UPDATE UPDATE

Wow, after several years ive decided to try and resurrect this little blog of mine. I recently told a friend I missed having a place to write. Then out of nowhere a blog "challenge" if you will came about on a public group im in. So here I am and I'm going to try and keep this thing going. Bare with me as I make changes and update content. Feel free to sift through my old posts, you just might learn something new about me....

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

They just don't make _____ like they used to!

This is another prompt from Mama's Losin' It. I just can't help it, I thought about this one and came up with something that I complain about often, so here goes nothing....

.....FAMILY SHOWS.....
It's true and it's something that I often complain to Kris about. What ever happened to TGIF? The kind of shows that we grew up with were amazing! They were a diverse group of families, they were funny, they always had good morals at the end of each show, they all were different enough to keep you interested in them. Today shows are full of sex, violence, teen pregnancy, drugs and alcohol, and all seem to be very depressing. Let's go through some examples shall we, and for reference I am talking about 80's-early 90's vs. late 90's-now...
Shows of the Past:
  • Full House
  • Family Matters
  • Saved By The Bell
  • Fresh Prince of Bel Air
  • Family Ties
  • Growing Pains
  • The Cosby Show
  • Perfect Strangers
  • ALF
  • The Wonder Years
  • Boy Meets World
  • Home Improvement
  • FRIENDS
  • Step By Step

Okay so you get my point, there is a long list of shows from the 80's and 90's that were wholesome shows. Now some of them, like Fresh Prince, did address some heavier topics like drugs, and Boy Meets World talked about college life and sex...but not to the extent that shows today do... Here is the list of shows that are most popular now a days.

Shows Currently/Recently Popular:

  • Family Guy
  • Secret Life of An American Teenager
  • The Simpson's
  • One Tree Hill
  • Gossip Girl
  • South Park
  • 30 Rock
  • Malcolm In The Middle
  • Arrested Development
  • Charmed
  • Buffy The Vampire Slayer
  • That 70's Show
  • Gilmore Girls
  • Two and a Half Men

Now, I will say that some shows like Gilmore Girls, which is sadly off the air, was pretty wholesome family tv. And That 70's Show does have some really funny episodes and I'm guilty of watching, but come on, half the show they are sitting around smoking pot! Yes, we should promote that instead of family game nights and teaching morals through family life!

I mean, who doesn't love Two and a Half Men? But if you look at that show Charlie brings home different women all the time and Alan, a divorced dad raising his overeating snotty son, fights with his ex and their crazy mother comes over drinking often and compare it to say Step By Step where there were divorced parents who found love again and had typical struggles to make all the kids get along, life challenges with jobs and dating I see a pretty clear difference. What was funny then, isn't good enough now.

Perhaps it just bothers me more now with a little one on the way, but I'd much rather him grow up watching shows from the past than shows from today. Even shows I enjoy now aren't shows I'd want a 12 year old watching after he has done his homework for the night. TGIF used to be awesome, parents could say "you can watch these 2 hours of tv tonight" and leave the room and not once worry what their kids were being exposed to. I could never imagine putting a young kid in front of ABC on a Friday night for 2 hours without being in the room to veto shows. Now most shows are dramas, and the few family sitcoms that are around (what I like about you, grounded for life, reba) are not on prime time channels and nothing in comparison to shows past. Kris and I even find ourselves watching Nike At Nite now more than any other channel.

It's sad really, I guess I'm just glad that Disney and Nickelodeon are still around....

Okay comment away... what is your opinion?

13 comments:

KatBouska said...

Good one! It's so true!! My famly would actually watch those shows together...I can't think of even one that I would watch with my kids right now...aside from maybe American Idol.

Roxane said...

Amen to that! I miss sitting together watching Full House and Saved By The Bell... And sometimes I pop in one of my season's of Friends on DVD because I miss it so much lol...I'm with Mama Kat, I would be totally embarrassed to watch a lot of the "popular" shows with my family...

April said...

I totally agree. We talk about that a lot. I watched every single show on your first list!

Jennifer said...

Those were the good ol' days! Nothing like Zach and Screech! :)

Unknown said...

You didn't go back far enough. How about Bonanza and The Rifleman or even The Munsters?

I may have a bit of an off-kilter view, because when I was growing up I was already in the fifth grade before we got our first tv. There was precisely ONE channel we could watch. So tv never became the factor in my life that it was in others.

It is interesting that when the Son was growing up, we had multiple tv's and 100's of channels, but because my wife and I never watched much tv, the Son never became a tv watcher either. Most evenings we would gather round the fireplace and read or talk, occasionally watching a movie.

BTW I would disagree with you on Two and Half Men. The whole point of the show is satire and caricature. And Charlie's character - sleazy as it is - is shown to have the occasional redeeming quality. So I think the show is good on two levels. One it points out that everyone has flaws, often in their own personal blind spot. And two, it shows that no one is completely without redeeming qualities.

Kiki said...

I totally agree with you and watched every show on that list. I actually still watch reruns of Roseanne, Cosby Show, Brandy Bunch, & Little House. We do need more family programming, but families have changed so much over the last 20 years, I think there is no turning back. Have a great day and take care.
-Kiki

Erin said...

I remember watching the Love Boat and the Muppets....does that age me?
But I do agree...My oldest is only 2 right now but I would NEVER let him watch a lot of the shows today!

Los said...

I don't have kids, so I'm not sure if I can comment on these, but I do remember watching All in the Family and Mama's Family with my parents ...

monica said...

Oh I totally agree! I wish that there were more family type sit-coms on TV. The violent things on TV right now sucks. I am glad that I can keep my boys busy enough that they are not interested in the TV at all. I don't know what I would do if they were. Great post and great writing. Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Jeanette said...

I so agree! We just checked out some old Little House on the Prairie episodes from the library and my kids loved it. Now that's some wholesome entertainment.

Summer said...

I loved TGIF!!!! How funny, I completely forgot about that!

My mom let me stay up to watch it until that one show came on with all those kids and the dad who was a coach...what was that called?

Anyway, she didn't like that show, so TGIF ended for me. =(

Crista said...

I love old sitcoms myself, I hate the scripted reality crap they show these days...what happened to problems that people have that get solved in 30 minutes???

Superstar said...

That is on my list...TV shows.

You know I am amazed at how many parents do not fully understand the CONTENT of shows like Family guy and 2 1/2 men. While I am an adult and can see past the "bad" children can not. I am a firm advocate of telling my parents, of the kids I teach, if they are talking about watching it. It has no use for kids that young.

Now, from an adult side, I really like that I have more to choose from. I also am not tuned into that sophmoric check your brain at the door humor...but there are people out there that do. Hence the ratings.

Anyway, Liked your weekly assignment!
Bambi

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