This Is My Generation...

Television hasn't been around that long, but some of America's most important times have been spent sitting around it watching worldwide historic events. TV producers recognized the television's importance and made an effort to portray the "every day American family".

"American Dreams", a television show airing from 2002-2005, depicted the everyday 1960s family. Although I didn't live through that time period, I fell in love with the family depicted on the show and, according to my Mother, the accuracy of the time portrayed. The dad is the head of the household. He is kind, but firm with his family. The mother is a housewife, typical of women then, but she feels restless. She did eventually go to college for some courses. There are four children in the Pryor household. JJ, the oldest, is a football star but he eventually gets drafted for the Vietnam War. Meg, the center of the show, is struggling to find her own identity. She dances on American Bandstand. Patty is a genius and youngest brother Will was stricken with Polio as an infant and now walks with braces.

This show captures the innocence of the time, but also the private battles going on inside the home. This was the time before hippies, rebellion, and where father really did know best. This show was good wholesome television that taught me about what I wanted to be like. They dealt with issues like drugs, drinking, school, and disobeying adults but in an appropriate way. It was a drama so not every show was cleaned up all neat and tidy at the end of the hour, but yet the audience was always left with a happy feeling.

This show didn't depict my generation, but I feel it's the most accurate description of America by a television show.