by Joyce M. George-Knight

Created on: May 27, 2009

Since the 1950s families have gathered around the television, which became the source of family entertainment moreso than playing games or cards or singing around a piano. Other than the radio, it was the only other technology available. Transistor radios hadn't yet been invented. Viewing time was limited, since the networks weren't signed on 24/7 as they are today, and we may have had about 12 hours of programs. Programs were live, since taping hadn't been invented.

Initially, "Ozzie and Harriet," "I Love Lucy" and "Leave It to Beaver" led the shows that captivated our attention. They projected what was idealized as being the typical family unit of a married mother, father and children, who learned lessons as problems arose, but who generally got along quite well, living in a home with a white picket fence in an all-Caucasian neighborhood. Such shows served more as entertainment than they did as discussion provoking. However, they did unite families for the half hour that each was being broadcast.

About a decade later came more realistic programs; the ones with true life problems and solutions. While there were many other shows, but the ones that seemed to begin stirring family discussions were "All in the Family," "One Day at a Time" and "The Crosby Show." At times, "All in the Family" became quite controversial as Archie Bunker shot off his bigotted mouth, stirring anger amongst viewers. It promoted family and office discussions concerning how we looked at and responded to one another, the roles played out by each individual in a family and it mirrored racial problems and discussions facing families and workplaces.

"One Day at a Time" brought to light problems faced by a single mother and the troubles her daughters got into. It demonstrated that not all family members followed the rules to a "t," nor did they fit the same mold.

Perhaps most surprising to Caucasian viewers was "The Cosby Show." Rather than portraying the typical black family as a broken unit, on welfare and poor, it gave hope and goals to black individuals, while informing the public that blacks, too, had college-educated parents, who had rules and boundaries just like the Caucasians. They taught manners to their children and held a high expectation for their daughters to meet. These awakenings prompted discussions among all family units.

As for fun entertainment, "The Ed Sullivan Show" introduced new talents to the country at a time when it took a month for correspondence

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