Family - General Discussion

[Egg McMuffin]

The rarely-rerun drama “Family” (1976-80) is the subject of this weekend’s “Decades Binge”. They are starting with the pilot and most of the episodes from the first season, but then they’re showing a selection of episodes from the rest of the run (the first two seasons are on DVD but the others aren’t).

If you haven’t seen it, it’s worth a look. It’s from Aaron Spelling, but it was his attempt at quality TV, rather than the fluff he usually produced. It focuses on the upper middle class Lawrence family in Pasadena. The show was created by playwright Jay Presson Allen and produced by Mike Nichols. Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz, later of “thirtysomething”, were writer/producers on the series at one point. It also had writers who wrote for (or eventually wrote for) shows like “The Waltons”, “St. Elsewhere”, “Dallas”, and “Knots Landing.” So it was always straddling the line between serious drama and soapy indulgence.

I think it’s worth watching alone for young Kristy McNichol alone. She was nominated for an Emmy pretty much every season she was on the show. She won as supporting actress in a drama one year, and was nominated a lead actress for her final season. She’s the most likable, relatable member of the family.

I also liked the parents simply because they weren’t the young, slim, and glamorous parents we usually saw (and still see) on TV. Doug and Kate Lawrence are age appropriate and aren’t glamorous. They looked like my parents. They were also flawed: Kate could be rather chilly and Doug had cheated on her earlier in their marriage. Kate favored the son and was hard on the elder daughter. Doug was the reverse: he had a soft spot for the elder daughter and was hard on the son.

Someone on the old jump the shark website described Willie, the son, as a cross between Art Garfunkel and John Boy Walton. Very accurate.

Watching the pilot now. Nancy, the eldest daughter and played by an actress other than Meredith Baxter Birney, is pretty unappealing. I can see why they replaced her.

[Bethany]

I don't think I've seen this show since it was first on.  I wonder how I'd feel about it watching now as an adult as opposed to watching as a young teen.  I remember thinking John Rubenstein (who played Nancy's ex) was gorgeous - he's still good looking but how did he get so old when I stayed so young?  Ah well.  I do remember not particularly liking the Nancy character and could totally understand why her mother was so hard on her!  

Edited January 14, 2023 by Elizabeth Anne

[Blergh]

One of the more unintentionally amusing aspects of the show (in that pre-cell/Smartphone era) was the fact that this household happened to have a telephone receiver in EVERY room of the house. Let's keep in mind that in that era, it was rare for folks to have more than two or three extensions in even the wealthiest homes!

On a more somber note, the eldest daughter Nancy insisted on naming her baby son Timmy after her younger brother who'd drowned years before the show's start- and expected everyone else in the family to cheer this on. However, her younger sister Buddy (actually named Leticia) openly objected to this(and initially would only call her nephew 'Kid') so Nancy and the rest of them dogpiled on Buddy to kowtow to the family party line. OK, of course,I get that Nancy and her then-husband had the final call to name their own son but I thought it was wrong of them to be dismissive of Buddy's feelings re hearing the name recalling the drowned brother.

[chediavolo]

I streamed a few eps of this a while ago. I watched it when it was on tv ages ago. Still hate all of them. The cold mother, the nasty father, the stuck up sister. Much misogynist behavior. Buddy was ok. I stopped watching because I did not care about this family.  

[Egg McMuffin]

In this episode playing now, Buddy’s old friend Laura has become an alkie! It’s like an Afterschool Special!

I liked Laura better yesterday when she was played by Kim Richards of Witch Mountain fame.

[JAYJAY1979]

Buddy was a brat.. don't get why everyone was so attached to her.

It's interesting watching this because even though it took place in the mid to late 70s at the start of women's liberation, etc... we had to remember that Nancy and Willie were born and were kids/preteens in the more traditional 50s and early 60s.  So it made sense that the parents had that old fashion vibe so it made sense that Kate was hard on Nancy (for not staying with her cheating husband and opting to study to become a lawyer) while the dad was hard on Willie (for basically being a free spirit).