Television 's Impact On Television

The shows portrayed perfect American families, a husband who had a white collar job and a dedicated wife who raised the children and took care of the home. Within a thirty minute show he children would learn life lessons and the mother would whip up a five star meal in a pair of heals and white pearls while the father worked his cooperate job. Television is a source of learning and the shows put out what an ideal family is. How spouses are supposed to behave, how parents are expected to treat their children and how families should resolve their problems. On these shows family members almost always resolved the conflicts by way of positive and affective communication. Attitudes towards families are controlled by the media. In the television show “Father Knows Best” the father Jim Anderson went to work every day while his wife stayed home to clean house, make meals, and teach the children. In the 50’s that was the normal and accepted

In her book Marriage a History Stephanie Coontz explains the male breadwinner family model and its dominance in family life during the 40’s, 50’s, and early 60’s. An illustration of the male breadwinner model is composed of a father, mother, and two children; typically a boy and girl close in age. Funded by their father’s well paying middle class salary, the wife and children live a comfortable life in suburbia and participate regularly in consumer trends. Perceived as the head of the household, the father was the sole financial provider. On the other hand the mother was the head of domestic life and was responsible for the children. The popular 1950’s TV show The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet exemplified this family model. With regard to the male breadwinner family model, imagine having eight other brothers and sisters. Imagine growing up without a mother, and with a father who worked constantly. Then consider living this life alongside your peers who come from the “normal” male breadwinner families Coontz describes… How would your family differ from your peers? What would be your thoughts and feelings towards family life? More importantly, how would these unique circumstances change your perception of the nuclear family?

Families needed a role model and family sitcoms portrayed that myth so well that they gave families “little reassurance that they were headed in the right direction (38). This myth promoted values that every family should have and people strive to achieve those values, to transform their “abnormal” families into a harmonious one. When Americans would watch these shows, they would follow these traits and try to implement them into their own families. By living in this myth of the American family, creating a more secure home, and preparing for the future, the government rewarded people (42). The government also promoted the family values and secured the family union. Families were closer together and the goal of creating a perfect family was what created a bond between them. The myth of the perfect family formed other families and taught them the fundamentals of a family’s

The census statistics during this period shows a distinct transition in family dynamics and the growth of blended families across the nation. The transition to a broader definition of what marriage can be is what arguably has led to societies social shift to a larger acceptance of marriage that maybe historically didn’t fit what the media portrayed as the ideal marriage; like blended families, interracial marriage, and in recent years the shift to acceptance of homosexual marriage and relationships that even in the 1960s was portrayed in cinema. The ideal shift of a “perfectly imperfect” television family that obviously have face trials and tribulations but still provides a loving home for children and a vessel for moral teachings is something that we still see today on television. Full House is arguably an outcome of the progression from The Brady Bunch era that expanded the idea of what marriage and family could be. Full house is a form of a blended family in a non-traditional way. Instead of a remarriage you have a widowed single father with three daughters and his two male best friends helping raise them. Without previous shows like The Brady Bunch paving the way for non-traditional families, shows like Full House might have never been given the avenue to tell these stories of non-traditional families that were actively living in the

The Brady Bunch is a Television show that is full of adventures and it all starts when two widowed people with children of their own decide to get married. Carol is the Mother of the family and mike is the father. Carol has three daughters by the name of, Marcia Brady the eldest, Jan Brady the middle child and Cindy the youngest. Mike has children of his own also the eldest is Greg Brady, the middle is Peter Brady and the youngest is Bobby Brady. This 70’s T.V show became one of the most lovable family to tune in and watch. Although it is known for being over dramatic and corny it has become very popular and is still has a spot on T.V shows in the 21st century. The Characters of this show dressed in a very different way the fashion in the 70’s

According to Merriam Webster Dictionary the definition of family is “the basic unit in society traditionally consisting of two parents rearing their children; any of various social units differing from but regarded as equivalent to the traditional family”. The ideal of what a traditional family entails have changed since the last few decades. What happened to the family structure? Where did traditions go? How does television impact the family structure? Due to societal changes, the impact of divorce, and media influence, the traditional family structure has diminished because of less cohesion and more emphasizes on individuality.

Media Analysis of Modern Family The conventional idea of an American family has evolved exceedingly over time. The white and black image of a basic family and their dog Old Yeller, happily standing behind their white picket fence is slowly but surely fading out. This exhausted 1960's image of popular families no longer applies to most Americans today because our culture has advanced towards equality. The TV sitcom series “Modern Family” attempts to show a more current view of American families.

     The sitcom has certain themes and experiences that are regularly used when developing a show. The themes of “family and home, work and authority” are the most common used in a sitcom (McQueen 57). The reason for these types of themes is because of how common they are, and many audiences can recognize the different situations. The “collision of values, identities, and lifestyles” is the major component in a comedy, the more collision the more laughter (McQueen 58). Sitcoms usually consist of a family or quasi-family structures, these are necessary to satisfy the needs of the viewer. The family structure can consist of whole families, single parents with children, step-families, even gay men and straight single women (Creeber 69). The combination does not matter, viewers just want to see some sort of nuclear family, conventional or not.

“Here’s the story of a lovely lady who was bringing up three very lovely girls. All of them had hair of gold, like their mother, the youngest one in curls. Here’s the story of a man named Brady who was busy with three boys of his own. They were four men, living all together, but they were all alone. Till the one day when the lady met this fellow. And they knew that it was much more than a hunch. That this group must somehow form a family. That’s the way we became the Brady Bunch” (The Brady Bunch). Everyone knows the Brady Bunch. This hit TV show portrayed the seemingly perfect family with previous lives before their parents became separated. But that is an unrealistic reality that Hollywood puts into the minds of many. In the case of the Bradys,

The typical American family in the 1950’s was one who sat together at dinner, and who seemed to always be at peace. Consider it the old “Leave it to Beaver” days if you will. Mothers stayed home and served as housewives as well as took care of the children, while fathers went to work outside the home as the sole breadwinner for his family. He also took care of household responsibilities outside the home. Children didn’t spend near as much time in front of the television and didn’t have the computers and advanced technology to keep them occupied inside the home. Outside play was their extracurricular activity of choice. Life in the 1950’s was considered by many as the era of innocence.

What word comes to mind when you hear mother, father, brother, sister, aunt, and uncle? When most people hear these words they think of their family, but what really makes a family? The common image that comes to mind when thinking about family is a mom and dad and their children. Nowadays that is not always and families are coming in all shapes and sizes. There are, “... single-parent families, stepfamilies, cohabitating families- those with unmarried domestic partners-…,” (McCaffrey, 2013, p. 3). T.V shows have even started to reflect these changing family structures, especially the show Modern Family.This show not only has the typical family structure, but also an interracial couple and same-sex couples. The unique thing about this show

The Structure of the American family has changed drastically. There actually isn’t much of a “structure” anymore to families. The social norm of what used to be in the 50’s where the man was the only person to work and the women stood home and kept up the home and children. Couples got married young and didn’t have children out of wedlock. It was almost like most family followed the same structure. The 50’s doesn’t seem like it was chaotic as it is today with couples working multiple jobs at different times and families never being together with each other at the same time and so many hobbies, sports, and extracurricular things going on with each family. The biggest thing that comes to my mind that has changed completely is that even growing

For many years now when we picture the quixotic American family our thoughts often go to the suburbs. We visualize a family with a father, a mother and the average 2.5 children. Perhaps, this stereotypical family has roots in the 1950 's. After World War II, there was a substantial move from urban and rural areas to the freshly sprouted suburbs. The GI bill, signed into law in 1944, provided significant funding for this movement with low-interest mortgage loans. (Moon, n.d.) Into the twenty-first century, the suburbs and metropolitan areas continued their growth. (Frey, 2012) During the period the suburbs were in their genesis, a relatively new medium, the television, was placing its roots as a staple in the suburban living room. This device replaced the radio as a family 's focal point for news and entertainment. In the mid-fifties, a new form of entertainment emerged, the family situation comedy (sitcom). The show, “Father Knows Best” was credited as the first successful form of the new style of comedy in 1954, and would have an extended run in broadcast and syndication for the next thirteen years plus spawn many imitators such as “Leave it to Beaver”. (Taflinger, 1996) Because of their high viewership and capacity to produce income for networks, producers, and broadcast stations, the domestic sitcom continues to saturate the small screen today. (Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation, 2013)

A situation comedy, or sitcom, is defined as a comedy series involving the same characters in various day-to-day situations which are developed as separate stories for each episode (Dictionary.com). The structure of a sitcom has not changed much since its inception on radio, but the characters and premises of the show change with the different times the shows are based in. This paper will focus on the history of sitcoms as they made the transition from radio to television, and a comparison of an early sitcom to one of modern times. Specifically, the themes that the shows addressed, relationships in the show, diversity of the characters, and the portrayed roles of women in the household will be compared and contrasted for I Love Lucy and Modern Family.

A: I liked Three’s Company, The Waltons, 60 Minutes, and Good Times. The Jeffersons was on during that time, the whole family used to watch that whenever it showed. Sanford & Son was another show that we all would watch. It still makes me laugh even though I’ve seen every episode more than once.