Shark Bytes

Family jumped the rails when Kate was somehow locked into a high-rise condo with a very very pregnant Kim "True Grit" Darby and wouldn't you know it? She winds up delivering the baby.

Isn't it weird how TV shows that start out totally realistically ALL eventually wind up off in Never Never Land?

Are there any DVD's out there for purchase of Series 3-4-5 of FAMILY?
Thanks!

Neat show. I especially enjoyed the one where Leif Garrett body-slammed Willie Aames in a cage match to determine who had the right to "court" Buddy.

Then Buddy eloped with Dinah Manoff in a very special two-parter.

Ah, the '70s!

Wow, I loved this show. I was in love with both Kristy McNichol and Quinn Cummings. Oh man, if I could have just spent one day with Buddy and Annie...what a young teen dream it was for me.

Great writing, great acting, great characters made this show fascinating. No, it never jumped.

I love this house, interior and outside. I know the house is a real one in Pasadena, but does anyone know if the interior rooms were a set, or a real house? I'd love to see if there are photos posted anywhere on the internet.

Maybe a So.Californian can answer this. Being from NJ and only out to L.A three times, I have a question about the authenticity of this show being based in Pasadena. I love the show (see my earlier post) but it always seemed that wardrobe had Kate in coats. She wore this brown coat that seemed too heavy for the weather in So. California. Sometimes the show looked like it took place in Ohio or Boston maybe. Isn't Pasadena a year round hot place? If you look at the Lawrence's front yard..there's all these leafless white Birch trees..the episode where Kate's mom Hattie comes to visit before she dies..they're all wearing coats at the airport..and the street shots of Pasadena have everyone dressed like it's Fall in Cleveland. Anyone from So.Cal who can shed some light on this?

John

"Family" is one of the best shows ever to be on television. You visit the Lawrences and get pulled into their world. Maybe a character's situation isn't one you can relate to, and maybe the characters frustrate and annoy you sometimes, but they can also make you laugh and surprise you, and that is what makes for great television and what real families are about. Played by really superb actors, the characters were fleshed out enough from the start. These weren't people presented as one-dimensional archetypes; rather, they are presented as humans with complex and conflicted emotions but who as fictional characters were nevertheless grounded in reality. It is breathtaking, really, watching this show and seeing the interactions between Kate and Buddy. One would never doubt for a moment that they are mother and daughter.

And as if that weren't enough, the emotionally timeless aspect of "Family" is combined with a real sense of America, and specifically Southern California, during the turbulent '70s. As a native, for me it really captures the spirit of SoCal during that decade.

P.S. About the house (which is probably one of the best sets ever in TV - like a wonderful middle-class cocoon), I recall in one episode Doug's mentioning that it was his childhood home. From that perspective, and coupled with Doug's being a lawyer, it would not be so unusual that the Lawrences would have some extra disposable income.

I loved,loved,LOVED this show.Wanted to marry Willie and have his children.Hated it when he grew a beard,though.Loved his cuteness,gentleness,and most of all sensitivity.Broke my heart when the show finally jumped,no more Willie to steal my heart...whatever happened to Gary Frank,he kinda disappeared after this.I am going to get the DVDs,cant wait to see my beloved Willie again!!Fortunately,found my real life Willie,been married 30 years!Still in love,too!I rreally think this show made me realize what I truly wanted to find in a man...THANK YOU<WILLIE!!I STILL LOVE YOU!!! Alease>

WOW, could they put it away on this show! Doug and Kate had a little liquor trolley in their living room (The Booze Express) and they wheeled that thing out with great frequency and alacrity. We're not talking the occasional beer or glass of wine...we're talking sidecars, boilermakers, manhattans, vodka martinis...the works! I'm convinced it's the main reason they were able to stay together so long throughout the various tragedies that befell them...

I think it jumped when they sold the big house in Pasadena and retired to the 3 bedroom tract house in Arizona. I missed Nancy's guesthouse.

I would have to agree that Quinn Cummings seemed to really bring the show down,Ihad the biggest,baddest crush on Willie,still adore those soft,sensitive guys.I even married a guy alot like Willie,wild blond hair and all.Thank you Willie for showing me what to look for in a man.Willie was rather promiscuous though...This was my favorite 70s show.I hated to see this show end,but,alas,it had run out of steam towards the end...Alease

family guy jumped the shark the day that south park reviled and reminded us how bad the quality of the jokes were and how they never had anything to do with the plot and that the writers were actualy just Manatees. south park really did explain the jokes and after that episode i cant watch family guy any more

I loved this show when I was young. I bought the DVD and am wondering if any new
ones are coming out? I remember one episode where Buddy is growing up and wants still be a kid. She ends up at a skating rink and then gets together with TJ (Willie Ammes before he went on Eight is Enough) Anyway it was a great show!!

ADDENDUM: Though 'Family' ended it's run in the Spring of 1980, 'Hill Street Blues' appeared on the schedule that fall, ushering in the next period of television drama evolution that would be in full bloom by the time of the fall 1982 schedule, thus my 1976-82 hypothesis. The next evolution would be the resurgence of the family drama at the end of the decade with shows like 'Thirtysomething', Life Goes On', The Wonder Years', and 'I'll Fly Away' among the more notable titles..

'Family' was a high quality television program that will go down in history as an offbeat drama, extremely well-cast and well-written, and one of the most durable programs of the medium ever to be produced..and it has the Emmys to prove it. It is a sensitively and tastefully produced hour of socially relevant mid-seventies American television, with the requisite amounts of schmaltz and mawkishness to keep it clearly ensconsed in that era. However, it's almost complete lack of pretense and predictability set it apart from most of the television around the 1975-76 season and ending in 1982, when the television drama evolved once again, and shows like 'Hill Street Blues', Cagney & Lacey, and 'St. Elsewhere' began to appear. Just my opinion.