1970s TV

Overall, I had mixed feelings about the TV shows we watched in class. I enjoyed The Brady Bunch, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and MASH, and the beginning of Hawaii Five-O. I did not like Little House on the Prairie or All in the Family. I liked The Brady Bunch because it depicts the idea of the perfect family. This is something that some shows today try to do, like The Middle and Modern Family, but the humor in The Brady Bunch is much more wholesome and the family is more willing to work as a team. With The Mary Tyler Moore Show, the women are portrayed as very strong characters. As a woman, and a self-labeled feminist, I appreciate this portrayal. Many Tyler Moore and Betty White are able to hold their own against the men on the show. MASH was also fun to watch. I liked the plot and that it was centered at a war camp in the 1950s. Most shows today do not take place in the middle of wars. The beginning of Hawaii Five-O was really intriguing. Finding out who the murderer is at the beginning of the episode was completely opposite of most shows today, but a welcome change. It made me interested in how the investigators were going to catch the killer. The Little House on the Prairie was too religion-oriented for me to fully enjoy it. The lessons were much too in your face, even more so than The Brady Bunch. I also did not like All in the Family. I found Archie Bunker to be far too obnoxious and offensive. The character I liked the best was Archie's wife, and even she was annoying. All these shows embody the 1970s in some way. The clothes and furniture in the shows scream 70s. The Brady Bunch's idea of the ideal family was carried over from some of the shows from the 1960s. All the characters get along most of the time and are able to resolve all their issues. It also depicted a blended family, though the blend is ideal because it is implied that both the parents were widowed. All in the Family was completely opposite. It talked about many topics that were almost considered taboo in the years before, like politics. The Mary Tyler Moore Show showed a progressive view of women, and MASH had sex, violence, and alcohol. The Little House on the Prairie still held on to the traditional views of religion, which many people were still very invested in. These shows were popular because each one had something that a particular group wanted to see. All in the Family played out ideas from the average middle class family, while The Brady Bunch portrayed the ideal family. MASH is funny and the characters are likable. Each of these shows had something for everyone, and many are still popular in syndication today.