Family sitcoms: a trend of the past

June 24, 1:00 PM90s Pop Culture ExaminerKatie Galgano

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Full House Season 1 DVDs

     An overwhelming theme of television in the 1990’s was the trend of the family sitcom. The family sitcom was one with an ongoing story line that was centered around a family, traditional or non-traditional, and its everyday antics. The idea of the family sitcom had been seen before in shows such as The Brady Bunch, Family Ties, and Leave it to Beaver. However, this trend became enormously popular in the 90’s with shows such as Full House, Boy Meets World, Family Matters, Home Improvement, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and Step by Step. During their prime, these shows were some of the hottest sitcoms on TV. The family sitcom still exists today; however, new trends, such as reality TV, have stolen the spotlight. Let’s take a deeper look at the families from five typical 90s family sitcoms.

Full House
Full House premiered in 1987, but had its highest Nielsen ratings in the early to mid 1990’s. Full House is centered around the somewhat unconventional family, the Tanners. The show takes place in San Francisco, California. Danny Tanner (Bob Saget) has enlisted the help of his young and wild leather-clad musician brother-in-law, Jesse Katsopolis (John Stamos), and his goofy comedian best friend, Joey Gladstone (Dave Coulier), to help raise his three daughters after the death of his wife. In age order the three daughters are D.J. (Candace Cameron Bure), Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin), and Michelle (Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen). Eventually Jesse’s wife (Lori Loughlin) moves in and gives birth to two twin boys (Blake and Dylan Tuomy-Wilhoit). The show features the hilarious and sometimes emotional situations that arise when living with such a large family. The show ran for eight seasons and truly defined itself as a family sitcom.

Boy Meets World
Boy Meets World had a run of seven seasons on ABC. The show focused on the life of the typical American boy, Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) and his family and friends. The most notable of his friends and family are his best friend turned girlfriend, Topanga Lawrence (Danielle Fishel), his best friend who grew up in a trailer park and is more of a bad boy and ladies man than Corey, Shawn Hunter (Rider Strong), his once suave and cool turned quirky and crazy older brother, Eric Matthews (Will Friedle), and his wise mentor, Mr. George Feeny (William Daniels). Over the seven years, the audience watches Cory as he grows up and makes his way from elementary school to college with his best friend, his girlfriend, and his family at his side.

Family Matters
Family Matters takes place in Chicago and follows the life of an average black middle-class family, the Winslows. The show really focuses on one character who is actually technically not part of the Winslow family, Steve Urkel (Jaleel White), the unbelievably nerdy and clumsy dork in love with Laura Winslow, the middle daughter. The show follows the life of police officer Carl Winslow (Reginald VelJohnson), his level-headed wife, Harriette Winslow (JoMarie Payton), and their children: Eddie Winslow (Darius McCrary), Laura Winslow (Kellie Shanygne Williams), and Judy Winslow (Jaimee Foxworth). Urkel is their neighbor who seems to always be part of their lives and adds a comic effect to the show.

Home Improvement
The award winning sitcom, Home Improvement, ran for eight years and followed the lives of the Taylor family. The patriarch of the family, Tim (Tim Allen), runs a television show with his friend, Al (Richard Karn), called Tool Time. Tim portrays the typical sports loving, car fanatic, masculine figure. Him and his wife, Jill (Patricia Richardson), have three sons: Brad (Zachery Ty Bryan), Randy (Jonathan Taylor Thomas), and Mark (Taran Noah Smith). The sons are all very different from each other and each played the part of a different stereotype. Brad was an athlete and was very interested in sports, cars, and all things masculine, just like his father; Randy was smart and goofy and wrote for the school newspaper; Mark became very gothic and seemed to be the outsider of the family. Whenever anything went wrong in the family, Tim and Jill sought help from their next-door neighbor, Wilson (Earl Hindman).

Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The main character of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is the fresh prince himself, Will Smith, (Will Smith). Will grew up on the streets of west Philadelphia and was sent to live with his wealthy cousins, the Banks family, when the streets became too dangerous. The Banks family consists of Will’s strict, food-loving uncle Phil (James Avery), his aunt Vivian Banks (first played by Janet Hubert, but turned over to Daphne Reid in 1993), and his three cousins. Hilary Banks, (Karyn Parsons), is the eldest of the Banks children and is known as being a ditzy and shallow shopaholic. Carlton Banks (Alfonso Ribeiro), is Will’s uber preppy, nerdy, and Republican cousin who provides a great deal of comic relief and is often the target of most of the show’s jokes. The youngest of the Banks children is Ashley Banks (Tatyana Ali), who is constantly being protected by her father, but grows into a rather rebellious teenager. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air will always be remembered for its catchy opening song.

Step By Step
Step By Step was considered a modern version of the quintessential family sitcom, The Brady Bunch. Frank Lambert (Patrick Duffy) and Carol Foster Lambert (Suzanne Somers) each had three children and impulsively got married and formed one large family of six children. The show focuses on the family’s, specifically the children’s, struggle to get along. Carol’s half of the family consists of the smart and sarcastic daughter Dana (Staci Keanan), Karen (Angela Watson), a young girl hoping to become a model, and Mark (Christopher Castile), the typical nerd. Frank’s half of the family is comprised of J.T. (Brandon Call), the athlete who had a great deal of trouble with academia, Al (Christine Lakin), a young tomboy girl next door type, and Brendan (Josh Byrne), the youngest. Cody (Sasha Mitchell) was a very popular character known for his catchphrase, “Dude!” He was Frank’s nephew who was in love with Dana and lived in a van in the driveway.