Family (1976 TV series)

This article is about the 1976-80 American television series. For other series with similar titles, see Family (disambiguation).

Family is an American television drama series that aired on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) television network from 1976 to 1980. It was originally conceived as a limited series; its first season consisted of six episodes.^[1] A total of 86 episodes were produced. Creative control of the show was split among executive producers Leonard Goldberg, Aaron Spelling, and Mike Nichols.

Family
Family title card
Created by	Jay Presson Allen
Starring	Sada Thompson James Broderick Gary Frank Kristy McNichol Meredith Baxter Birney Quinn Cummings
Opening theme	John Rubinstein
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	86 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Leonard Goldberg Mike Nichols Aaron Spelling
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	50 minutes
Production companies	Icarus Productions Spelling-Goldberg Productions
Distributor	Lexington Broadcast Services Company Sony Pictures Television
Release
Original network	ABC
Audio format	Monaural
Original release	March 9, 1976 (1976-03-09) – June 25, 1980 (1980-06-25)

Overview

Family depicted, for its time, a contemporary traditional family with realistic, believable characters.^[2] The show starred Sada Thompson and James Broderick as Kate and Doug Lawrence, a happily married upper-middle-class couple living at 1230 Holland Street in Pasadena, California with their three children: Nancy (portrayed by Elayne Heilveil in the original miniseries, then by Jane Actman for the first 2 episodes of Season 2, and finally Meredith Baxter Birney (who re-filmed Actman’s scenes and played the Nancy character for the remainder of the show's run); Willie (Gary Frank); and Letitia, nicknamed "Buddy" (Kristy McNichol).

The eldest daughter character of Nancy had a young son, Timothy (called Timmy, portrayed by siblings Michael and David Shackelford). Timmy was named after a younger brother who died off-screen years prior in a freak fishing canoe accident that was briefly mentioned in season one.

Family raised the profile of all of its featured actors and, in particular, catapulted Kristy McNichol and Meredith Baxter Birney to stardom.

• Kate is the practical, rational voice of the show. She always stands by her opinion and is motivated to do what is right, even if it makes her unpopular ("Jury Duty"). An accomplished full-time homemaker, she resents people telling her that because she had high aspirations in school and had achieved a great deal academically ("Home Movie"), she could have attained much more in life. However, at one point she expresses frustration with the monotony of her life, feeling that all she does is run errands and make phone calls, usually on behalf of other people ("An Eye to the Future"). She eventually returns to college as a music major, then becomes a music teacher at Buddy's high school in season 4.
• Doug, the family patriarch, is an independent lawyer who aspires to be a judge but never uses his intellect to make others feel inferior. He is a family man who listens to what Kate tells him and always makes time for his children.
• Willie, Doug and Kate's son, is an aspiring writer. He secures his parents' permission to take a year off high school to write a screenplay but, to his father's chagrin, later drops out of school completely. He later pursues work, assisting in a photography studio, an advertising agency, and at a TV show called "The Dame Game" but eventually quits, dubbing the work uninspiring, and aspires to leave Pasadena.
• Younger daughter Buddy (Letitia), is somewhat tomboyish, although she sometimes considers adopting a more feminine appearance ("Coming of Age"). She is a loyal friend, compassionate toward others, and well-liked by her classmates. She has a habit of walking into a room where adults are discussing something confidential and demanding to know what is transpiring. She usually seeks her mother's help when faced with a dilemma. Her mother often calls her the nickname “Tizzy Lish.” Willie has a close sibling relationship with Buddy, whom he affectionately calls "Peaches."
• Eldest daughter Nancy Lawrence Maitland's move back home with her young son, Timmy, is the story catalyst during the premiere episode. She does so after catching her husband, Jeff Maitland (played by John Rubinstein, who also composed the show's theme song), in bed with another woman. They divorce soon after and Nancy enrolls in law school, where she excels. Nancy lives in the small guest house in the backyard of the Lawrence family home, and she later moves to a nearby apartment in Pasadena.

In the 1978 fourth season, eleven-year-old Andrea “Annie” Cooper (Quinn Cummings) is adopted by the family after the off-screen death of her biological parents, Kate and Doug's college friends, in a car accident. Annie excels in academics with her extensive vocabulary and strives to fit in with her new family and classmates at school.

Storylines were often topical. Family often featured what has come to be known as "very special episodes". In the first episode, Nancy walks in on her husband, Jeff, having sex with one of her friends. During the second season she and Jeff divorce, but he appears occasionally thereafter to complicate the Lawrences' lives. Other storylines include Kate's possible breast cancer and Buddy's dilemmas about whether to have sex; she always chooses to wait. Other episodes deal with homosexuality: in a 1976 episode ("Rites of Friendship"), Willie's childhood friend, Zeke Remsen, is arrested in a gay bar and Willie struggles to accept his friend's sexuality, while a 1977 episode ("We Love You, Miss Jessup") deals with Buddy's friendship with a lesbian teacher. Family also contends with alcoholism (Doug's sister; 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 would win an Academy Award for playing a similar character in On Golden Pond.

Episodes and production details

Main article: List of Family episodes

Season	Episodes		Originally aired
			First aired	Last aired
1	6		March 9, 1976 (1976-03-09)	April 13, 1976 (1976-04-13)
2	22		October 6, 1976 (1976-10-06)	May 3, 1977 (1977-05-03)
3	23		September 13, 1977 (1977-09-13)	May 16, 1978 (1978-05-16)
4	22		September 21, 1978 (1978-09-21)	May 17, 1979 (1979-05-17)
5	13		December 11, 1979 (1979-12-11)	June 25, 1980 (1980-06-25)

The initial showrunners of Family were Nigel McKeand and Carol Evan McKeand, who previously had been writers for The Waltons. After the fourth season, the McKeands departed^[3] and were replaced by Edward Zwick, who would go on to produce the acclaimed series thirtysomething, My So-Called Life and Once and Again.

The exterior shots of the Lawrence family home were filmed at a private residence in South Pasadena, California. The interior scenes were filmed at 20th Century Studios in Century City (Los Angeles), California.

Broadcast history and Nielsen ratings

Season	Time slot (ET)	Rank	Rating
1975–76	Tuesdays 10 p.m.	34 ^[4]	N/A
1976–77	Tuesdays 10 p.m.	39 ^[5]	N/A
1977–78	Tuesdays 10 p.m.	31 ^[6]	19.8
1978–79	Thursdays 10 p.m. (Sep 1978-Mar 1979) Fridays 8 p.m. (Apr-May 1979)	52 ^[7]	N/A
1979–80	Mondays 10 p.m. (Jan-Feb 1980) Mondays 9 p.m. (Mar 1980) Wednesdays 8 p.m. (June 1980)	61 ^[8]	N/A

Notable guest stars

 

Willie with Doug and Kate.

Many well-known (or soon-to-be well-known) actors and actresses appeared on the series, including Howard Hesseman, Ted Danson, Michael J. Fox, Willie Aames, Leif Garrett, Doris Roberts, Lauren Tewes, Vic Tayback, Linda Lavin, Tommy Lee Jones, James Woods, Michael Keaton, Lance Kerwin, Kim Cattrall, Lisa Whelchel, Charlotte Rae, Shelley Long, Henry Fonda, Dinah Manoff, Mare Winningham, Helen Hunt, Kim Richards, Dana Plato, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Annie Potts, Blair Brown, Alice Ghostley, Jameson Parker, Dominique Dunne, Steve Guttenberg, René Auberjonois and Stephanie Zimbalist.

Meredith Baxter's real-life mother, Whitney Blake, guest starred, as did David Birney, who was Baxter's husband at the time.

Critical reception

Family was widely acclaimed, with many television critics calling it a rare quality offering^[9][10] in ABC's primetime schedule, which at the time contained light-hearted shows such as Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley and The Love Boat.

The principal cast of Family was featured on the January 21, 1978 cover of TV Guide magazine.

In the fourth season, some critics took issue with the show's direction. In February 1979, Noel Holston of the Orlando Sentinel called Family "ABC's most prestigious program" but claimed "the producers' crisis-of-the-week approach is starting to strain the series' credibility."^[11] Some critics complained that Family, like many TV shows of the period, had become too reliant on sex-related plots.^[12] In spring 1979, ABC shifted the show to a Friday night death slot of 8 p.m. Eastern Time, and its previously solid ratings dropped to near the bottom of the chart. As a result, Family was renewed for a final season of 13 episodes that began at mid-season and aired intermittently.

Despite its occasionally adult themes, the series was consistently praised by the National Parent-Teacher Association. In February 1979, the PTA said Family contained "good parenting lessons" and "slightly controversial" but "excellent" content,^[13] recommending it for viewing by teens and older.

Seven years after the series' cancellation, it was widely reported that a Family Reunion TV movie was planned for the 1987–88 season.^[14] At least one report indicated that if its ratings were strong enough, the series would be revived for the then-current ABC schedule.^[15] The plot was to involve the Lawrence children gathering for Kate's remarriage. (James Broderick had died of cancer in 1982.) But the writers' strike that year halted production, and the project was abandoned.

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
1976	Directors Guild of America Awards	Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series	Glenn Jordan (for "Rites of Friendship")	Won	^[16]
1977			E. W. Swackhamer (for "Acts of Love: Parts 1 and 2")	Nominated	^[17]
1976	Golden Globe Awards	Best Television Series – Drama		Nominated	^[18]
		Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama	Sada Thompson	Nominated
1977		Best Television Series – Drama		Nominated
1978				Nominated
		Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama	Kristy McNichol	Nominated
			Sada Thompson	Nominated
1979				Nominated
1976	Humanitas Prize	60 Minute Network or Syndicated Television	Jay Presson Allen (for "Pilot")	Nominated	^[19]
			Nigel Evan McKeand and Carol Evan McKeand (for "A Right and Proper Goodbye")	Nominated
1978			David Jacobs and Carol Evan McKeand (for "Annie Laurie")	Won
			Carol Evan McKeand (for "The Princess in the Tower")	Nominated
1980			Sally Robinson (for "Thanksgiving")	Won
1977	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Drama Series	Leonard Goldberg, Nigel McKeand, Mike Nichols, and Aaron Spelling	Nominated	^[20]
		Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series	Sada Thompson	Nominated
		Outstanding Continuing Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Drama Series	Gary Frank (for "Lovers and Strangers")	Won
		Outstanding Continuing Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	Meredith Baxter Birney	Nominated
			Kristy McNichol	Won
1978		Outstanding Drama Series	Leonard Goldberg, Nigel McKeand, and Aaron Spelling	Nominated
		Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	James Broderick	Nominated
		Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series	Sada Thompson	Won
		Outstanding Continuing Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	Meredith Baxter Birney	Nominated
			Kristy McNichol	Nominated
		Outstanding Lead Actor for a Single Appearance in a Drama or Comedy Series	John Rubinstein (for "And Baby Makes Three")	Nominated
		Outstanding Film Editing for a Drama Series	Jim Faris (for "Acts of Love: Part 1")	Nominated
1979		Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series	Sada Thompson	Nominated
		Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	Kristy McNichol	Won
1980		Outstanding Drama Series	Leonard Goldberg, Aaron Spelling, and Edward Zwick	Nominated
		Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series	Kristy McNichol	Nominated
			Sada Thompson	Nominated
1979	Young Artist Awards	Best Juvenile Actress in a TV Series or Special	Quinn Cummings	Nominated	^[21]
			Kristy McNichol	Nominated
1980		Best Young Actress in a Television Series	Quinn Cummings	Won	^[22]

Theme music and opening credits

In the original spring 1976 miniseries run of Family, the theme music is a dramatic-sounding, yet low-key piano solo with minor orchestral contingents, composed by cast member John Rubinstein (son of classical musician Arthur Rubinstein). When Family was picked up as a regular series for the fall 1976 schedule, the theme music was changed to a more cheery, upbeat instrumental dominated by trumpets and horns, also written by Rubinstein. This version lasted the rest of the run.

The opening title credits of Family prominently feature the Lawrence family home and lushly landscaped front yard. From 1976-78, the credits show Kate in front of the home saying goodbye to Doug in his car as he presumably leaves for work at his law firm. Kate then walks back inside the home and past the piano covered with framed photos of the entire family. The camera then focuses on the framed photos of each cast member. The early opening and closing credits feature a distinctive san serif typeface.

For the 1978-79 fourth season and the remainder of the series, a slightly revamped version of the opening credits once again focuses on the Lawrence home and features vignette scenes of each cast member (in lieu of the previously shown framed photos). At the end of the credits, the family is shown standing in front of the home to pose for a group photo. Notably, the opening and closing credits in the later years of the series switch from a san serif to a serif typeface.

Legal dispute

Family became the subject of a 24-year legal dispute^[23] due to a lawsuit filed by writer Jeri Emmet in 1977. The claim was against Spelling Television and alleged that Spelling had stolen the idea for the show from a script that Emmet had submitted, titled "The Best Years". Spelling responded to the lawsuit with a statement explaining that he had conceived the idea in his kitchen with Leonard Goldberg, his professional partner. Next they pitched the idea to scriptwriter Jay Presson Allen to create the pilot. She had just completed writing the screenplay for the film Funny Lady, starring Barbra Streisand and directed by Herbert Ross.

In October 1981, the suit was dismissed for lack of prosecution. Jeri Emmet filed an appeal the same month. Approximately a year later, she withdrew her appeal as part of a settlement with Spelling and Goldberg for $1,000. Emmet later filed a legal malpractice action against her own lawyers in which it was argued that she would have won her original lawsuit but for the malpractice. The case went to trial and a jury awarded her $1.7 million in damages. The verdict was then successfully appealed based on the resumption of the suit having occurred beyond a one-year limitation period allowed in the law: the trial result and judgment were overturned.^[24]

Emmet sued Spelling a second time, in 1996, after Spelling published his memoirs. She claimed that Spelling had defamed her in his book, as she had not been credited with conceiving the original idea for Family. She lost on appeal in 2001, with the court saying she had not met the standard for showing damages due to the alleged defamation and that she had not explained how the defamation legally constituted a second theft of the same intellectual property. The litigation finally concluded with Allen retaining her "Created by" credit for the series.^[23]

Home media and syndication

On September 5, 2006, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the first two seasons of Family on DVD in Region 1. On January, 2016, two box sets containing a total of 28 episodes were released in Germany by ALIVE VERTRIEBS- UND MARKETING. These box sets contain select episodes from seasons 1 to 3.^[25]

Beginning in July 2021, all five seasons of Family — uncut, were available for viewing on Tubi in their original broadcast running times, except for the season 4 episode 'Magic,' which appears in its syndicated edited form at 44 minutes in length (as opposed to the usual 49 minutes). The show was briefly unavailable from the Tubi library. However, as of July 2022, Family is on Tubi again. ^[26]

The show currently airs on MeTV+, a companion network to MeTV that is available in select TV markets.

Beginning in 2020, the Decades network broadcast limited sets of Family episodes as part of their Decades Weekend Binge, where a different TV series is highlighted each weekend. Family was featured one weekend in 2020 and again the weekend of January 14-15, 2023.

See also

• 1976 in American television

References

1. O'Connor, John J. (13 April 1976). "TV: 'Family'". The New York Times.
2. Barber, Rowland (21 January 1978). "Three Strikes and They're On". TV Guide. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
3. Margulies, Lee (25 June 1979). "Inside TV". Los Angeles Times.
4. "The final Nielsen". Chicago Tribune TV Week. 27 June 1976.
5. "Look Who's No. 1". Chicago Tribune TV Week. 3 July 1977.
6. "A season's worth of program standings" (PDF). Broadcasting. 1 May 1978.
7. "Rounding up the ratings for 'the season'" (PDF). Broadcasting. 18 June 1979.
8. "1979-80 Regular Series Ratings". Daily Variety. 4 June 1980.
9. Witbeck, Charles (24 Dec 1979). "A fine taste of 'Family' is ABC gift to viewers". The Miami News.
10. Boyer, Peter J. (2 May 1980). "It's all over for 'Family'". Associated Press.
11. Holston, Noel (21 February 1979). "Is this the last season for these series?". Orlando Sentinel.
12. Rosenberg, Howard (28 December 1978). "Has It Come to This?". Los Angeles Times.
13. Weingarten, Paul (14 February 1979). "PTA TV ratings, from Alice to Wonder Woman". Chicago Tribune.
14. Stewart, Susan (2 June 1987). "Reunion Fever". Detroit Free Press.
15. "Ch. 8 noon news score: One born, another on way?". Akron Beacon Journal. 8 June 1987.
16. "29th DGA Awards". Directors Guild of America Awards. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
17. "30th DGA Awards". Directors Guild of America Awards. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
18. "Family – Golden Globes". HFPA. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
19. "Past Winners & Nominees". Humanitas Prize. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
20. "Family". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
21. . YoungArtistAwards.org. Archived from the original on 2015-07-16. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
22. . YoungArtistAwards.org. Archived from the original on 2015-09-10. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
23. Ofgang, Kenneth (19 November 2001). "C.A. Rules for Aaron Spelling in Long-Running 'Family' Litigation". Metropolitan News-Enterprise. Los Angeles. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
24. Laird v. Blacker, Cal Sup Ct 606 (2 C4th 7 May 1992).
25. "Eine amerikanische Familie - Box 1". Amazon Germany.
26. "Family".

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Family.

• Family at IMDb