Below is the opening paragraph for an essay that has been "brewing" inside me for some time now. Give it a read and let me know what you think in terms of pursuing it further.
A great deal has been written about the ground-breaking nature of the Norman Lear’s situation comedies of the 1970’s, and it is true that shows like All in the Family and its spin offs, Maude and The Jeffersons stared down the issues of the day will a brass and bravado that may never be equaled. However, is it possible that the elite critics who first heralded this new era of television were not as discerning as they thought they were? Could it be that television was addressing the issues of race, ethnicity, the generation-gap, social activism, gender equity, and gender-identity much earlier and they were quite simply not perceptive enough to recognize it? While other programs of the mid-60’s certainly deserve analysis, the culture clash embedded in television’s first mixed marriage serves as a fertile ground for discussing the realities behind the hyper-normalcy of the American suburbia of the 1960’s and the dirty little family secrets that must be kept hidden from the neighbors, all the while relentlessly pursuing the American dream of corporate success as defined by Madison avenue while keeping the typical American family intact. Never being taken quite seriously by middle-class America, the artistic community, or even the actors themselves, the television series Bewitched allowed the Stevens family, friends, and extended family to hold a mirror to the American society of the 60’s that was magical and not nearly as distorted as we would like to think.
A great deal has been written about the ground-breaking nature of the Norman Lear’s situation comedies of the 1970’s, and it is true that shows like All in the Family and its spin offs, Maude and The Jeffersons stared down the issues of the day will a brass and bravado that may never be equaled. However, is it possible that the elite critics who first heralded this new era of television were not as discerning as they thought they were? Could it be that television was addressing the issues of race, ethnicity, the generation-gap, social activism, gender equity, and gender-identity much earlier and they were quite simply not perceptive enough to recognize it? While other programs of the mid-60’s certainly deserve analysis, the culture clash embedded in television’s first mixed marriage serves as a fertile ground for discussing the realities behind the hyper-normalcy of the American suburbia of the 1960’s and the dirty little family secrets that must be kept hidden from the neighbors, all the while relentlessly pursuing the American dream of corporate success as defined by Madison avenue while keeping the typical American family intact. Never being taken quite seriously by middle-class America, the artistic community, or even the actors themselves, the television series Bewitched allowed the Stevens family, friends, and extended family to hold a mirror to the American society of the 60’s that was magical and not nearly as distorted as we would like to think.
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