We are family
When news of actor Gary Coleman’s death filtered out early this week, legions of fans were in shock. Coleman played the lovable youngest child, Arnold on the show Different Strokes, and his death was a nostalgic reminder of the obsessive interest with which we followed family shows in our younger days. Every day, before or after school, we’d turn our television sets on, to see a celluloid family emerge from every half-hour, closer and more loving than before. There were characters we identified with, the one family member who was exactly like us, or how we wished to be.
Twenty one-year-old copywriter Anjana Das says, “I remember going back to The Hogan Family time and again. It was almost like I had this other family in Illinois. It was hard to choose a favourite among them although I think Sandy was way funnier than Valerie. And who could ever choose amongst the bratty brothers? When the series was abruptly pulled out, I was heartbroken.”
Anjana was also a Different Strokes fans. “Comedy has supposedly evolved, but there’ll never be another Arnold with his set of antics. Also, the blend of comedy with a good lesson to take home, without sounding preachy, is a rare virtue that will always be missed,” she says.
Engineering student Ishita Patnaik was a huge fan of the homegrown Dekh Bhai Dekh and perennial favourite Full House. “DBD was my all-time favourite in the early 90s. It portrayed a strong sense of family bonding through crazy, humorous plots. Whereas in Full House, Uncle Jessie had an immediate connection with the viewers because of his wit and charm. I was just entering my teens and could relate to Michelle,” she says.
Family shows are all about Happy Days and The Brady Bunch for 24-year-old David Rebeiro. “As embarrassing as it is to admit now, I’d sing the theme songs for the shows as soon as they’d start. There’s a reason they’re admired so much even today. Now although Ron Howard has become so successful as a director, in my mind he’ll always be Richie from Happy Days.”
As the world changed over the years, so did our family shows. The “wholesome” comedy-family shows have faded away, making an occasional appearance a la Baa, Bahoo aur Baby. Instead, the focus has shifted to shows like The Simpsons, which has a dysfunctional family at its centre. And as a mark of our times, viewers can actually identify with the show. “Every character here has a personality, and even the location was something that I, having grown up in a small-town, could identify with,’ says 19-year-old Nikhil Acharya. “If Homer was the person I wish I could be like, I could also identify with Bart’s restlessness and mischievous attitude towards life. In Lisa, I saw the irritating sister that I had and Marge was like my own mother who kept everything together.”
Maybe this is the greatest charm that family shows have for us. That no matter how hard things got, our surrogate families always managed to keep things together. They formed our notions of the ideal family and told us that it was an institution worth preserving.
Post new comment