Family (1976 TV series)
| Family | |
|---|---|
Family Title Card
|
|
| Created by | Jay Presson Allen |
| Starring |
Sada Thompson James Broderick Gary Frank Kristy McNichol Elayne Heilveil Meredith Baxter Birney Quinn Cummings |
| Opening theme | John Rubinstein |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 86 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Leonard Goldberg Mike Nichols Aaron Spelling |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 50 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Icarus Productions Spelling-Goldberg Productions |
| Distributor |
Columbia Pictures Television Sony Pictures Television (Currently) |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original release | March 9, 1976 – June 25, 1980 |
Family is an American television drama series that aired on the ABC television network from 1976 to 1980. Creative control of the show was split among executive producers Leonard Goldberg, Aaron Spelling and Mike Nichols. A total of 86 episodes were produced. It is seen occasionally on the Decades digital TV network.
This series is not related to the ABC sitcom A New Kind of Family that aired concurrently with Family during its final season.
The show featured Sada Thompson and James Broderick as Kate and Doug Lawrence, a happily married middle-class couple living at 1230 Holland Street in Pasadena, California with their three children: Nancy (portrayed by Elayne Heilveil in the original miniseries and later by Meredith Baxter Birney), Willie (Gary Frank), and Letitia, nicknamed "Buddy" (Kristy McNichol). (An early episode established that the couple had another son, Timothy, who had died five years before.) The show raised the profile of all of its featured actors and, in particular, catapulted McNichol to stardom.
Family was an attempt to depict a contemporary traditional family with realistic, believable characters. Kate was the practical, rational voice of the show. She always stood by her opinion and was motivated to do what was right, even if it made her unpopular ("Jury Duty"). An accomplished full-time homemaker, she resented it when people told her she could have attained much more, because she had high aspirations in school and had achieved a great deal academically ("Home Movie"). However, at one point she expressed frustration with the monotony of her life, feeling that all she did was run errands and make phone calls, usually on behalf of other people ("An Eye to the Future"). She eventually returned to college as a music major. Doug was an independent lawyer who aspired to be a judge, but never used his intellect to make others feel inferior. He was a family man who listened to what Kate told him and always made time for Buddy.
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