Ever since the television was invented in the early 20th century, it has increasingly grown into a large part of family’s culture. Through the evolution of television, family sitcoms have evolved as well. This evolution has showed us that in order to survive, one must adapt. Family sitcoms are family oriented and are constantly changing. They are adapting to the changing times, while also helping the viewers adapt their views on specific situations. Family sitcoms help us viewers to see different family situations that we may not see as perfect, but some how work for others. By examining different family sitcoms, such as Leave It To Beaver, The Andy Griffith Show, The Brady Bunch, The Jeffersons, The Cosby Show, Full House, Married With Children, …show more content…
They appreciated family time and family values. Parents would come home form work to be with their kids. Their kids would come home form school to be with their parents. It was a perfect match and this is what all families strive to be. These shows really emphasized time with family, especially around the dinner table. (Anderson- Traditional Family) Dinnertime was a special part of the day where each member of the family could connect and reflect. Other than dinnertime, families also sent time with outside family members as well, especially on the weekends, typically on Sundays. Through out my childhood, for as long as I can remember, Sundays were family days. Either we would travel to my grandparent’s house where we would all meet or I would stay home just to be with the family. As I get older, I realize that these simpler times with my family are starting to fade away. Either due to people growing older or people becoming busier, but in any case, the traditional family expectations seems to be starting to slip away form our …show more content…
The Brady family was a mixed family from two separate marriages. The father, Kike Brady, was a widower and Carol Brady was never really mentioned, but some considered to be a divorcee. Both Mike and Carol found love again and decided to bring both of their families’ together, under a single household. (Garrison- The Evolution) This profound love allowed America to see and believe that blended families were acceptable. It is now, not uncommon to see couples get divorced, especially, while also having kids to take care of. The Brady Bunch allowed Americans to take what they viewed as a typical family and accept something else. The Brady family may have been an unconventional family on paper, but the way they went about their everyday lives was as normal as any family could be. (Merritt- ‘Full House’ to ‘Modern
The differences in family values are shown in modern sitcoms. "Gilmore Girls" is a sitcom that demonstrates values of gender and children roles that are significantly different to those in 1950s. From Lorelei and Rory, they show that family organization is not always the father working, mother looking after children. Through the plot of each episode, financial, racial, other general problems such as Rory's school and relationship are actually shown and realistically too. Every family is different, different race and classes have different families. Today, we do not watch shows to copy their ways of living and we do often share the same values. Therefore this shows significant changes in family values from the 1950s sitcoms to today's sitcoms.
Family comedies have evolved throughout the past century. What was once revered as classic has completely changed forms and turned into the comedic experience we witness today. Family sitcoms in particular have been converted to show a broader picture of how family’s interact in today’s world. This greatly appeals to today’s audiences and is what people want to see. Modern family specifically has tapped into what nontraditional families are all about and even with being so alternative has resonated with every type of family, making it one of the most popular shows on TV at the present moment. The pilot episode of Modern Family uses hyper-irony, allusions and uses references to technology to enforce comedic impact.
McCarthy, Tyler. “Sitcom success a reflection of changing society.” Daily Campus. 29 Jan. 2012. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.
Sitcoms." Fathering: A Journal of Theory, Research, and Practice about Men as Fathers 7.2 (2009): 114-39. Print. 17 April 2014.
Younger generations and the more vulnerable in society can be influenced in avoiding peer pressure, but for the individuals filled with wisdom, the shows can reflect based on American modern society. Everybody Loves Raymond and Full House are great shows who faces similar life obstacles a typical person living in the US has today. As a result, most modern family comedy sit-coms are reflecting our society’s generations and the more vulnerable. Based on the success of early family sit coms, American’s adapted to a fast pace lifestyle with the help of modern
Americans love their television, and television loves the American family. Since the 1970’s, the depiction of the American family on television has gone through many changes. In the 70s, the Brady Bunch showed an all-white nuclear family. Today, Modern Family, shows a family of blended races, ages, and sexualities. For thirty years, the sitcom family has reflected the changing society of its time and there is no exception of this for the families in The Brady Bunch and Modern Family. The lifestyle, social aspects, and economics situations of the Bradys and the Pritchett-Dunphys are similar in their attempts to portray the lives of families of their time, but differ drastically in the types of families they represent. The characters in Modern
The Brady Bunch tends to say that our society is corrupt in a way. It displays many problems that people deal with on a daily basis and expresses how they feel they should be fixed. The show tries to get across to the audience that even though there are some people out there that are not right in the head, you yourself still have to be. Mike Brady, the father always gives out these lessons. For example when Marcia's new boyfriend steals Greg's phony playbook for the football game, Mike tells Greg that in actuality, Greg would win the game by cheating himself, unless he confessed to Marcia's boyfriend and told him the truth. After doing so, Greg and his team prevailed as champions of that game.
Since the beginning of time itself, Television has been one the most influential pieces of media that the world has ever encountered. The beginning days of television depicted stereotypical mothers cooking and cleaning their homes for their husbands and children. Yet, as the decades passed, television took a dramatic turn, leaving the days of drama free entertainment as a vast memory. Now a day, however, when one hits the power on button to Bravo, the screen lights expand to ritzy socialites dealing with their everyday lives as “housewives”. Bravo TV’s hit number one reality television show, The Real Housewives of Atlanta, deals with the everyday lives of modern-day housewives. When speaking of these women and their family life, the reality series shows its viewers that family life in modern times is dramatic, full of misrepresentations of how people are perceived, and that fame comes at the cost of family.
Since its start, the television industry has been criticized for perpetuating myths and stereotypes about African-Americans through characterizations, story lines, and plots. The situation comedy has been the area that has seemed to draw the most criticism, analysis, and disapproval for stereotyping. From Sanford and Son and The Jefferson’s in the 1970s to The Cosby Show (1984) and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in the 1990s, sitcoms featuring black casts and characters have always been controversial. However, their significance upon our American culture cannot be disregarded. During the 1950s and 1960s, 97% of the families were Caucasian. In the first five years of the 1990s, nearly 14% of the television families were African-American (Bryant 2001). These statistics obviously show the substantial impact our American culture has had on African-American television families.
As gender roles were enhanced, the nuclear family was birthed. This ideal family, mainly portrayed in popular culture, had a working father, homemaking mother, and children. Television shows depicting this type of household, Leave it to Beaver, and I Love Lucy, were not representative of the reality of America. Not all of Americans were white, and not all women were happy living as housewives (Boyer 101). Although most did not fit the mold
Family Guy, an animated sitcom about a New England family and their everyday dilemmas, is a way for viewers to see the comedic side of a dysfunctional family. The Griffins consist of Peter and Lois, the patriarch and matriarch, and Meg, Chris, and Stewie are the children(Family Guy). Every character is different from the next character. They are also weird in their own way. The television show itself displays feminism, structuralism, and gay and lesbian criticism. Each character in the show also displays those criticisms in a certain fashion. Family Guy can be offensive to viewers with its satire, and the way the show delivers its message can make the family and the other characters in the show seem dysfunctional.
By leaping into the societal messages of the popular 1980s show, Full House, one is able to learn a great deal about what the cultural direction of society was like at that time. Full House was a kind of, makeshift sitcom because it expanded on the typical formula of the age-old conventional “nuclear” family and made room for the idea of a non-traditional family that revealed it’s unconventional nature. As viewership grew, so did the acceptance of such a family structure in American culture.
Almost all the households were mama-papa-kiddies: the nuclear family. (The exceptions were My Three Sons and Bonanza: Steve Douglas [Fred MacMurray] and Ben Cartwright were widowers.) There were no prior marriages, no children from prior relationships, no threat or even thought of divorce, and the closest thing we saw to physical abuse was Ralph Kramden's, "One of these days, Alice, one of these days . . . to the moon!" There were no infidelities, no drinking problems, no drugs (not even prescription tranquilizers), no racism (How could there be? With the exception of Hop Sing and Ricky Ricardo, there was only one race; even the Hispanic gardener on Father Knows Best was named Frank Smith). There was no dropping out of school, no political discussion (much less political differences), no unemployment (except for Ozzie's early retirement), no severe economic problem (except for a crop failure on Lassie, when they had to sell all the livestock, including Lassie; but just before being carted off, Lassie pawed the ground and struck oil, and everything was okay again. Except for Lassie, who looked as though the Exxon Valdez had dumped its forward holding tanks on her).
This essay will examine my thoughts and those of David Sterrit on the critically acclaimed television show The Honeymooners. First, I will talk about the Honeymooners and it’s setting in postwar America. Secondly, the social and cultural issues the series portrayed. Next, would be the psychological perspective and the aesthetics of the show. Finally, the essay would conclude with my thoughts on how the Honeymooners were impacted by these aspects, but also how the show managed to leave a legacy in television today.
The television sitcom Modern Family produced by Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd shows the many different types of a modern American family. According to Andrew Hampp, “The show is among the most-viewed scripted programs in prime time in its second season, averaging 11 million viewers during original airings and often ranked as the most DVRed program most weeks” (2). The television show is a frequently watched show and is liked by many viewers. Modern Family's storyline helps the families of viewers by being an influential and relatable show to different types of families. The show is about the lives of three different families that are all related. In the show there are Jay and Gloria, an intergenerational couple with two sons-- Manny (from Gloria’s previous relationship) and Joe, their new baby. Jay’s adult son Cameron is married to his gay partner Mitchell, and they adopted Lily from Vietnam. Finally, Jay’s daughter Claire is married to her heterosexual partner named Phil and they have three children. The show is influential to our culture today because it shows these different types of families and addresses controversial themes such as gay adoption, the different family connections and communications, intergenerational coupling, and acceptance of diversity within an extended family. The family is easy to relate to while watching because it is based off of real family situations.