# What do families watch on TV these days? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 26, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-families-watch-on-tv-these-days/558441 "2010-10-26T20:52:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-families-watch-on-tv-these-days/558441/1 "2010-10-26T20:52:33Z")
More specifically, broadcast TV. When I was a kid in the 80s and early 90s we watched stuff like _The Cosby Show, Benson, Diff’rent Strokes, Full House, Family Matters, Perfect Strangers_, etc. The “raciest” thing we ever watched together was _Married…With Children_. I will admit that my mom was sort of strict with our TV viewing, and I myself might be a little prude now when it comes to what I perceive as “family tv.” But I couldn’t imagine watching something like _Two and a Half Men_ or _Cougartown_, or even _The Office_ with my parents when I was a kid. Is there anything on broadcast TV that parents watch with their young kids, or do you stick to ABC Family and Nickelodeon? ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-families-watch-on-tv-these-days/558441/2 "2010-10-27T02:15:46Z")
There is definitely a dearth of shows that you can watch with your really young kids that are tolerable for the adults. When my son was 6 and 7 we didn’t have cable or decent broadcast reception and all of our shared viewing was through Netflix. When we did get cable I asked another mom what she watched with her kids and she mentioned Amazing Race, and Extreme Makeover Home Edition. We never did get into Amazing Race. Most of the things we watch together are on cable; Myth Busters, and Dirty Jobs, How It’s Made and challenges on Food Network. I don’t mind occasional episodes of iCarly, and I liked Neds Declassified, and Drake and Josh well enough. I count myself fortunate that he’s never been interested in Hannah Montana or Jonas Brothers. This season we started watchign No Ordinary Family, which isn’t ground breaking, and is sometimes irritating, but unlike any of the police procedurals there isn’t likely to be any graphic violence or gore. That’s a difference between my childhood and his. I could hang out in the room where my mom was watching TV not exactly watching with no risk of seeing something that would give me nightmares. I remember her watching Mission Impossible, Emergency, Quincy, and a lot of cop shows. You could argue that all of them have corelative shows currently airing, but I don’t want my son to see the arterial spray actually spraying. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-families-watch-on-tv-these-days/558441/3 "2010-10-27T03:44:35Z")
If your family has a dark sense of humor, _Raising Hope_ might be safe. It’s by the people who did _My Name is Earl_, another sweet-natured show. Each episode has a lesson. Tonight’s Halloween episode was about how Jimmy’s dad would scare him on Halloween, just to get a hug. Jimmy failed to see the point of his dad’s shenanigans, until he got a hug from baby Hope, and then he understood the power of hugs. Another episode had Jimmy’s mom making the family sit for a themed portrait every year. It drove the family nuts – everything had to be perfect and she totally stressed everybody out. They couldn’t figure out why it was so important to her. She finally explained that she wanted her family to be like the families in the houses she cleans. All those houses have holiday/birthday/etc. portraits and everyone looked so happy. She wanted that for her family. I’m making it sound sappier than it is – the episode was hysterical. They ended up getting the perfect family portrait from a traffic video camera after mom ran a red light – everyone in the van singing and laughing after another failed portrait sitting. There’s just all kinds of sweetness and love in the show, but there’s a little bit of raunch as well. Great-grandma Cloris Leachman sometimes forgets to wear a shirt. Baby Hope’s mother was a one-night stand of Jimmy’s, and she turned out to be a serial killer. (She was executed, which is how Jimmy got custody.) But there’s no bad language, not even the half-bad words you hear on other shows. There’s no potty humor or nudges about sex. Sorry to go on so long, but this is my favorite new show, and even though it’s on Fox, there’s really nothing objectionable in it. ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-families-watch-on-tv-these-days/558441/4 "2010-10-27T03:53:53Z")
The only show my family watches together these days is Modern Family, but we’re all pretty much old enough now that “adult content” doesn’t matter (my younger sister is 16 and I’m 20). “Back in the day” when we were little we used to watch Seinfeld, The Simpsons, The Nanny, Friends, and lots of British comedy like The Vicar Of Dibley, Absolutely Fabulous, Father Ted, Fawlty Towers, all four of us. My parents never used to worry about off-colour jokes, we heard much worse in school and most of the stuff went over our heads anyway. They’ve always been pretty cool in that respect. There were boundaries of course - we didn’t all sit down and watch Pulp Fiction on movie night or anything - but rewatching shows like Seinfeld and Absolutely Fabulous now that I’m older, I notice how much I simply didn’t get when I was watching it as a child. I appreciated the funny bits that I understood, like Edina on the airport conveyor belt or Kramer singing with Mel Torme after getting punched in the mouth, and as I grew up I appreciated new layers in the humour. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-families-watch-on-tv-these-days/558441/5 "2010-10-27T03:56:50Z")
We watch the sunday Fox animation shows. My kids love _Family Guy_ in particular. Also _South Park_, _Curb Your Enthusiasm_ and _iCarly_. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-families-watch-on-tv-these-days/558441/6 "2010-10-27T05:29:15Z")
I think Mythbusters might be the only thing we watch together! And Time Warp, when it was on, and things like Nova. Otherwise I guess just DVDs. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-families-watch-on-tv-these-days/558441/7 "2010-10-27T08:49:08Z")
_America’s Funniest Home Videos_ is a favorite in the JohnT household. So is _Doctor Who_. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-families-watch-on-tv-these-days/558441/8 "2010-10-27T11:54:41Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > _America’s Funniest Home Videos_ is a favorite in the JohnT household. This is what I was coming in to post. The kids crack up and it occasionally gets a laugh out of us too. Tom Bergeron is much better than Bob Saget as host. ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-families-watch-on-tv-these-days/558441/9 "2010-10-27T13:05:42Z")
We watch Survivor. I have to be vigilant about the gruesome CSI and other death-porn commercials. The kids mostly are allowed to watch kid shows, nature shows, stuff like Whose Line is it Anyway, and really old sitcoms. They like watching Come Dine with Me and Doc Martin with me. The ten year old loves stuff like Peep Show and Graham Norton. Yeah, I guess we’re anglophiles. ---
**Author:** ![vertizontal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ad7895/32.png) [@vertizontal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vertizontal)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-families-watch-on-tv-these-days/558441/10 "2010-10-27T13:18:49Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > _America’s Funniest Home Videos_ is a favorite in the JohnT household. We watch that show quite a bit in our house, but we have renamed it “_People Falling Down_” because that’s what a huge amount of the content is. (But my personal favorites are whenever an above-ground swimming pool breaks, unleasing zillions of gallons of water – it’s great every time). We would all sit and watch _American Idol_, and _America’s Got Talent_. Everyone else likes the _Dancing_ shows, but I find something else to do then. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-families-watch-on-tv-these-days/558441/11 "2010-10-27T15:03:44Z")
Thank goodness for DVRs. Prime time network TV is mostly either uninteresting to or inappropriate for my three-year-old. So, we watch DVRed stuff like **Dirty Jobs** , **Mythbusters** , some HGTV and DIY shows, and kid shows. One thing she’s been asking to see a lot lately, for some reason, are these little four-minute how-to videos I downloaded from Dish Online about how to make Halloween crafts and snacks. Loves the crafts, she does. She also really likes certain movies; a while back she watched the Christopher Reeve **Superman** movie over and over, and more recently she was absolutely enamored with the original version of **The Karate Kid**. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-families-watch-on-tv-these-days/558441/12 "2010-10-27T15:30:30Z")
You said broadcast TV but I agree that iCarly is very popular for family’s with youngish kids as is Spongebob Squarepants. Those are kids shows that lots of adults admit to liking. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-families-watch-on-tv-these-days/558441/13 "2010-10-27T16:03:25Z")
The last show I can think of that all four of us loved was _Everybody Hates Chris_. The humor was clean enough for the youngest but sharp enough for the rest of us. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-families-watch-on-tv-these-days/558441/14 "2010-10-27T16:07:05Z")
As Gwendee said…Mythbusters and Dirty Jobs are family watching in my home. I didn’t make that decision - the kids did. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-families-watch-on-tv-these-days/558441/15 "2010-10-27T16:16:46Z")
My kids like **AFHV** as well. My wife and daughters also seem to enjoy a lot of the pregancy shows, hoarder shows and decorating shows. ---
**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-families-watch-on-tv-these-days/558441/16 "2010-10-27T17:22:37Z")
Our kids are 6 and 7. They do not watch anything on the major networks, but there is plenty to watch on Disney, Nick, and PBS, and much of it is palatable to someone who grew up on TV in the 70s and 80s. We watch iCarly, Phineas and Ferb, Fetch with Ruff Ruffman, and a few others. We also watch the Brady Bunch and I’m going to show them the shows I grew up on, like Growing Pains and Family Ties, when they’re a bit older. They will not be allowed to watch prime-time network TV until they are 12 or 13 unless a miracle occurs and it suddenly becomes appropriate for younger kids again. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-families-watch-on-tv-these-days/558441/17 "2010-10-27T17:42:21Z")
I think _The Middle_ is a good family sitcom. I never liked Patricia Heaton but I like her here. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-families-watch-on-tv-these-days/558441/18 "2010-10-27T17:44:47Z")
That’s interesting - I never would have thought of the shows like _Mythbusters_ and _Hoarders_ for kids, but it totally fits! **Chicken Fingers** - your 10-year-old watches _Peep Show_? Even tho there’s a lot of sexual humor and even a few first person sex scenes? I do totally understand that everyone has different views on what’s acceptable to show their kids, so I’m not aghast that a 10 year old watches _Peep Show_ or anything 🙂 I think **Everybody Hates Chris** is a great example of a kid-friendly broadcast show. I was into that when it was on. The only other show I could think of that kids might like is **Corner Gas** which is…1) Canadian 2) Shown in the US on the USA cable network 3) Over. **Little Mosque on the Prairie** would be a good one too but that is NEVER going to come to America. It has Muslims! I watch a lot of TV and actually about 40-50% of it is prime time broadcast stuff. I really can’t think of any of it that I would be comfortable watching with my parents - and I’m 31! 🙂 I honestly get creeped out when I am over their house and they’re watching _Everybody Loves Raymond_. I think _that_ has too much sexual innuendo. heh I don’t, however, watch any of those reality shows and it seems like they are the new family entertainment, which is cool. Kids like a good competition! ETA: **Sigmagirl** , good call on **The Middle**. I watch that too. My mom and I both enjoy it (yes, once again, I am 31) ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-families-watch-on-tv-these-days/558441/19 "2010-10-27T17:59:09Z")
Our family has been watching the reruns of **Everybody Hates Chris**. It’s a great show. I didn’t know about it when it was first aired, but it’s a good show for kids and adults. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-families-watch-on-tv-these-days/558441/20 "2010-10-27T18:29:30Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > If your family has a dark sense of humor, _Raising Hope_ might be safe. So I thought, until last night’s second episode. I was glad the wee one wasn’t watching the antics on the mother’s videotapes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-families-watch-on-tv-these-days/558441.md?page=2)