Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Things I Learned from Family Shows of the ’70s and ’80s

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.    

As a proud Gen Xer, I thought it would be fun to use this Non-bookish Freebie to talk about some of the family shows I grew up with. These are shows I have watched and rewatched since childhood, which was so long ago that I used to have to wait a week for new episodes and months for new seasons. We will start with five meaningful lessons and end with five light-hearted ones. 

Everyone Needs a Fonzie 

Would Richie Cunningham (Happy Days) have survived high school without Arthur Fonzarelli? That is doubtful. Fiercely loyal to Richie and his friends, the Fonz scared away the bullies, became like a son to Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham, and remained a good friend until Richie left town for good to pursue his writing dreams. We all need a Fonzie in our lives. 

There is More Than One Way to Define a Family

Shows like One Day at a Time, Kate and Allie, Full House, and Diff'rent Strokes redefined what it meant to be a family, focusing on single parents, independent women living together with their children, collaborative parenting, and interracial and adopted families. 

Strong Women Make Great Role Models

From Edna Garrett's role as the housemother at Eastland School in Facts of Life, to divorcee Ann Romano mothering her teenage daughters in One Day at a Time, to full-time homemaker Marion Cunningham in Happy Days, and to Caroline Ingalls, who proved herself a more than capable and compassionate partner to her husband Charles in Little House on the Prairie, these women of family television were great role models for their families and in their communities. 

Life Isn't Simple, But Love Is

Whether it be living in financial hardship during the Great Depression (The Waltons), generational divides between parents and children (Family Ties), or clashing political views and sexism (All in the Family), each of these shows ultimately boils down to the love between family members.

Families Face Grief Together

Whether it be due to the extreme conditions on the frontier (Little House on the Prairie), loss of childhood friends (Family Ties), loss of a parent (Good Times), or loss tied to a recent or current event (The Wonder Years and Little House on the Prairie), family members supported each other in their times of loss and helped them move forward as they grieved.

Large Families Can Be a Singing Group

The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family prove that large families can contribute to the household income by forming a singing group and performing in front of live audiences. It also seems mandatory that you have matching costumes. Though Eight is Enough didn't have this issue. Only the eldest brother, David, and his younger brother Tommy sang. 

We All Have That Friend Who Shows Up Unannounced

The Cunninghams had Fonzie (Happy Days), the Romanos had Schneider (One Day at A Time), and DJ Tanner had Kimmy Gibbler (Full House). They dropped in unannounced for a variety of reasons. At least the Fonz and Schneider could fix things.

Your Family Might Survive Only Having One Bathroom

In this modern era of multiple bathrooms, it's hard to imagine a family sharing the same bathroom, but we did it, or the kids did it. The six Brady kids (The Brady Bunch) shared a connected bathroom between their rooms. The Ingalls family shared the same outhouse and soaking tub (Little House on the Prairie). The Seavers at least shared one full bathroom and a half bathroom among them (Growing Pains). 

Don't Play in the House

Playing in the house will lead to broken family heirlooms, especially if you live in the Brady house, where vases and antique lamps are taken out by basketballs and frisbees (The Brady Bunch). 

Every Problem is Solved in Less Than 60 Minutes

Whether sit-com or drama, the days of story arcs in television were in the distant future. The exception: soap operas. Every episode had a beginning, a middle, and an end. Characters would appear for one episode and never be heard from again, and no matter how complex the issue, everything would be well again by the end of the episode. Sometimes you might wish real life were like that.

Enjoy this Gen Xer's journey through family shows of the '70s and '80s? Let me know in the comments.