Do you remember watching Family? I was just a couple of years younger than the actress who played "Buddy" on the show. Most nights the TV was claimed by someone else so I would only get to see the show sometimes. I liked it. I still see photos from the show and remember what life was like in the 70's as a kid.

A Simple Show about the Lawrence Family

The show was about the Lawrence family: two parents and three children. Buddy, the youngest daughter, always seemed to be on the verge of growing up. I don't remember ever asking awkward questions that way but I did look a lot like that. Same hair style and clothes. Then there was the older brother (the only brother). He always seemed troubled to me but I liked him. Nancy, the older sister didn't have much time for her brother and sister or her parents. She had her own first child and was a single Mother in those days when divorce and being a single Mother were still unusual.

Why Isn't a Stay at Home Mother Enough?

I like the look of the actress who played the Mother in the family. She didn't look like my own Mother (my Mother was younger by at least ten years) but she looked like a TV Mom. She dressed the way I thought a TV Mom should too. You could get away with calling her frumpy, but that's on the mean side. She was a stay at home Mom and she looked after her children, her husband and made her house a home for everyone. At some point the producers must have thought they had to make being a Mom at home seem unattractive and undesirable. I remember her playing the Mom as someone who was taken for granted and ignored and later she want back to school. I don't think it's right in our culture the way women are thought less of if they are Mothers who stay home to work on raising a family and keeping a house. Why isn't that enough?

Anyway, the Father on the show was a lawyer or some kind of professional. He always looked on the verge of a heart attack to me. I don't know why. He was a fairly standard TV Dad, off to work each day and then home in time for Fatherly advice.

Buddy's Mysterious, Quiet Brother

The show was more about Buddy's brother for me. He was mysterious and quiet and yet a good brother. I still like guys like that. Funny, but I had all but forgotten the show. Thinking about it again it is that brother (who's name I could not remember without looking it up online) I can remember watching to see what he was up to and what was the trouble he seemed to never quite talk about.

You can't yet get all the seasons of the Family TV show on DVD. I guess they are waiting to see if there is enough demand for more than the first two. So, if you want more order them and hope for the best. I could not find Family recorded on YouTube. I guess it was a simple show, not something flashing a lot of skin and violence as most of them do these days.

Which family focused TV show did you best like from the 1970's?

• Family
• The Brady Bunch
• Eight is Enough
• The Courtship of Eddie's Father
• Family Affair
• One Day at a Time
• The Partridge Family