MattFancy Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Ok so this is random as hell, but this tought came to me the other night. My fiancee and I were watching Nick at Nite and Family Matters was on. It brought back some good memories from my childhood. But it also made me realize how different tv was back in the '90s compared to now. Back in the '90s I can remember watching Full House, Family Matters, Step by Step, Cosby Show, Seinfeld, Friends, Growing Pains, etc. It seemed that the main theme of those shows were family and friends. Yes looking back on these shows they were incredibly cheesy, but they all preached family values or showed what good friends were like. I remember watching all these shows with my family and friends growing up. TGIF was a staple in my neighborhood back then. Now fast forward to now. There's CSI, NCIS, 24, LOST, Law & Order, and reality tv shows. It seems most of the shows now a days or more violent and stupid reality shows. I can't really think of any shows on tv now that are like the shows in the '90s that were about family and such. Don't get me wrong, I know the '90s had some violent shows too like NYPD Blue and such, but it didn't seem like the overall tv theme was violence. So why have things changed so much over the years? What happened to all the family friendly tv shows? Did America grow tired of them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Skins_&_'Stons Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Tyler Perry raped them in the face. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky21 Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Television mirrors society. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattFancy Posted February 22, 2010 Author Share Posted February 22, 2010 Television mirrors society. But did society lead the change or did tv? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Brave Little Toaster Oven Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 reality tv has killed television 8 Simples Rules had a good run until John Ritter died, Quintuplets was a good show but got canceled...the tv shows like FullHouse, etc keep getting canceled Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterMP Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 The market became fractured. At one time, it made the most sense to appeal to as many viewers as possible accross demographics. The increase in channels has lead to specialization so you get "old" adult tv, "young" adult (18-25) tv, teen tv, pre-teen tv, etc, and no "general" tv. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No_Pressure Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 The main theme of Seinfeld was never family and friends. Maybe friendship but in a very strange way. That show is not intended for young children to be watching with their parents. It didn't show what good friends were like it was a collection of awkward and bizarre social situations that were the extremes of things some normal people might encounter with a comedic twist to it all. The friendship of Jerry, George, Kramer, and Elaine doesn't need explanation or relishing from the characters in the show. It simply is there. Definitely not a family show or a friendship show. Those cheesy ass shows however- Full House, Step by Step, Friends (also not a family show), Growing Pains were terrible by the way. Family Matters was alright and so was the Cosby Show but the other ones were pretty awful in their wholesomeness. There are still some "family" oriented comedies out there such as Modern Family, it's just none of them are the campy "give me a hug son! AW SHUCKS DAD! *Father and son embrace in a special moment*" type of show. They have actual jokes and true comedic writing. I don't think this is a negative development either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GibbsFactor Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 But did society lead the change or did tv? These are the things you have to blame yourself for and look in the mirror. Society changed by watching Real World instead of Family Ties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky21 Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 These are the things you have to blame yourself for and look in the mirror.Society changed by watching Real World instead of Family Ties. I disagree. It's the other way around. I know a guy that says the economy is only bad because people see negative news stories about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ixcuincle Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 There aren't any. 2 and a Half men and How I met your mother deal with horny womanizing males. They're all on ABC Family now. Family Friendly shows are now sports at night and ABC Family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LD0506 Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Network shows got pressured by cable programming (and now the internet) and when it came down to A: Trying to maintain some kind of decent programming, or B: Sell as much gore or T&A as you can get away with, the almighty $ made the decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgold Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 I think it was the popularity of grittier shows like Roseanne and unfamily mega hits like Seinfeld (and to some extent even Friends) followed up by the worst culprit... Reality TV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Genius Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 The important 18-34 demographic now drives TV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue collar Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Lets face it, sadly the days of The Cosby's, Family Ties, Different Strokes and others are gone. We live in a different world now a days. There's no such thing as "family time" TV anymore. Not to change the subject, but I remember getting up on Saturday mornings and watching cartoons on every station until noon. For the most part, they've been replaced with live action or news shows. Shows you thought would never end, soap operas are even on the way out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue collar Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 I think it was the popularity of grittier shows like Roseanne and unfamily mega hits like Seinfeld (and to some extent even Friends) followed up by the worst culprit... Reality TV Roseanne was gritty? To me, if you look at it, that show was very simular to Good Times. Heck, even the dad on Roseanne died as did the dad on Good Times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ixcuincle Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 There are no more Saturday cartoons anymore and if they are it's Disney Hannah Montana **** or anime. KIM POSSIBLE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattFancy Posted February 22, 2010 Author Share Posted February 22, 2010 Lets face it, sadly the days of The Cosby's, Family Ties, Different Strokes and others are gone. We live in a different world now a days. There's no such thing as "family time" TV anymore. Not to change the subject, but I remember getting up on Saturday mornings and watching cartoons on every station until noon. For the most part, they've been replaced with live action or news shows. Shows you thought would never end, soap operas are even on the way out. There really isn't family time TV anymore. It seems that the parents have the shows that they watch and the kids have shows they watch. There aren't really any shows that are meant for the whole family anymore. Some earlier in here mentioned Modern Family. I don't think that's in the same mold as Full House, Family Matters, etc. I just think its strange how much tv has changed. There aren't really any shows that grab the attention of the whole family anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Married with Children pretty much made sure it was OK to be as raunchy as you'd like in primetime. ~Bang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Skins_&_'Stons Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Married with Children pretty much made sure it was OK to be as raunchy as you'd like in primetime.~Bang I thank jeebus on a daily basis for Al Bundy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue collar Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Married with Children pretty much made sure it was OK to be as raunchy as you'd like in primetime.~Bang Yeah, but it was also on Fox and at the time, I don't think it was considered a major network as opposed to CBS, NBC and ABC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DjTj Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 There really isn't family time TV anymore. It seems that the parents have the shows that they watch and the kids have shows they watch. There aren't really any shows that are meant for the whole family anymore. Some earlier in here mentioned Modern Family. I don't think that's in the same mold as Full House, Family Matters, etc. I just think its strange how much tv has changed. There aren't really any shows that grab the attention of the whole family anymore.For people looking for family entertainment, there are now networks showing it 24/7:http://abcfamily.go.com/abcfamily/path/section_Home/page_Home http://home.disney.go.com/tv/ What happened was that families were able to buy more than one TV, so parents don't have to watch the same thing as their kids, teenagers don't need to watch the same thing as second-graders, and husbands don't need to watch the same thing as wives. Once people had a choice, the market segregated. I think the turning point was in the mid-to-late 90's when the runaway success of Friends and Seinfeld led NBC's "Must See TV" to much better ratings than ABC's "TGIF." From then on, every hit show has been in a Friends or Seinfeld mold rather than a Cosby Show/Brady Bunch mold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Dj beat me to it. Cable has changed network television. The wholesome stuff is on kid-centric channels like Disney Channel. Trust me, their programming is so wholesome it makes you want to puke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky21 Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 For people looking for family entertainment, there are now networks showing it 24/7:http://abcfamily.go.com/abcfamily/path/section_Home/page_Home http://home.disney.go.com/tv/ What happened was that families were able to buy more than one TV, so parents don't have to watch the same thing as their kids, teenagers don't need to watch the same thing as second-graders, and husbands don't need to watch the same thing as wives. Once people had a choice, the market segregated. Good point about the number of TV's in the average household. And there are some jiggly shows on ABC Family linked above. Weird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattFancy Posted February 22, 2010 Author Share Posted February 22, 2010 For people looking for family entertainment, there are now networks showing it 24/7:http://abcfamily.go.com/abcfamily/path/section_Home/page_Home http://home.disney.go.com/tv/ What happened was that families were able to buy more than one TV, so parents don't have to watch the same thing as their kids, teenagers don't need to watch the same thing as second-graders, and husbands don't need to watch the same thing as wives. Once people had a choice, the market segregated. I think the turning point was in the mid-to-late 90's when the runaway success of Friends and Seinfeld led NBC's "Must See TV" to much better ratings than ABC's "TGIF." From then on, every hit show has been in a Friends or Seinfeld mold rather than a Cosby Show/Brady Bunch mold. You could be on to something with the more tv thing. I remember growing up we had our main tv in our family room and one other tv in our play room that had nintendo hooked up to it. So I guess back then there were more family shows on since the whole family was watching tv together. Now that isn't the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Brave Little Toaster Oven Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 i wish they would play the Wonder Years more...that show was awesome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.