Here's Another Show I Am Binge Watching

 

If you're like me, you are sick to death of the dark and depressing TV shows being offered by the likes of Netflix and Apple.   Each one is more sinister than the next.  So, to keep my spirits up, I go and look for some vintage series.   It might be one I enjoyed as a kid.   Or perhaps I never watched it first run and I am discovering it years later.

The one I am binge watching right now is a show that I did watch in a much earlier decade.   I liked it then and, more importantly, I am liking it on a second viewing.

That would be "Family" which ran for about five years in the late 70s.   I remember feeling like an adult as I watched originally.   The cast and the writing and the production (run by genius Mike Nichols) was luminous.   Amazingly, it holds up forty years later.

It's the simple saga of the Lawrence family.  Two parents, three children (until they adopted a fourth), one grand child.  Each episode was one more week in their lives.   And it all was so special.

Through the Lawrence family, the writers were able to address all the social issues of the time.   Teen alcoholism.   A teacher who is a lesbian.  Child abuse.  Teen-age sex.   "Family" covered it all and did so brilliantly.   Everybody in the cast was on-point, but I want to call special attention to Sada Thompson as Mom and the amazing Kristy McNichol as Buddy.   

There is still good stuff on TV.   Just look at the program guides of those classic TV networks and you will most certainly cancel your Netflix subscription as soon as you can.

Bravo, "Family."

Dinner last night:  Chicken teriyaki bowl.