March 9, 1976 (1976-03-09)– June 25, 1980 (1980-06-25)
Familyis an American television drama series that aired on ABC from March 9, 1976, to June 25, 1980. Created as a six-episode limited series, its strong Nielsen ratings led ABC to commission four additional seasons totaling 86 episodes. The series was developed by Jay Presson Allen, with the pilot produced by Mike Nichols, and weekly production overseen by Leonard Goldberg and Aaron Spelling.
Family depicts everyday domestic life while addressing social issues that were rarely portrayed in network television drama at the time, including divorce, adolescent sexuality, feminism, homosexuality, and addiction. Storylines emphasized character development and emotional realism, departing from the high-concept and genre-driven programming that dominated American network television in the mid-1970s.[1]
The series received widespread critical acclaim during its original run and is cited as an early example of character-driven, family-centered drama on American TV. The series helped launch or elevate the careers of several cast members, particularly Kristy McNichol and Meredith Baxter, and influenced later television dramas such as Thirtysomething and 90210.
Overview
Family centers on the Lawrences, a family living in suburban Pasadena, California. Kate and Doug Lawrence reside with three of their children: Nancy, Willie, and Letitia, known as “Buddy.” A fourth child, Timmy, died at age ten in a boating accident five years before the series began.
Characters
Main
Kate Lawrence (Sada Thompson) is a homemaker guided by a strong sense of personal responsibility. Frustrated by the limitations of her role, she returns to college and becomes a music teacher.
Doug Lawrence (James Broderick) is an attorney with aspirations of becoming a judge. He is devoted to his family, but his workaholism and a past affair cause friction with Kate.
Willie Lawrence (Gary Frank), age 18, is an aspiring writer who leaves high school with his parents’ consent. His romantic relationships and career ambitions are central to many episodes.
Letitia “Buddy” Lawrence (Kristy McNichol), 12, is a tomboy known for her honesty, loyalty, and emotional sensitivity. She frequently seeks guidance from her mother and has a close bond with Willie.
Nancy Lawrence Maitland (Elayne Heilveil in the miniseries, then Meredith Baxter) is the eldest daughter, whose marriage ends after she discovers her husband’s infidelity. At age 24, she moves into the Lawrences' guest house with her infant son, Timmy, and enrolls in law school.
Annie Cooper (Quinn Cummings), 11, is adopted by the Lawrences in the fourth season after her parents, college friends of Kate and Doug, are killed in a car accident. Academically gifted, Annie struggles to adjust socially and emotionally.
Recurring
Jeff Maitland (John Rubenstein), Nancy's wealthy ex-husband, with whom she has an on-again, off-again relationship
Timmy Lawrence (David and Michael Schackelford), Nancy's infant son
Audrey Pfeiffer (Louise Foley), Buddy's best friend
A defining feature of Family was its willingness to tackle contemporary social issues—including sexuality, illness, aging, and addiction—subjects that were relatively uncommon on network television at the time.
Sexual content was present from the pilot, in which Nancy discovers her husband's infidelity. Willie's numerous affairs and romantic entanglements, including dating a pregnant woman, were recurring plot points, while Buddy's storylines addressed both her first menstruation (in the season two opener "Coming of Age") and ongoing dilemmas about premarital sex. Kate faced a breast cancer scare, and her relationship with Doug strained against memories of his previous affair.
Family also contends with alcoholism (via episodes involving Doug's sister and Buddy's friend) and dementia: A 1979 episode directed by Joanne Woodward guest-stars Henry Fonda as Doug's father, who is beginning to experience cognitive decline. Two years later, Fonda won an Academy Award for playing a character with cognitive issues in On Golden Pond.
But provocative storylines were typically framed through family discussions rather than sensational conflict, an approach reviewers considered distinctive for network television.[2] These developments were treated as ongoing adjustments affecting the entire household rather than isolated dramatic events.[1]Family allowed emotional consequences to accumulate across episodes and seasons. The series often revisited family tensions over time, another approach that distinguished it from many contemporaneous network dramas.[3]
Many episodes leaned toward melodrama: In a two-parter in the second season, Doug is temporarily blinded in a hit-and-run accident ("Taking Chances") and faces life-threatening surgery. Showrunner Nigel McKeand acknowledged a tension between quality and commercial demands. "The challenge of a weekly series is being entertaining enough to get people to tune in," he told the Associated Press in 1977. "You can have all the messages in the world, but if you don't attract people, it won't do any good."[4]
Production
Family was conceived in 1973 by Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg. Inspired by the groundbreaking reality series An American Family, they envisioned an intimate portrayal of middle-class family life.[1] The pair enlisted Jay Presson Allen (screenwriter of Cabaret and Funny Girl) to write the pilot. Mike Nichols, a friend of Allen who had a pilot production deal with ABC, agreed to produce it. (Nichols' involvement was limited to casting and producing the pilot; he did not participate in the ongoing series.)
Network hesitation about the script being "too good for TV" led to delays.[1] The pilot was shot in February 1975, and five more episodes were commissioned that December. Goldberg assumed executive oversight, with Nigel McKeand and Carol Evan McKeand hired as showrunners. Both had previously written for The Waltons, and they brought a similar emphasis on emotional authenticity and moral complexity to Family, while adopting a contemporary and urban tone. The miniseries began airing in March 1976. Despite minimal publicity, Family attracted strong ratings and reviews[2], leading ABC to greenlight a weekly series.
Family was filmed primarily on soundstages, with exterior shots of the Lawrence home staged at a residence at 1230 Milan Avenue in South Pasadena, California.[5] Although Allen originally set the series in Philadelphia’s Main Line, production considerations—including climate—necessitated a shift to Southern California.[1] The series’ main set was designed to emphasize realism; producer Mike Nichols insisted that the Lawrence home appear lived-in rather than constructed for camera movement. When Allen objected to the set's initial wall-to-wall carpeting, Spelling had it replaced with hardwood floors to better reflect the family’s traditional and affluent style.[6]
The series's first theme song was written by John Rubenstein, who played the recurring character Jeff; the melancholy piano-and-strings arrangement was written as part of a score in which each family member was assigned a musical instrument to accompany their scenes. At the network's request, Rubenstein wrote a brighter, more upbeat theme for season 2, which was updated for each subsequent season.
In its fifth season, Family underwent a significant behind-the-scenes transition after the McKeands departed[7]. Edward Zwick assumed showrunning duties, leading to a greater focus on adolescent and young adult storylines.
Family raised the profiles of all its main actors, particularly Kristy McNichol and Meredith Baxter Birney.
The show attracted widespread critical acclaim during its original run. Critics praised Family for its realistic quality, contrasting it to escapist ABC shows such as Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley and other Spelling-Goldberg productions such as Charlie's Angels and Fantasy Island. In April 1976, John J. O'Connor of The New York Times called Family "one of the more impressive and most encouraging series to cross a television screen this year." [2] Near the series' end in December 1979, The Miami News called it "the network freak, a finely wrought series, a jewel among the junk at ABC."[8] In May 1980, the Associated Press called Family "the show that was too good for prime time ... a quiet thing of quality in a schedule thick with cops and robbers and bouncy fluff." [9]
Despite the series' occasional adult themes, the National Parent-Teacher Association consistently praised Family. In February 1979, the organization said the show contained "good parenting lessons" and "slightly controversial" but "excellent" content.[10].
In the fourth season, some critics took issue with the show's "crisis-of-the-week approach"[11] and sex-related plots.[3] In spring 1979, ABC shifted the show to Friday nights, and ratings declined.[12] Consequently, Family was renewed for a final season of 13 episodes as a midseason replacement.
Although Family had a loyal following, ABC was criticized for failing to promote the show; chiefly, the network never aired summer reruns, which could have expanded the audience.[9][13] Near the end of the original run, cast members and former showrunners expressed dissatisfaction with the network’s level of support.[14][15]
Post-series and legacy
Seven years after the series ended, a Family Reunion TV movie was planned for the 1987–88 season, written by Carol Evan McKeand.[16] The plot was to involve the Lawrence children gathering for Kate's remarriage. (James Broderick had died of cancer in 1982, necessitating the storyline.) There was speculation that if the movie's ratings were strong, the series could be revived by ABC.[17] Ultimately, the 1988 writers' strike halted production, and the project was abandoned.
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