gets thoroughly smashed over the course of the show.

--> "What are your thoughts on kale?"

* CoolBike: Leo is shown riding a motorcycle in a pretty reckless fashion during one of his earliest appearances.

* FakeGuestStar: Scott Michael Foster (Leo) is credited as a Special Guest Star, despite his status as a regular character[[note]]This is most likely due to the numerous other projects he's also working on[[/note]].

* TitleCard: Used in 'Finding Chemo' and 'One Day', [[spoiler: both of which are about April being admitted to the hospital and starting chemotherapy]].

* WhamShot: The final shot of Brenna in season 1, as she orders coffee from a street vendor, unaware that she's standing next to [[spoiler: Finn, the boy who will be receiving her bone marrow]].

* BaitAndSwitch: 'Clear Minds, Full Lives, Can't Eat!' opens InMediasRes, with a POV shot from someone lying on the ground, looking at a cop standing overhead asking for a their name, and April replying off-screen (lead us to believe something bad has happened to her). After flashing back to the previous day and showing HowWeGotHere, the person on the ground is revealed to be [[spoiler: Leo, who has collapsed from a seizure caused by his brain tumor]].

* DisappearedDad: April's father, who died in a car accident a few years before the series starts. [[spoiler: And season 2 reveals that it might not have been an accident after all.]]

* DoubleEntendre: There's an abundance of them in the episode where April and [[spoiler: Leo]] have sex for the first time.

* WhamShot: The final shot of Brenna in season 1, as she orders coffee from a street vendor, unaware that she's standing next to [[spoiler: the boy who will be receiving her bone marrow]].

* BaitAndSwitch: 'Clear Minds, Full Lives, Can't Eat!' opens InMediasRes, with a POV shot from someone lying on the ground, looking at a cop standing overhead asking for a their name, and April replying off-screen (implying that something has happened to her). After flashing back to the previous day and showing HowWeGotHere, the person on the ground is revealed to be [[spoiler: Leo, whose has collapsed from a seizure caused by his brain tumor]].

* BoyishShortHair: April keeps her hair very short when it grows back after her chemo treatments are over.

* DisappearedDad: April's father, who died in a car accident a few years before the series starts.
* DisabledSnarker: If Leo isn't busy making inappropriate jokes, then he's usually indulging in this instead.

* IllGirl: April, who was was diagnosed with leukemia at age 24. All the other girls at her support group qualify as well, obviously.

* {{Jerkass}}: Ford, Brenna's 'friend', is shown to be very rude and shallow, and she becomes extremely jealous after Brenna starts dating [[spoiler:Greer]], making a number of rude comments about Brenna's sexual orientation. [[spoiler: She's also the one who told the school authorities about them skipping the eco-club lecture in Florida]].

* CallBack: The first episode starts with April crashing a blood drive to score an interview with Richie Miranda, a baseball player who recently got out of drug rehab. In episode 16, she interviews him again, and finds out that he's once again doing drugs.

* CoolOldLady: April's grandmother, Emma. If you need an example, just remember that she made April pot brownies.

* {{Jerkass}}: Ford, Brenna's 'friend', is shown to be very rude and shallow, and she becomes extremely jealous after Brenna starts dating [[spoiler:Greer]], making a number of rude comments about Brenna's sexual orientation. [[spoiler: It's also implied that she's the one who told the school authorities about them skipping the eco-club lecture in Florida]].

* LoveTriangle: Leo makes no secret of his interest in April, and she eventually develops feelings for him even though she's still in a relationship with Dominic.
* MistakenForGay: The lesbian couple at the fertility clinic assume that April and Beth are a couple. Beth plays along.

* ParentWithNewParamour: April and Brenna are very supportive of their mom's decision to start dating again at the beginning of the show. Her first relationship with a financial executive doesn't work out, but [[spoiler: she eventually starts dating her late husband's brother, George.]]

* PutOnABus: Lawrence, April's boss for the first several episodes, retires off-screen sometime after episode 7. We don't find out about it until episode 12 though, so it's implied that he retired while she was on medical leave.

* SecretKeeper: Until episode five, the only people who are aware that April has cancer are her uncle George, Beth, Leo, and Brenna.

* DeadpanSnarker: If Leo isn't busy making inappropriate jokes, then he's usually indulging in this instead.

* WorkingWithTheEx: April and Dominic, after their breakup. It's awkward, to say the least.

----

* IllGirl: April, who was was diagnosed with leukemia at age 24. And all the other girls at her support group, obviously.

* {{Jerkass}}: Ford, Brenna's 'friend', is shown to be very rude and shallow, and she becomes extremely jealous after Brenna starts dating [[spoiler:Greer]], making a number of rude comments about Brenna's sexual orientation. [[spoiler: It's also implied that she's also the one who told the school authorities about them skipping the eco-club lecture in Florida]].

* MyBelovedSmother: Sara means well but she's extremely overprotective, which isn't appreciated by either of her daughters.

The drama series follows 24 year-old April Carver (Portrayed by [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2680758/ Italia Ricci]]), an aspiring journalist who wishes to impress her editor and work her way up the corporate ladder. Just as things in both her professional and personal life are starting to take flight, young April learns from her estranged uncle that she has cancer.
Now she must decide how she wants to live the rest of her life—without knowing how much life she actually has left.

Cancer stories have an innate sense of urgency built into the premise, with the constant threat of death ticking in the background like a factory-installed clock. ''Chasing Life'' does something interesting (if ultimately somewhat problematic) with this ticking clock: It sort of ignores it. April gets diagnosed before the second-act break of the pilot, but any urgency that comes with this diagnosis gets strangely buried, added to the haphazard pile of complications that is her life. It's in these complications—a nascent internship at a big Boston newspaper, a new relationship with a co-worker, a family still reeling from the death of her father, and the obligatory troubled teenage sister.

Originally ordered for 13 episodes on November 27, 2013, an additional seven episodes were added to ''Chasing Life''[='=]s series order.

* AmbiguouslyBrown: Raquel, who is described by Beth as 'exotic, in an ambiguous way'.
* AmicableExes: Brenna and Kieran eventually develop into this after their breakup, even shown teasing each other about their new relationships.
%%* BetaCouple: Brenna and Kieran, [[spoiler: possibly Brenna and Greer.]]
* BiTheWay: Brenna, who has a relationship with both Kieran and Greer in season 1.

* DeadpanSnarker: Leo.

* ImportantHaircut: After April's hair starts falling out, she has Beth gradually start cutting it shorter, going through several different hairstyles, before finally asking Leo to shave her head for her. He shaves his off too.

%%* Jerkass: Leo, and Brenna's friend Ford.
%%* TeensAreMonsters: Brenna, at the beginning.
%%* TokenLesbian: Greer.
%%* TheTopicOfCancer: Well... "duh."
%%* YouAreGrounded: Brenna in episode 3.

%%* AmbiguouslyBi: Brenna.

* CoolBike: Leo is shown riding a motorcycle in a pretty reckless fashion during one of his earliest appearances

* DisappearedDad: April's father, who died in a car accident.
%%* DeadpanSnarker: Leo, mostly.

%%* YouAreGrounded: Brenna in episode 3.

* DudeNotFunny: After Leo has a seizure caused by his brain tumor, April visits him in the hospital. Leo later goes full-on [[Literature/TheFaultinOurStars Augustus Waters]] by announcing his cancer is terminal, and (having been followed by April) teases committing suicide on the roof.

Chasing Life is an American television drama series that premiered June 10, 2014, on ABC Family.
The series is adapted from the Televisa Spanish-language Mexican television series Terminales.

Cancer stories have an innate sense of urgency built into the premise, with the constant threat of death ticking in the background like a factory-installed clock. Chasing Life does something interesting (if ultimately somewhat problematic) with this ticking clock: It sort of ignores it. April gets diagnosed before the second-act break of the pilot, but any urgency that comes with this diagnosis gets strangely buried, added to the haphazard pile of complications that is her life. It’s in these complications—a nascent internship at a big Boston newspaper, a new relationship with a co-worker, a family still reeling from the death of her father, [[spoiler: the discovery of a secret half-sibling she never knew about,]] and the obligatory troubled teenage sister.

Originally ordered for 13 episodes on November 27, 2013, an additional seven episodes were added to Chasing Life's series order.

* [[spoiler: AmbiguouslyBi: Brenna. ]]
* BetaCouple: Brenna and Kieran, [[spoiler: possibly Brenna and Greer.]]

* DisappearedDad - April's father.
** He died in a car accident.
* DeadpanSnarker: Leo, mostly.
* DudeNotFunny: After Leo has a seizure caused by his brain tumor, April visits him in the hospital. Leo later goes full-on [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/TheFaultinOurStars Augustus Waters ]] by announcing his cancer is terminal, and (having been followed by April) teases committing suicide on the roof.
* IllGirl: April, who was was diagnosed with leukemia at age 24.
** And all the other girls at her support group, obviously.
* Jerkass: Leo, and Brenna's friend Ford.
* TeensAreMonsters: Brenna, at the beginning.
* TokenLesbian: Greer.
* TheTopicOfCancer: Well... "duh."
* YouAreGrounded: Brenna in episode 3

The drama series follows 24 year-old April Carver (Portrayed by [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2680758/ Italia Ricci]]), an aspiring journalist who wishes to impress her editor and work her way up the corporate ladder. Just as things in both her professional and personal life are starting to take flight, young April learns from her estranged uncle that she has cancer.

The drama series follows 24 year-old April Carver (Portrayed by [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2680758/ Italia Ricci]]), an aspiring journalist who wishes to impress her editor and work her way up the corporate ladder. Just when things at work and on the romantic front are finally starting to look up, learns from her estranged uncle that she has cancer.
The series also follows April's widowed mother Sara, rebellious little sister Brenna, and elderly grandma.

* DudeNotFunny: After Leo has a seizure caused by his brain tumor, April visits him in the hospital. Leo later [[Spoiler: goes full-on [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/TheFaultinOurStars Augustus Waters]] by announcing his cancer is terminal, and ]] teases committing suicide on the roof.

* DudeNotFunny: After Leo has a seizure caused by his brain tumor, April visits him in the hospital. Leo later goes full-on [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/TheFaultinOurStars Augustus Waters]] by announcing his cancer is terminal, and teases committing suicide on the roof.

* DudeNotFunny: After Leo has a seizure caused by his brain tumor, April visits him in the hospital. Leo later goes full-on Augustus Waters by announcing his cancer is terminal, and teases committing suicide on the roof.

* DudeNotFunny: After Leo has a seizure caused by his brain tumor, April visits him in the hospital. Leo later goes full-on Augustus Waters by announcing his cancer is terminal, and teases committing suicide on the roof.

* TheTopicOfCancer: Well... duh.