Modern Family, By Jason Wilber And Steven Levitan

The Brady Bunch is a show that came about in the late 60’s. The Brady Bunch is about a man named Brady with three sons meets a woman named Carol with three children of her own. This man and woman get married making them one big happy family, with a maid to help out. Living in a four bedroom two bath house in the suburbs, having boy problems and sharing bathrooms. The Brady Bunch family culture is having a maid to take care of the children. This can be a culture that the parents received when they were younger, passing it onto their children. Another culture that The Brady Bunch have is being close to one another. For example if one of the children are dealing with a situation they would talk to their parent’s or a sibling about it. The Brady Bunch family don't hide their situations. They can also be labeled as close because they eat dinner together at the table like the typical white american family. Another culture that The Brady Bunch have is having consequences for their actions. For example in one of the episodes the oldest son did not do what he said he was going to do so in return his parents

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.

Sitcoms today have completely done away with what was the “formula” for a sitcom, single parents, interracial couples, LGBTQ couples as the parents, as well as having multiple kids, 4-5, having foster children, interracial children even LGBTQ children have become the social norm for a Suburban

All families are distinctive, but several have several of the same qualities. After watching the television show, Parenthood, I discovered that my family is a lot like one of the families in the show, the Bravermans. Both families are similar and one example is that we take on an appearance of having it all together, when in reality we are extremely dysfunctional. Not to mention, we are comparable in ways that the characters from the show resemble members of my family, and how both families respond to tragedy. Seeing connections to another family are constant reminders for me that we are all analogous in some way, shape, or form.

The Brady Bunch were the ideal families in the 1960's and 1970's, and in the 80's, it was Family Ties. When the 1990's approached us, television shows took on a whole new outlook on American Families. There were shows such as Full House, which was about a single father raising three daughters with the help of his brother-in-law and his best friend. Roseanne was also another show that showed the "dysfunctional" side of families. American Families keep changing, and they will continue to change in our future.

American television today has drastically changed from the first appearance of the television in the 1920s. Currently, television is nothing but sitcoms poking jokes at the disabled, the LGBT community adapting to the American family standard, and even late night television poking fun at our 2016 Presidential candidates.1950s television depicted America’s heterosexual, patriarchal society in which an “ideal and acceptable” family consisted of a generous working class father, an accommodating and good-natured mother, and a few respectful children. Whereas 1950s American television required the audience to accept television families without question, American networks today understand that times are changing and just like mass communication, adapting to the millennial generation of technology is a must for television families to appeal to the growing masses. But when did television families first start to step away from the cultural ideals of its time? From the 1920s through the 1960s television upheld the Father Knows Best standard of television with shows such as ‘Father Knows Best” and “I Love Lucy.” Well, fast forward 30 years, and in came the Bundy’s. The Bundy’s were television’s first dysfunctional, on screen family to undermine the idea that an ideal family must function perfectly all the time. Married with Children reminded us that it was ok to not conform to society’s cultural norms. “…people want to watch a family that

Modern Family depicts three different families all of which are commonly seen today and in every family there is at one partner who stays home and is the “caretaker.” Modern Family has adapted notions from society today, for example showing a gay couple, but has not fully adjusted to the typical family structure that is society normally accepts. In this episode in particular the roles of the gay couple are defined in terms of femininity and masculinity. This episode, in particular, portrays Cam as being overly sensitive about his figure which is more common among women than men; he is seen overreacting and stressed. Mitchell, the breadwinner and the more masculine of the two, acts as though it is such a ridiculous topic to complain about.

As early as 1950, television families have depicted not only the way we live today, but also the way we ought to live (Tueth, 2003). Hence, television has continued to present comedies about family life that ranges from the didactic model of domestic conventionalist and gradually to non-conventionalist ways of life. By conventionalist, I mean the depiction of the “nuclear” family that consists of clear roles, responsibilities, and gentle lines of authority that flow from the wise dad and understanding mom to the obedient children (Kutalas, 2005). Examples of these types of shows between 1947 to 1990 that constructed more than 60% of family sitcoms included: The Cleavers, The Cosby Show, Father Knows Best, Family Ties, and Growing Pains

They also repeat re-runs of these shows even today just like Pleasantville 'the TV show' is in the film. These sitcoms usually featured wholesome American families consisting of a father, mother and two children, a boy and a girl. Their lives were basically the same. The two children would grow up, get married and have children whilst the husband would go to work and the wife would stay at home.

Claire is the wife of her husband, Phil (Ty Burrel), a realtor in a household with three children. Phil is the main source of income for the household while Claire is a stay at home mother which contributes to the stereotype that the women of the house are inferior to their husbands and do not provide anything for their family as much as their husbands do and that men have more power over their families and women are just there to take care of the children and their house. Claire appears to be high strung, naggy and uptight while Phil is loveable, funny and gets along with the kids more. The family structure of a woman who relies on her husband for financial support is similar to that of the sitcom “Leave it to Beaver” (1950s), where Ward is the breadwinner for the family who obtains a white collared job. His wife June depicts the stereotypical woman who spends her time cooking and cleaning. Similarly, Claire contributes to the idea of the traditional stay at home mother and housewife. Claire

The television sitcom Friends has the six main characters involved in many relationships throughout each season. Since season one, Ross and Rachel have been referred to as the power couple, the glue that holds everyone together, and according to television critics as CBS they are, “probably the most iconic TV couple in recent memory” (“The Best TV” 3). This being said, the couple was a known favorite and attracted many people to the sitcom. This relationship is the favorite because it has what an audience wants from a relationship. According to award winning, New York Times bestselling author Virginia Kantra, audiences want relationships to have, “physical attraction, emotional conflict, and scenes that foster emotional intimacy” (Kantra 1). The relationship that Ross and Rachel have is a prime example of this all. It is known that Ross has a physical attraction to Rachel since grade school, but Rachel also sitcoms her attraction to Ross with various flirtatious acts. Even though Ross and Rachel seem to be the perfect couple, they have had their fair share of emotional conflict. The well-known “we were on a break” fight causes comical scenes between the two. Rachel will always make it clear that Ross cheated on her, but Ross claims that they were on a break. The couple has an on and off relationship throughout the sitcom because of these many conflicts. When the couple finally gets together at the end of season ten, everything felt complete. As many Friends fans know, Phoebe

Modern Family sitcom is a disguised attempt to influence how people view certain behaviors. The title of the show mimics the American ideology of what a modern family consists of. For example, the American modern family consists of a heterosexual couple, hard working dad, a stay at home housewife and their adorable two kids. This show attempt's to mold the perception of the viewers and try to change the ideology of what a regular family looks like. Unlike, the show Modern family is centered on three controversial families.

A show about a seemingly normal family might not be a show that doesn't catch a lot of viewer's attention. I have to disagree because Family Guy is one of my favourite televsion shows, and i rarely watch TV. Family Guy is comedy based off a normal middle class family, but like all families they have their problems that can be very strange. I admire shows that are different than any other shows that are out there. I find the show to be very interesting for various reasons such as their use of stereotypes,violence, and its slight case of predictibility which is why I love the "Patriot Games" episode.

Today society displays greater diversity within households. Most American households are now non-traditional or unconventional. Non-traditional or unconventional families include; single parenthood, singlehood and LGBT relationships. Modern family is a comedy exploring the different “modern” families. This show explores a huge unconventional family through a gay couple, made up of Mitchell and Cameron, and their adopted daughter Lily; a straight couple comprised of Phil and Clare, and their three children, Luke, Alex and Hayley; and a multicultural family which is comprised of Jay and his much younger wife Gloria and their son Manny. Modern family explores how the present day family is defined and , modern America means for family members. Despite Modern family’s groundbreaking success in representing non traditional families, the show continues to reinforce heteronormative values through stereotypes of queer identity in regards, gender roles within the relationship, gay adoptive parents and gay marriage.

I think what we like about “theater of everyday“ is the feeling of connection to the fictional families. For instance, things that is happened to fictional families of TV show is actually happening in our lives or may happen. Assuming that most viewers have their family, they will feel more connection to the show and enjoy it. Other than the intimacy feeling, fictional families can give positive image of having family especially to the viewers who do not have family. People who do not have family might desire to have their own family by watching joyful times that fictional families have in the show. Moreover, viewers even can solve their curiosity of other types of family such as gay couple that we do not see in our lives.