I remember growing up with this idea that sitcoms were garbage. It's just something people told me. This was during the 70s, 80s and 90s, that wasteland between the end of the first Golden Age of Television (ushered in by I LOVE LUCY) and the current Golden Age (ushered in by THE SOPRANOS). I didn't watch much TV as a kid so I just took it on faith that sitcoms were junk food for the brain. But then I grew up and watched some things for myself. ROSEANNE, THE GOLDEN GIRLS, CHEERS, THE WONDER YEARS. And, oh my God, ALL IN THE FAMILY. These shows were the opposite of junk. I could go on and on about the writing and performances, but the main takeaway for me was that the characters in these shows argued, sniped at one another, had problems, but still managed to find a way to keep a sense of humor and stay together. That was a huge lesson for me, one I've carried into my own marriage and parenting. In fact, the one piece of advice I usually dare to give new parents or the newly-partnered is something Mike Brady said to Marcia (granted, paraphrasing Ephesians): Never let the sun go down on an argument. Whatever success I've had as a partner and parent, I owe to this maxim.
I remember growing up with this idea that sitcoms were garbage. It's just something people told me. This was during the 70s, 80s and 90s, that wasteland between the end of the first Golden Age of Television (ushered in by I LOVE LUCY) and the current Golden Age (ushered in by THE SOPRANOS). I didn't watch much TV as a kid so I just took it on faith that sitcoms were junk food for the brain. But then I grew up and watched some things for myself. ROSEANNE, THE GOLDEN GIRLS, CHEERS, THE WONDER YEARS. And, oh my God, ALL IN THE FAMILY. These shows were the opposite of junk. I could go on and on about the writing and performances, but the main takeaway for me was that the characters in these shows argued, sniped at one another, had problems, but still managed to find a way to keep a sense of humor and stay together. That was a huge lesson for me, one I've carried into my own marriage and parenting. In fact, the one piece of advice I usually dare to give new parents or the newly-partnered is something Mike Brady said to Marcia (granted, paraphrasing Ephesians): Never let the sun go down on an argument. Whatever success I've had as a partner and parent, I owe to this maxim.