Why, before Full House, did shows almost never mention the late mother?

[DTF955]

"Full House" had more mentions of the late mother than almost every show *combined*, I think - and surely more than any show with a windoer combined before it. (Granted, I never saw My Three Sons, but have heard there was only one mention she ever existed on "Andy Griffith," when Opie asks Andy if he and mom felt the same way about each other as...maybe Aunt Bea and someone? And, I've heard there weren't on others. I don't recall any in the first 4-5 seasons of Diff'rent Strokes when I was watching, not too busy with school to watch shows.)

But, my question is, why? And, this may also serve as a good place to put examples where the late wife of a widower was mentioned.

Hmmmm, should I have people able to vote for more than one? Yeah, I guess, the reason may well have been different for TAGS, being almost 2 decades earlier, than for DS, for instance. Although...there's a difference, in TAGS's case, because you'd think that *some* mention would be made of her; to have none is just, well, odd. Almost like Andy was purposely hiding any talk about her to keep from grieving. (Hey, that's another choice I can put up there.)

#1 is pretty obvious, connects with traditional stories, fact of it itself leads to connection w/characters. #2 seems quite possible; most poeple have wider circle of friends than we see normally on a show, or even than we hear mentioned. #3 is where, as I say, Andy Griffith may have different reasons than Diff'rent Strokes; that seems to be a '50s/'60s reason. $4 is possible, and I sometimes thought that Andy's wife especially could have died in childbirth, becasue of the ruralness of the setting, small town where they might not have had the best facilities. (Was a hospital ever mentioned on Andy Griffith? I haven't seen a lot of that show. So, I could be wrong, maybe it was better than I think.) Plus, you wouldn't see as much mention if it was 7-8 years earlier versus even a couple.

The last three deal with writer abilities; the difference between the three is that #5 equals the writers not wanting anything sad to ever enter, and if something like the mom was mentioned, it had to be very vital to the plot or something. #6 is more that if it was recalled, that meant a peson had to be depressed, that the "acceptance" part of grief was acceptable :-) And &7 basically means that they might have tried, but they didn't know how, period - and when TV writers do, they think in terms of sentamentality, etc.

[mstewart]

Look at The Partridge Family the children's late father was mentioned once and that was in the pilot episode. After that it was like he never existed.

My Three Sons mentioned the boys late mother a few times.

Diff'ent Strokes mentioned Mrs. Drummond a few times.

Andy Griffith Show hardly referred to Opie's mother. As well as The Beverly Hillbillies did not make mentioned of Elly May's mother.

Sanford and Son Elizabeth was mentioned and referred to quite a bit. You can Fred deeply loved her and never got over losing her.

[Janice]

The Brady Bunch didn't mention it much either, but as mstewart pointed out, Fred Sanford did frequently mention Elizabeth. I think they don't dwell on it is because they want to keep the shows as light-hearted as possible. Most shows deal in the present and don't get into past events, particulary painful ones. The earlier deaths set the premise for the shows, but they weren't what they shows were actually about.

[Kristen]

I think it's a combination of a lot of things, that you're just supposed to accept the permise and not think too much about the backstory (Sort of like #2), and that a lot of times sitcoms are considered "family" shows, and death might be too depressing or scary for little kids to think about, esp. on a show that's supposed to make them laugh.

Personally, I always hate it when shows don't mention the deceased parent. I don't think it works that way in real life, that after someone dies, esp. in the case of a parent, you never mention them. As sappy as Full House could be, at least they got that much right.

- Kristen

[mstewart]

Originally Posted by Janice

The Brady Bunch didn't mention it much either, but as mstewart pointed out, Fred Sanford did frequently mention Elizabeth. I think they don't dwell on it is because they want to keep the shows as light-hearted as possible. Most shows deal in the present and don't get into past events, particulary painful ones. The earlier deaths set the premise for the shows, but they weren't what they shows were actually about.

There was no mention of Carol's husband whatsoever on The Brady Bunch pilot episode but the boy's mom was mentioned to a point that even Bobby had a picture of her. That was touching. But from that point on the children respective absent parent was never brought up again. That's OK because it is a comedy.

In real life, knowing what it is like with having my parents and grandparents deceased, it is good to mention them in the good times that they gave us while they were with us.

I encouraged all readers of this thread if your parents are still here call them and let them know how much you love and appreciate them. I goes for not only parents but family members and friends. One never knows how the course of life changes and it change in an instant. John Ritter's passing was a good example of that.

[comedyfreak]

I think they didn't want to dwell on the deceased spouse, once it was mentioned they could continue the stories after it's assumed everyone knows what has happened.