Why are there no family sitcoms on these days?

[johnnystorm]

I think it's moved off network to areas like Disney (with Hannah Montana etc.)
The aforementioned According to Jim (the wife is hot!) is probably the last holdout. My wife watches endless reruns of Reba.

[Sideshow Spock]

I have extended family that love Two and a Half Men, altho I've never watched more than five minutes of it in my life. But don't many of the jokes revolve around Charlie Sheen's sex life? So I don't know if it's technically a family show..

Sometimes if I can't fall asleep I'll flip on the bedroom TV, and more often than not there's an ep of the CBS sitcom that ran for a few years in the 2000s called "Still Standing". Never even knew this show existed when it ran in prime time. It's actually quite watchable at 2am

And it's yet another example of a dopey looking fat guy having a much too hot wife..
The George Lopez show was guilty of that too...

[bobws]

Most family type shows have to be found on cable networks nowadays. Disney, Nicelodeon, family channel, tbs. broadcast networks are trying too hard to compete in reality wars.

[fallensaviour]

For family shows around our house is
According to Jim
Hannah Montana
Suite life on Deck
Drake and Josh
How I met your mother (however that's a bit of a stretch)
And Reba

[Riffster]

tv was in the same shape til the Cosby Show aired. it was widely known as the show that saved sitcoms

[jasonmego1277]

Yeah , agreed most family sitcoms just became a real dying breed. Most had a spark that lasted a short while, and others just did seem bland or boring. I do welcome the return of these ( Without any hesitation ) because I am absolutely freakin' sick of reality shows.

[ctc]

Um....

There are TONS of 'em on. Tyler Perry's House of Paine, George Lopez, According to Jim, Reba (altho9ugh the kids are older, they're STUPID enough to be younger,) and then the zillions on Nick and Disney; Hanna Montana, the Jonas Brothers, Wizards of Waverly Place, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.... These things just don't die!

>I would think that anything on now would pretty much be a re-hash of a classic.

They've been like that FOREVER! A year or so back I was watching a 48 hour retro tv special, where they'd show an hour of classic tv.... So they show "Father Knows Best," and the one kid got a paper route, couldn't keep up and dad had to take over. Then they showed "Leave it to Beaver;" and the Beav had a paper route, he couldn't keep up, and dad had to take over. Then there was the "Brady Bunch" with the paper route, and a few months ago it seems like the son on "Tyler Perry's House of Paine" was getting a paper route....

>and others just did seem bland or boring.

I've always hated family sitcoms 'cos they're ALWAYS the same! The same kids, the same stories, over and over and over.... And they always end the same: first they add the NEW cute kid, then the "very special episodes" where they try to become topical. (The last season of "Growing Pains" played out like a Russian drama, what with all the horrible things that hit the family all at once.)

>til the Cosby Show aired. it was widely known as the show that saved sitcoms

GGGRRRRRRRR!!!!!!

>Some of that stuff (sex specifically) wouldn't even rate now.

Depends how far back you want to go; PRE-Cosby shows were full of stuff that'd STILL be considered questionable. But POST-Cosby shows were as wholesome and blah as 50's ones. "The Cosby Show" was the ORIGINAL show about nothing.

Don C.

[generic]

There was a show called "Do-Over" on for a while that I really liked (about a 30-something year old guy who gets zapped and goes back to his teenage self), but it didn't last.

[jwyblejr]

Um....

There are TONS of 'em on. Tyler Perry's House of Paine, George Lopez, According to Jim, Reba (altho9ugh the kids are older, they're STUPID enough to be younger,) and then the zillions on Nick and Disney; Hanna Montana, the Jonas Brothers, Wizards of Waverly Place, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.... These things just don't die!

>I would think that anything on now would pretty much be a re-hash of a classic.

They've been like that FOREVER! A year or so back I was watching a 48 hour retro tv special, where they'd show an hour of classic tv.... So they show "Father Knows Best," and the one kid got a paper route, couldn't keep up and dad had to take over. Then they showed "Leave it to Beaver;" and the Beav had a paper route, he couldn't keep up, and dad had to take over. Then there was the "Brady Bunch" with the paper route, and a few months ago it seems like the son on "Tyler Perry's House of Paine" was getting a paper route....

>and others just did seem bland or boring.

I've always hated family sitcoms 'cos they're ALWAYS the same! The same kids, the same stories, over and over and over.... And they always end the same: first they add the NEW cute kid, then the "very special episodes" where they try to become topical. (The last season of "Growing Pains" played out like a Russian drama, what with all the horrible things that hit the family all at once.)

>til the Cosby Show aired. it was widely known as the show that saved sitcoms

GGGRRRRRRRR!!!!!!

>Some of that stuff (sex specifically) wouldn't even rate now.

Depends how far back you want to go; PRE-Cosby shows were full of stuff that'd STILL be considered questionable. But POST-Cosby shows were as wholesome and blah as 50's ones. "The Cosby Show" was the ORIGINAL show about nothing.

Don C.

Totally true. There's been so many over the years,they all seem the same. I think the only left for them to do are an inter-racial couple and a gay couple with kids.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Reba and George Lopez were both canceled several years ago. I didn't realize "According to Jim" was still on. TBS is trying to fill the void with the Tyler Perry shows and Bill Engvall's sitcom. But most of them are on Disney and Nick.

I actually RARELY watch network TV anymore. There is very little on there I'd want to invest any time in.

Chris

[toysrus]

Well my kids are 5 & one about to turn 7. They actually do watch Zack & Cody, my daughter watches Dora. But the other shows they lose interest right away. They are hooked on the " Brady Bunch and Growing pains, but those of course are on my dvd's. My son is just starting to watch the wonder years, even though at 7 he's a bit young to relate to that show. I guess i have to buy the old school classics on DVD. TV family shows suck these days.

Um....

There are TONS of 'em on. Tyler Perry's House of Paine, George Lopez, According to Jim, Reba (altho9ugh the kids are older, they're STUPID enough to be younger,) and then the zillions on Nick and Disney; Hanna Montana, the Jonas Brothers, Wizards of Waverly Place, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.... These things just don't die!

>I would think that anything on now would pretty much be a re-hash of a classic.

They've been like that FOREVER! A year or so back I was watching a 48 hour retro tv special, where they'd show an hour of classic tv.... So they show "Father Knows Best," and the one kid got a paper route, couldn't keep up and dad had to take over. Then they showed "Leave it to Beaver;" and the Beav had a paper route, he couldn't keep up, and dad had to take over. Then there was the "Brady Bunch" with the paper route, and a few months ago it seems like the son on "Tyler Perry's House of Paine" was getting a paper route....

>and others just did seem bland or boring.

I've always hated family sitcoms 'cos they're ALWAYS the same! The same kids, the same stories, over and over and over.... And they always end the same: first they add the NEW cute kid, then the "very special episodes" where they try to become topical. (The last season of "Growing Pains" played out like a Russian drama, what with all the horrible things that hit the family all at once.)

>til the Cosby Show aired. it was widely known as the show that saved sitcoms

GGGRRRRRRRR!!!!!!

>Some of that stuff (sex specifically) wouldn't even rate now.

Depends how far back you want to go; PRE-Cosby shows were full of stuff that'd STILL be considered questionable. But POST-Cosby shows were as wholesome and blah as 50's ones. "The Cosby Show" was the ORIGINAL show about nothing.

Don C.

[MIB41]

You'll never see shows like 'All in the Family', 'Sanford and Son' or 'Good Times' ever again because we don't live in a society that can handle real life social issues. Can you imagine the protests if you had a show about those characters again? It's too bad, because those type of shows addressed social differences openingly and without political correctness. Those characters were flawed like all people and that was the point.

[toysrus]

I agree 100%! Sad huh? Thank God for dvd though!

You'll never see shows like 'All in the Family', 'Sanford and Son' or 'Good Times' ever again because we don't live in a society that can handle real life social issues. Can you imagine the protests if you had a show about those characters again? It's too bad, because those type of shows addressed social differences openingly and without political correctness. Those characters were flawed like all people and that was the point.

[ctc]

>I think the only left for them to do are an inter-racial couple and a gay couple with kids.

The first one's been done for sure; and I'm thinking the second has too.... but I can't remember the name. (Unless you count "Rick and Steve.")

>You'll never see shows like 'All in the Family', 'Sanford and Son' or 'Good Times' ever again because we don't live in a society that can handle real life social issues.

Never say never. There are only so many permutations on the formula, and sooner or later they ALL come back around. All it takes is for someone to get desperate enough to "push the envelope," the show hits, and all of a sudden EVERYBODY'S doing it. In an exagerated way, the last few seasons of South Park have followed this tradition.

....only a matter of time.

Don C.

[jwyblejr]

^Oh I realize they had Tom and Helen on The Jeffersons. I meant one where they were the main focus. Or is there a show out there that i missed?