TV Families Since the 1950s. The Cleavers From Leave it to Beaver (1957-1963) White, middle-class family. Only one black family appeared with a speaking.

TV FamiliesSince the 1950s

The Cleavers

• From Leave it to Beaver (1957-1963)• White, middle-class family. Only one black family

appeared with a speaking role in a later season. All families were heterosexual.

• Father worked and mother was a full time homemaker.• Format centred around concepts of proper behaviour

equals rewards and improper behaviour equals punishment.

• Seemingly revolutionary aspect: parents debated discipline and sometimes even made discipline mistakes.

The Bradys

• From The Brady Bunch (1969-1974)• White, blended, middle-class family with live in housekeeper.• First season format dealt with issues around blending a

family. Later seasons focused on broader pre-teen and teenage issues.

• Sometimes contemporary issues, like Women’s Liberation, were explored.

• Seemingly revolutionary aspect: Carol’s previous marital status is left deliberately ambiguous. She may have been divorced.

The Huxtables

• From The Cosby Show (1984-1992)• Black, upper-middle-class family. Father is a doctor and

mother is a lawyer.• Despite focussing on a black family, the show dealt less

with race issues than other contemporary shows. Instead the show focussed on the daily issues of families, from both the parental and child perspectives.

• Seemingly revolutionary aspect: black parents were both professionals and were financially well-off.

The Tanners

• From Full House (1987-1995)• White, extended family. Widower has best friend and

brother-in-law to move in and help raise three daughters after wife’s death.

• The show dealt with usual family issues, while also adding the element of men raising girls and the loss of a parent/spouse/sibling.

• Seemingly revolutionary aspect: the living arrangements. Three biologically unrelated heterosexual adult men live together for a unique style of co-parenting.

The Griffins

• From Family Guy (1999-present)• White, nuclear family with anthropomorphized dog.• Humour is connected to current events and/or popular

culture icons.• Seemingly revolutionary aspect: unlike many other

cartoons and/or TV shows centred on a family, this is designed for adults, not children and tweens.

The Pritchetts

• From Modern Family (2009-present)• Three diverse, but related families, including a blended

family, a heterosexual “traditional” family, and a homosexual family.

• Set in “mockumentary” style where characters speak directly to the audience.

• Seemingly revolutionary aspect: gay couple with a child, and older man married to much younger woman.