FAMILY-Comedy+and+Drama

With the increasing popularity of VCRs and the recession of the late ’80s and early ‘90s, more and more families starting staying home instead of soliciting theaters. Television and movie producers recognized this trend and capitalized on it by creating shows and movies centered on the family unit. Most of these were comedies, depicting the “trials” of everyday family life.
 * __Family Relationship Comedy or Drama__** 

//Family Ties (’82-89)// //Webster ('83-'89)// //The Cosby Show (’84-’92)// //Who’s the Boss (’84-‘92)// //Growing Pains (’85-’92)// //Full House (’87-’95)// //Roseanne ('88-'97)// //Family Matters (’89-’98)// //The Simpsons (’89-present)// //In Living Color ('90-'94)// //The Fresh Prince of Bel Air (’90-’96)// //Step By Step (’91-’98)// //Home Improvement (’91-’99)// //Party of Five (’94-’00)//
 * //TV:[[image:the_cosby_show-show.jpg width="292" height="219" align="right"]]//**

//National Lampoon’s European Vacation (’85)// //Raising Arizona (’87)// //Baby Boom (’87)// //Three Men and a Baby (’87)// //Parenthood (’89)// //Uncle Buck (’89)// //Look Who’s Talking (’89)// //National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (’89)// //Look Who’s Talking Too (’90)// //Home Alone (’90)// //Three Men and A Little Lady (’90)// //Father of the Bride (’91)// //My Girl (’91)// //Curly Sue (’91)// //Beethoven (’91)// //Home Alone II (’92)// //Look Who’s Talking Now (’93)// //Dennis the Menace (’93)// //Mrs. Doubtfire (’93)// //My Girl II (’94)// //Father of the Bride II (’95)//
 * //Movies://**

In 1985, every adult between 20-40 years of age was classified as part of the Baby Boomer Generation. They were the largest demographic and accounted for more than half of all consumer spending. Movie companies recognized and catered to this group who were in their parenting years. Television and movies depicted issues concerning this age group. Such T.V. shows included //Family Ties, Growing Pains//, and //Home Improvement//. Movies included //Parenthood, Baby Boom//, the //National Lampoon's// series, and the //Look Who's Talking// trilogy.
 * Trends:**
 * __Baby Boomers Starting Their Own Families__**

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In this clip from //Parenthood// with Steve Martin and Mary Steenburgen, multiples issues that concern parents are highlighted. Simple things like your child losing his retainer and trips to Chucky Cheese contribute to the financial stress of raising a family. Additionally, the conflict between Steve Martin's character and his father regarding child rearing ideologies are illustrated. The Baby Boomer Generation fought against the traditional iron fisted approach to parenting that the prior generation embraced. The parental realization that your child is a reflection of yourself is an element depicted in this scene when Steenburgen's character realizes Kevin gets his anxiety from his father.

//Poisonwood Bible// by Barbara Kingsolver (Family Ties, Home Improvement, Growing Pains, Parenthood, and Father of the Bride) //Little Women// by Louisa May Alcott (Step by Step, Father of the Bride) //The House on Mango Street// by Sandra Cisneros (Growing Pains, Step by Step, Parenthood) //The Giver// by Lois Lowery (Full House)
 * Literature To Tie In:**

1985-1995 encompassed the second and third waves of the feminist movement. More and more women were becoming working mothers. Additionally, with the advent of no-fault divorce in the '70s, divorce rates spiked and continued to increase into the '80s and '90s. Thus, the structure of the family unit changed drastically to accommodate these differences to family life. Single parents, stepfamilies and extended family members began redefining the make up of one household. //Full House, Party of Five, Parenthood, Mrs. Doubtfire,// and //Three Men and a Baby// all illustrated different family makeups. Earlier shows may have highlighted blended families or single parent households but the circumstances surrounding the non-traditonal families usually arose from fate via the death of a spouse (usually a widowed father) and were thus seen as less taboo by television producers. In the 80s, shows like //Who's the Bos//s illustrated nontraditional households that were created by character choices, such as the choice of advertising executive Angela Bower to get divorced. //Who's the Boss// exemplified some of these revolutionary societal changes by showing a single working mother and a male housekeeper/nanny.
 * __Traditional vs. Non-Traditional Families__**

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//The Outsiders// by S.E. Hinton (Party of Five) //So B. It// by Sarah Weeks (Uncle Buck, Full House, Three Men and a Baby)
 * Literature To Tie In:**

__**Portrayal of Black Families in the Media**__ In the 1970s, black sitcoms began appearing of television and the trend continued exponentially into the '80s and '90s. Despite the increase in visibility, many of these shows tended to reinforce black stereotypes. //Webster//, a show in which a white family adopts a cute and funny black boy maintains the "comic clown" stereotype of the silly black character who need not be taken seriously. Many black shows began fighting back against these conventional stereotypes by casting black characters who held respectable social positions, jobs, and financial statuses. The parents in the //The Cosby Show// were a doctor and a lawyer and in //The// //Fresh Prince of Bel Air//, Will Smith's "'hood" character goes to live with his wealthy, well educated, and sophisticated family in California. Though black family comedies seemed to be making a move in the "right" direction by portraying them as part of the productive, normal middle class, series like //The Cosby Show// have been criticized for portraying a make-believe society where being black has little influence. //The Cosby Show// was, however, so popular that it acted as a springboard for other black sitcoms such as //The Fresh Prince// and //In Living Color//. It also ushered in an era of shows centered around a stand up comedian's act. Additionally, even though black visibility in television series increased, there still remained segregation between black and white casts. White characters may have made guest appearances, but they were never part of the main cast in these shows. Also interestingly absent from this genre was the presence of nontraditional families. The black sitcoms in the '80s remained centered around a nuclear family while white sitcoms were incorporating more taboo family dynamics. Perhaps adding a split family to the already highly controversial race dynamics would have worked against the stereotypes blacks were trying to overcome in the media. Or perhaps the black community had not been as affected by societal changes brought about by the feminist movement. media type="youtube" key="hBe0VCso0qs?rel=0" height="468" width="576" align="center"

**Literature To Tie In:** //The Watsons Go To Birmingham// by Christopher Paul Curtis (Family Matters, The Cosby Show)

//The Glass Menagerie// by Tennessee Williams //The Joy Luck Club// by Amy Tan //Mona in the Promised Land// by Gish Jen //A Raisin in the Sun// by Lorraine Hansberry //David Copperfield// by Charles Dickens //As I Lay Dying// by William Faulkner //To Kill a Mockingbird// by Harper Lee
 * Other Possible Literature to Tie Into the Overall Theme of Family Dynamics:**