Neilsen Family Values

I don’t know what made me think of this episode of Family Affair, and at first I wasn’t sure if it was real, or if I’d imagined it.

Oh, it’s real alright. The classic “Weekend Hippie” episode, officially titled “Flower Power”

I hadn’t actually seen an episode of Family Affair since I was a kid myself, and the show was still in its original pre-ironic state.

Here it is, in three part harmony. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

It got me to thinking about 50s and 60s TV sitcoms in general, though.

There’s been plenty of fuss about sitcoms from the 50s promoting unrealistic stereotypes. The white picket fences, the two parent households, the coat and tie dad solving all problems within 24 minutes, June Cleaver’s tasteful and understated string of pearls while washing dishes, that sort of thing.

But how did that lead to the unprecedented spouse-slaughter of the 60s Sitcom?

The Courtship of Eddie’s Father – starring Bill Bixby as the widowed architect raising a precocious young son.

Julia - at least Diahann Carroll's backstory came with some glory. She was a widowed single mother because her fighter-pilot husband had been shot down in Vietnam. I still remember the promo for this series, where she says on the phone to her prospective boss (gruff old white guy Lloyd Nolan) "I think you should know that I'm colored." And he says "What color are you?" Big laughs! The 60s!

The Brady Bunch, one show – two dead spouses. Carol Brady’s first husband’s demise was implied, but never explained. The original script called for her to be a divorcee, but the network wouldn’t stand for it.

Not much was ever said about the man who sired The Partridge Family, either, but evidently the strain of producing five musical prodigies in a row put him six feet under.

And then, of course, Family Affair. Both parents tragically dead in a car accident, three children sent to live with a gruff and reluctant bachelor uncle and his aloof British manservant in a luxury Manhattan penthouse. I’d love to have been a fly on the wall when they were pitching this one to the network.

So in the 50s, kids were left wondering “How come my mom never wears pearls at dinner?”

But in the 60s and 70s, kids were left wondering “How come I’m saddled with two parents bossing me around? And a different set of parents on holidays and alternate weekends? And how come my step-sister doesn’t look anything like Marcia Brady?”