What has Been Lost

[Sarah The Trivia Hound]

I was sad when "American Dreams" was cancelled. I really liked the show. I looked forward to seeing what would happen to all the characters each week. I cared about them. "American Dreams" was my favorite show. I did everything I could to save it. Naturally, I was dissapointed when the show went off the air. I delt with the loss. Life goes on. I have interests and pleasures outside of the show.

Recently I was watching "Little House on the Prarie" which I hadn't seen in years, and started thinking. Up until the 70s, television had been strictly controlled. People at the networks did not want to air anything that would offend thier sponsers, so nothing too offensive was aired.

In the 70s, "All in the Family" premired, and changed what was disscussable. Race, biogotry, intolerance, and the generation gap, were all on air for the country to see and debate. Other shows followed. "M*A*S*H" dealt with war, suffering, and had anti-war sentiments. However despite the more serious, adult oriented shows, they were programs like "Little House on the Prarie" which the whole family could watch together. Not kids programs adults had to suffer through, but actually enjoyed watching.

Even though the 80s had "Miami Vice", there was also "Family Ties" and "Growing Pains".

Until now, there has been a balence. Yes there have been adult themed programs that were definitly not family friendly, but there were also wholesome shows the whole family could watch together. With "American Dreams" off the air, I cannot come up with a single truly family friendly show. Something truly special was lost. I can only hope the balence returns.

[russ engel]

Hey- great post, My family was a huge fan of Little House on the Priarie. I taped every episode off TBS and we would watch it in order as often as we could. My kids have grown and they will use these tapes when they have children. Since they turned 17 & 19 the only time we watched TV together was when American Dreams came on. We looked forward to family time once again. But now that NBC has cancel it and replace it with shows like "Who's your real Brother" we are left empty again. Boy how society has really screwed up this world. well Thanks for a great post and for letting me vent-Russ

[rusyd]

Originally Posted by SARAH THE TRIVIA HOUND

I was sad when "American Dreams" was cancelled. I really liked the show. I looked forward to seeing what would happen to all the characters each week. I cared about them. "American Dreams" was my favorite show. I did everything I could to save it. Naturally, I was dissapointed when the show went off the air. I delt with the loss. Life goes on. I have interests and pleasures outside of the show.

Recently I was watching "Little House on the Prarie" which I hadn't seen in years, and started thinking. Up until the 70s, television had been strictly controlled. People at the networks did not want to air anything that would offend thier sponsers, so nothing too offensive was aired.

In the 70s, "All in the Family" premired, and changed what was disscussable. Race, biogotry, intolerance, and the generation gap, were all on air for the country to see and debate. Other shows followed. "M*A*S*H" dealt with war, suffering, and had anti-war sentiments. However despite the more serious, adult oriented shows, they were programs like "Little House on the Prarie" which the whole family could watch together. Not kids programs adults had to suffer through, but actually enjoyed watching.

Even though the 80s had "Miami Vice", there was also "Family Ties" and "Growing Pains".

Until now, there has been a balence. Yes there have been adult themed programs that were definitly not family friendly, but there were also wholesome shows the whole family could watch together. With "American Dreams" off the air, I cannot come up with a single truly family friendly show. Something truly special was lost. I can only hope the balence returns.

So very true.