Why is it that even though there was a dining room, almost all the meals were eaten in the kitchen? I've noticed that on other shows also. I know on FT, they only seemed to use the dining room for special occassions, and/or when they had company. Isn't the whole point of having a dining room to eat in? Just an observation.

Any thoughts?

It's probably easier just to eat in the kitchen than to carry all of the food into the dining room. The Keatons seem like busy people.

I used to do that. The dining room and kitchen together are just too much to maintain. When I don't have company, I just stay in the kitchen and eat.:)

I know in my house, we eat in the kitchen also. The dining room is basically to look at until company comes over or it is a special event like Thanksgiving or Christmas.

I think that usually the sitcom families have meals in the kitchen because it is a homier atmosphere. In most families (TV and real-life) the kitchen is sort of the hub of the house - the family eats there, has important conversations in it, and many times the kids do their homework at the kitchen table.

Yeah...In my family the dining room is only for when we have guests over.