Lit-Up OP t1_j29445t wrote on December 30, 2022 at 3:23 PM

Reply to comment by WhenRobLoweRobsLowes in What is the best 1980s family sitcom? There are sooo many. by Lit-Up

> One of the things you'd see with more viewing is that "Family Ties" has some interesting subtext between the hippie parents and the hardcore Republican eldest son. It's a fun twist on teenage rebellion and rejecting the beliefs of your parents, which typically goes in the other direction.

I understand that's the premise, but doesn't that wear pretty thin over 7 seasons?

What concerns me about this genre is the blandness, the fake family love, minor disagreements resolved by morality talks. If that is rife I might need to avoid this genre. The whole reason I like Married With Children is it's edgy, fun. Given I didn't watch these shows when I was younger, I'm not getting the nostalgic comfort blanket effect which I presume is a big draw for people of a certain age.

Maninhartsford t1_j297g6p wrote on December 30, 2022 at 3:47 PM

You're gonna have to dig pretty hard to find 80s family sitcoms that don't fit this mold. Married with Children and The Simpsons were intentional mockeries of this because it was so widespread and being sick of the phony wholesomeness helped lay the groundwork for a lot of 90s cynicism

veggie_saurus_rex t1_j297pec wrote on December 30, 2022 at 3:48 PM

Yes it wears thin. I grew up with it (and similar shows). They are unwatchable now. They are highly formulaic in the way you describe.

There are a bunch of shows listed now in these comments but most of them are the same fluffy family formula. Someone suggested "Roseanne" and while I have not rewatched it since it aired, I suspect it's the only one worth viewing today. I'd probably like it more now that I am an adult.

Roook36 t1_j298e2h wrote on December 30, 2022 at 3:53 PM

Married Wirh Children was pretty unique for the 80s. I grew up during that time and not much else competes with it for edginess. The only show I can think of that got similar attention for being against the grain is The Simpsons but even that feels tame. Those were the two shows that seemed to get articles in newspapers about how upset mom and religious groups were. MwC was banned in my house.

You're just not going to find edgy network sitcoms from the 80s I don't think. There might be sketch shows like In Living Color that broke a lot of norms but network sitcoms were deep into family friendly stuff. Seinfeld kind of broke things out of that.

There's another show the creator of Married with Children did that has a very similar vibe called "Unhappily Ever After" but that came out in 1995.

You might have luck looking at paid cable comedies. But the only one that comes to mind is "Dream On" which aired in 1990