Do you think family friendly shows can work in today's environment? I mean obviously you wouldnt have any swearing, no sex or violence etc. but do you think they would draw?

One thing I noticed about a show like Full House, is that I dont think, and I stress, this is just my opinion, that adults talk like that in real life, you know? Full House was a G rated show, yet I dont think adults or kids use G rated language. I dont think they do now or even in the past.

So what do you think? Family friendly shows work in today's world. I'm all for it but just because you want it doesnt mean the show will become a hit.

Family friendly shows worked when families only had 1 TV and only 3 channels to choose from. In today's environment, Full House might be a hit with kids, it might work on a more narrowly focused cable network but probably not on an OTA network with wider audiences. The OTA networks don't expect kids to watch them and don't really care since advertisers are only interested in 18-49, not 9 year olds or 59 year olds.

One of the family friendly shows I really like is Good Luck Charlie. It has the appeal of the old TGIF shows. It appeals to kids and adults. Unfortunately its on Disney and not a major network. All the networks care about is the 18-49 year old demographics so they'll continue to pump out endless reality shows and such.

I will say that probably the most family oriented sitcom on network tv is The Middle and it has gone mostly unnoticed. It's not as tame as Full House but is pretty tame when compared to the rest of the network sitcoms.

In the old days, there would be enough olds watching kid friendly shows on the OTA networks. Now today if an OTA was to schedule a kid friendly show like Full House, kids might watch but adults wouldn't if there was another TV and 300 other channels available.

One of the family friendly shows I really like is Good Luck Charlie. It has the appeal of the old TGIF shows. It appeals to kids and adults. Unfortunately its on Disney and not a major network. All the networks care about is the 18-49 year old demographics so they'll continue to pump out endless reality shows and such.

Disney channel isn't after advertisers who care about 18-49.

One of the family friendly shows I really like is Good Luck Charlie. It has the appeal of the old TGIF shows. It appeals to kids and adults. Unfortunately its on Disney and not a major network. All the networks care about is the 18-49 year old demographics so they'll continue to pump out endless reality shows and such.

and how many families actually watch TV together today?

and how many families actually watch TV together today?
I don't know. I know it's not as much as it used to be because everybody now has a tv in their own room. But Full House did air during the 1990's and there was plenty of Cable channels at that time. Heck, I probably watched more cable at that time then I do now. I still watch certain shows on cable but outside of sports I don't tune in one channel all the time like I used to. I think if it's a quality show, people will tune in.

The Amish might watch them...that is if they ever get around to getting television sets.

The Amish might watch them...that is if they ever get around to getting television sets.
There's a lot of Amish around where I live. lol

There's a lot of Amish around where I live. lol
When they come into town are there special parking places designed for horse and buggy ? I always wondered about that.

When they come into town are there special parking places designed for horse and buggy ? I always wondered about that.
I've never seen any. I've actually only seen them in a horse and buggy a few times. Most of the time they come into town in cars.

Those shows are mostly on cable now, on networks like Disney Channel. Good Luck Charlie was a good example provided earlier of a show that probably would've fit nicely into the old TGIF block or something similar - just as Full House would probably be on a network like Disney if it were around today.

See Dad Run w/ Scott Baio is also something of an "old fashioned" family/domestic sitcom. I like to consider it Charles in Charge: The Later Years:lol:. It however, airs on Nickelodeon instead of a broadcast network.

I don't know. I know it's not as much as it used to be because everybody now has a tv in their own room. But Full House did air during the 1990's and there was plenty of Cable channels at that time. Heck, I probably watched more cable at that time then I do now. I still watch certain shows on cable but outside of sports I don't tune in one channel all the time like I used to. I think if it's a quality show, people will tune in.

there were only 30 channels then, not 300

There was nothing like it then and there will never be anything to top ABC's Friday night T.G.I.F. line-up. Those were the days! I didn't really consider these family shows, to me they were just FUNNY shows. It shouldn't be about the language or the innuendos, the focus should be back on the actual comedic content. That's why the shows now are failing after only 1 episode.

They still have family friendly shows. The only difference now is they are watched by around 3 million viewers instead of the 30 million that tv shows got in the 90's. There is just so much cable channels that the broadcast networks have a much tougher time bringing in whole families to watch a show. I don't think the family shows will die out they will just have much smaller ratings.

I think family shows can work in todays invironment but the networks are not interested in them, the only successful family comedy is The Middle.

I think family shows can work in todays invironment but the networks are not interested in them, the only successful family comedy is The Middle.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GenreKiller

According to Chris "Rowdy C" Moore of TV Trash, Unhappily Ever After killed off the live-action working-class dysfunctional family sitcom that Married... with Children popularized at the start of the 1990s, along with Roseanne and Grace Under Fire, to be replaced by the age of urban single-based sitcoms like Friends and Seinfeld. Some dysfunctional family shows, like Titus (which was based on Christopher Titus's Real Life Dysfunctional Family), and Malcolm in the Middle cropped up in the early 2000s and gained positive to mixed reviews, but it wasn't enough to revive the genre. Today, Modern Family and The Middle, both on ABC, come the closest: Modern Family is uber-popular but focuses on upper-end middle class family dysfunctionality (and spreading it across multiple households) while The Middle is a more straight-up genre example, but like its predecessors hasn't garnered the attention needed to really revive the genre.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/DeaderThanDisco/LiveActionTV

Similarly, the "Working Class Family" Sitcom died sometime in The Nineties. This can probably be attributed to the increased number of Americans attending college, the rise in niche entertainment rendering the "everyman" of such shows obsolete, the rise in post-modern sitcoms like Seinfeld and How I Met Your Mother, and shows like The Simpsons and Married... with Children making it almost impossible to take such shows seriously anymore.

There was nothing like it then and there will never be anything to top ABC's Friday night T.G.I.F. line-up. Those were the days! I didn't really consider these family shows, to me they were just FUNNY shows. It shouldn't be about the language or the innuendos, the focus should be back on the actual comedic content. That's why the shows now are failing after only 1 episode.
Right, no shows make it past one episode anymore!

Relying on innuendo and sexual content does not make a show great (looking at you, Two and a Half Men) but neither does not relying on it. Just because a show has "innuendo" doesn't mean they don't care about the comic content. That's a pretty strange train of thought...

It is interesting how family sitcoms have mostly disappeared from broadcast TV, but I think it's just a result of the broadening of cable networks. Networks have more specific niches now rather than trying to cater to everyone. Kids have kids TV to watch, they don't need to be watching shows with their parents, and there are now entire networks dedicated to appealing to young audiences instead of just one night.

There's a lot of Amish around where I live. lol
Have you heard of the cable series "The Amish Mafia?"

Right, no shows make it past one episode anymore!

Relying on innuendo and sexual content does not make a show great (looking at you, Two and a Half Men) but neither does not relying on it. Just because a show has "innuendo" doesn't mean they don't care about the comic content. That's a pretty strange train of thought...

It is interesting how family sitcoms have mostly disappeared from broadcast TV, but I think it's just a result of the broadening of cable networks. Networks have more specific niches now rather than trying to cater to everyone. Kids have kids TV to watch, they don't need to be watching shows with their parents, and there are now entire networks dedicated to appealing to young audiences instead of just one night.
How about Animation Domination on Fox? All their shows focus on familie but the ones I recommend are The Simpsons and Bobs' Burgers.

I have to admire the script writers from that era. Writing 20 or more episodes a year without the easy crutch of innuendo, profanity, and storylines about sex topics. Seems I can't watch anything now without a "gay" joke or a "Viagra" joke or something like that. Lucy and Ricky had to sleep in separate beds wearing full pajamas, let's see today's writers make 22 episodes with those guidelines and have the show be a classic.
I often joke about what "Andy Griffith Show 2013" would look like. Aunt Bee would be a saucy old lady still chasing men, Andy & Helen and Barney & Thelma Lou would have episodes about their sex lives, Barney would curse a lot, Gomer would be gay and Andy would perform the ceremony at his same-sex wedding.

The social and ethical standards of this country are in rapid decline.As tv usually reflects the culture,guess what's gonna happen...

I definitely think there's a big market out there for family friendly programs. The problem is, the idiot network execs don't listen because the stupid reality shows are so much cheaper to produce.

ABC Family should air more of the family friendly sitcoms like Full House, Home Improvement, Roseanne,etc!!!

I definitely think there's a big market out there for family friendly programs. The problem is, the idiot network execs don't listen because the stupid reality shows are so much cheaper to produce.

And what's interesting is that some of these reality shows have replaced scripted shows as family programming. American Idol, The Voice, The Amazing Race, Survivor, and any cooking show not starring Gordon Ramsay. :D

I guess because we're so fragmented with TV now, having all these niche channels, networks figure anyone can find family-friendly shows if they want. But I think the days of the "Big Three" trying to seek cleaner programming are over. These days, it seems it's all about trying to capture younger, hipper, more upscale audiences and a Fresh Prince or Full House isn't going to cut it. What I wonder though, is how many of these so-called hipper, younger viewers don't watch the raunchier stuff and actually do want something more tame. We don't hear that because the networks' desire for edgier shows seem to overshadow what viewers might actually do want to see.

That's why I'm so grateful for alternatives like DVDs, Netflix, YouTube, etc.

I have to admire the script writers from that era. Writing 20 or more episodes a year without the easy crutch of innuendo, profanity, and storylines about sex topics. Seems I can't watch anything now without a "gay" joke or a "Viagra" joke or something like that. Lucy and Ricky had to sleep in separate beds wearing full pajamas, let's see today's writers make 22 episodes with those guidelines and have the show be a classic.
I often joke about what "Andy Griffith Show 2013" would look like. Aunt Bee would be a saucy old lady still chasing men, Andy & Helen and Barney & Thelma Lou would have episodes about their sex lives, Barney would curse a lot, Gomer would be gay and Andy would perform the ceremony at his same-sex wedding.
Again, not really getting how "including more sex jokes" = "not trying as hard". Weird way of thinking about it. I do agree that some shows use it as a crutch (Two and a Half Men, 2 Broke Girls, ect) but not all shows do. You are basically suggesting that the quality of a show revolves around how clothed the characters are when they sleep in bed, which...what?

I definitely think there's a big market out there for family friendly programs. The problem is, the idiot network execs don't listen because the stupid reality shows are so much cheaper to produce.
How many reality shows are really left on network TV? I see a lot of complaining about them here, but they're far less prevelant than they used to be. They are very prevelant on cable, but it's somewhat unrealistic to expect a cable network to churn out 100% new scripted material all day.

How about Animation Domination on Fox? All their shows focus on familie but the ones I recommend are The Simpsons and Bobs' Burgers.
Simpsons and Bob's Burgers are fairly clean shows but I wouldn't neccessarily say they're geared at families. And MacFarlane's shows are definitely not for kids.

By that, I mean the "talent" shows (Idol, America's Got Talent, The Voice, So You Think You Can Dance, etc.), all of Gordon Ramsey's shows (Hell's Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, etc.), Big Brother...

By that, I mean the "talent" shows (Idol, America's Got Talent, The Voice, So You Think You Can Dance, etc.), all of Gordon Ramsey's shows (Hell's Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, etc.), Big Brother...
But most of those are years old, and a lot of them are kind of dying off. There hasn't been that much successful new reality on broadcast TV lately. The most recent is probably Shark Tank, but even that is relegated to Friday nights. Other than that, it's The Voice, which premiered in 2011. But I really can't think of any other overly successful reality shows premiered on broadcast TV in the past 3 years...and a lot of them have been outright failures (Splash, Ready for Love, Fashion Star).

Again, not really getting how "including more sex jokes" = "not trying as hard". Weird way of thinking about it. I do agree that some shows use it as a crutch (Two and a Half Men, 2 Broke Girls, ect) but not all shows do. You are basically suggesting that the quality of a show revolves around how clothed the characters are when they sleep in bed, which...what?



My point was that it is an extra crutch that the old writers could not go to and it had to severely limit their options the longer the show ran because there were plots and jokes that were simply taboo.
I have done standup a few times in front of family audiences and adult audiences and believe me "working blue" makes it much easier. It is a lot harder to be restricted on subject matter and still be funny. Maybe that has to do with my lack of talent, but when I can use adult humor it adds an extra dimension you can go to.

Do you think family friendly shows can work in today's environment? I mean obviously you wouldnt have any swearing, no sex or violence etc. but do you think they would draw?

One thing I noticed about a show like Full House, is that I dont think, and I stress, this is just my opinion, that adults talk like that in real life, you know? Full House was a G rated show, yet I dont think adults or kids use G rated language. I dont think they do now or even in the past.

So what do you think? Family friendly shows work in today's world. I'm all for it but just because you want it doesnt mean the show will become a hit.

I'm in my early 30's and I'd love to see family friendly shows.
And my husband and I use G rated language, we detest cursing, it shows total lack of intelligence.

My point was that it is an extra crutch that the old writers could not go to and it had to severely limit their options the longer the show ran because there were plots and jokes that were simply taboo.
I have done standup a few times in front of family audiences and adult audiences and believe me "working blue" makes it much easier. It is a lot harder to be restricted on subject matter and still be funny. Maybe that has to do with my lack of talent, but when I can use adult humor it adds an extra dimension you can go to.
I see, now that I don't neccessarily disagree with. That said, I think there's a market for family programming (one that is maybe not being served as well by broadcast TV as it could be, although I think there's plenty of family-friendly options on TV) but I also don't think there's any problem with having "adult" orientated shows either.