Where did "family hour" tv go?

I know I am probably dating myself when I say that I remember a time when TV was 3 network channels and the one boring PBS channel. I remember Sunday night of Wild Kingdom and Disney's Wonderful World of Disney show. I remember watching Happy Days, Lavergne and Shirley but then had to go to bed before Three's Company came on because that wasn't appropriate. Same with Saturday night and Love Boat.

So assuming homework is finished and there isn't Scouts (Boy and Girl)or some sports practice we have to run off to, we sit down after dinner to watch tv.

I am amazed at the language, the innuendo and the situations portrayed in these sit-coms. And at 7 or 8 o'clock at night which to me is the "family hour."

Most parents I talk to have relegated themselves to watching Animal Planet, Discovery Channel or other kid-friendly channels like Nick or Disney. We usually find reruns of America's Funniest Home video or we'll use On Demand to pull up a show we know is o.k. like the Cosby Show.

So what does this mean? It means we have lost sight of what is and isn't appropriate for children. It means that we choose to provide a buffer so that we are not pulled into a conversation about lesbians, teenage sex and drug use before we (and our children) are ready. On a lighter note, it means we can't participate in the next day conversation about Lost or The Office or sometimes event benign shows like American Idol or Dancing with the Stars.

The American Red Cross is now providing safe sex discussions for community groups for children as young as 12. It seems children these days are growing up way to fast and I know that our TV programming plays a part.

Some info and stats from http://www.cybercollege.com/frtv/frtv031.htm
In the violence-sex issue then there is the matter of decides what is too violent or too sexy? What is and isn't acceptable has changed dramatically over the years. In the early days of U.S. broadcasting the words "virgin," "pregnant," and even "stomach" were not seen as suitable for general audiences to hear; and, as we've noted, even an on-screen kiss was once seen as being indecent.

A public kiss still is in some countries. You may remember the cultural backlash recently when a well-known American actor kissed a popular actress on stage in India.

Not only is what's acceptable and not acceptable moving targets in the United States (they keep changing with the times), but as we've seen with the various motion picture codes, they vary with observers.



By age 18, the average American child sees 200,000 violent acts on TV.

By age 18, children witnesses almost 20,000 murders on TV — most by handguns.

73% of the time the people in TV dramas who commit violent acts go unpunished.

47% percent of violent situations show no real harm to the victims, and 58 percent show no real pain.

Only 4 percent of violent programs show nonviolent alternatives to solve programs.

80% of Hollywood executives think there is a link between TV violence and real-life violence.