Do a critique on how the family stays the same and how it is different between the three different eras.

Select a sitcom about the family from the 50-70’s, one from the 80 to the 21st century, and then a sitcom that is current. I have listed many for you, but you can select others. You can watch clips on youtube without watch entire episodes.

Do a critique on how the family stays the same and how it is different between the three different eras. There are many areas from all the chapters thus far that would apply. You can look at the family dynamic and the gender roles. How economics and work are portrayed in the family/home. Does material and non-material culture, language, and norms stay the same (some will and some won’t)? Do you see a racial or ethnic difference (this will vary based on shows selected.

Then explore the shows’ dynamics from the functionalist perspective (does it lie on the more functional or dysfunctional side from a MACRO perspective)? Utilize key terms from the functionalist perspective as you explore the function, or lack thereof, of the family as a structure in society.

Finally explore the shows’ every day life and one-on-one relationships/behaviors/interactions from the symbolic interactionist approach.

EARLIST:

Father Knows Best

Leave it to Beaver

I Love Lucy

Happy Days

The Andy Griffith Show

The Brady Bunch

All in the Family

Sanford and Son

The Partridge Family

MIDDLE GENERATION:

Different Strokes

Roseanne

The Cosby Show

Three’s Company

Different Strokes

Who’s the Boss

Full House

Family Matters

Married with Children

Step by Step

Boy Meets World

Every Body Loves Raymond

Friends

King of Queens

FAIRLY CURRENT SITCOMS

Modern Family

The Family Guy

Man with a Plan

The Conner’s

Mom

Last Man Standing

The Goldberg’s

Fuller House

Blackish

Two and a Half Men

The Neighborhood

American Housewife

Splitting Up Together