DVDizzy Forum

Hello,

There are a lot of dramaseries on TV concentrating on a certain family and the people surrounding them, which are taken from real life -with no supernatural/science-fiction elements. Doesn't need to be the present time. Which ones are your favourites?


My own favourites are -alas- not broadcasted anymore (not counting reruns)

- Life goes on
- Everwood
- Dr Quinn, medicine woman
- Six feet under (though that series is a bit absurd)
- All creatures great and small (though that's more light-hearted in general)

If anyone know about a recent family drama series to look out for.... and I don't mean something like 'desperate housewives', I watch it - but I think that's an entirely different category.

Great topic!

My favorites:
- Once and Again - I was in love with this show
- Nip/Tuck - amazing
- Beverly Hills, 90210 - does this count?
- Judging Amy - loved it, haven't seen two or three final seasons

I used to watch Beverly Hills 90210 - I think it's kind of a midway between family drama and soap opera.
I'm not sure about Nip/tuck either, I haven't watched it much, but could you really call that a family drama series? Is in not more like E.R. House or Grey's Anatomy and the like? In other words: hospital drama/soap?

But who am I to judge...after all All creatures great and small is more about a vet's practice in the country than about family circumstances.

Some of my favorites:

"I'll Fly Away" (1991-1993) - pretty much To Kill A Mockingbird: The TV Series, it focused on a widower lawyer (Sam Waterson), his associate (Kathryn Harrold), his children (Jeremy London, Ashlee Levitch, and John Aaron Bennett) and his live-in maid and her daughter (Regina Taylor and Rae'ven Kelly), and was one of the best written and best performed shows ever to be canceled before its time.

"Providence" (1999-2002) - it focused on Dr. Sydney Hansen (Melina Kanakaredes), who returns home for her sister's (Paula Cale) wedding, and decides to stay and work at a free clinic. She's haunted by her mother's ghost (Concetta Tomei), and tries to get closer again to her father (Mike Farrell) and younger brother (Seth Peterson).

"7th Heaven" (1996-2002) - I only focused on the first six seasons, because afterwards, I just stopped watching. A lot of sappy silly family drama, but I still enjoyed watching it.

BelleGirl wrote:I used to watch Beverly Hills 90210 - I think it's kind of a midway between family drama and soap opera.

Early seasons can easily be classified as family drama (since it's meant to focus on the Walshes), but I consider anything after Season 5 to be soap opera more than family drama (even though family still plays a part in some stories).

BelleGirl wrote:I'm not sure about Nip/tuck either, I haven't watched it much, but could you really call that a family drama series?

I don't think Nip/Tuck is a family drama, at least not in the traditional sense. It's like saying Grey's Anatomy is a hospital drama in the traditional sense. The hospital and its problems serve more as a backdrop to and catalyst for the insipid relationship stories that are in the forefront.

Albert

I don't really own or watch many shows like that...

If it's not sci-fi/fantasy/crime, it's usually a sitcom family, not a drama family.

Probably the closest thing I have is Freaks & Geeks (which is still listed as a sitcom at DVD Aficionado.)

Edit:
Smallville would probably also be close, it's like a teen drama with superpowers...

I also liked one that I *THOUGHT* starred John Ritter, and I *THOUGHT* it was Hearts Afire... However, after reading the synopsis at IMDB, I don't think it was it. The one I remember had a family where the parents ran a mail-order lingerie catalog, and ended up moving out west to a ranch (or to a small town.)

Gilmore Girls and 7th Heaven are my two favorites. Though, Gilmore Girls is somewhat of a comedy, too, and pretty *light* drama.

Escapay wrote:Some of my favorites:

"I'll Fly Away" (1991-1993) - pretty much To Kill A Mockingbird: The TV Series, it focused on a widower lawyer (Sam Waterson), his associate (Kathryn Harrold), his children (Jeremy London, Ashlee Levitch, and John Aaron Bennett) and his live-in maid and her daughter (Regina Taylor and Rae'ven Kelly), and was one of the best written and best performed shows ever to be canceled before its time.


Albert

O yes, I forgot about that one. That was a very good series! Have you seen the concluding TV movie taking place some 30 years after the events in the series? By the way, the lawyer was not a widower, his wife was still alive but in a psychiatric institution.

Great topic!!

Some of my favorites:
Little House on the Prairie
Pride and Prejudice (mini)
The Waltons
Gilmore Girls
Cosby Show (ooops, comedy, but sometimes they did have very light drama)
Judging Amy

I know you'll say it has "supernatural" elements, but without a doubt Joan of Arcadia.

The God stuff was incidental - well, not incidental, but perhaps metaphorical. Well, what I mean is, the family aspect was so much stronger than the Godly stuff.

BelleGirl wrote:O yes, I forgot about that one. That was a very good series! Have you seen the concluding TV movie taking place some 30 years after the events in the series? By the way, the lawyer was not a widower, his wife was still alive but in a psychiatric institution.

Ah, thanks. It's been years since I've seen an episode! Unfortunately, I never saw the TV movie, though I did read that it originally aired on PBS rather than network TV, IIRC.

netty wrote:I know you'll say it has "supernatural" elements, but without a doubt Joan of Arcadia.

Oh man, I forgot about Joan! I followed the show faithfully in the first season (then didn't have time to watch it during the second).

Albert

2099net wrote:I know you'll say it has "supernatural" elements, but without a doubt Joan of Arcadia.

The God stuff was incidental - well, not incidental, but perhaps metaphorical. Well, what I mean is, the family aspect was so much stronger than the Godly stuff.

Was Joan really that good? I've heard so many great things about it, especially on its similarities to Wonderfalls which I adore. Is Joan as funny or quirky or is it more on the drama side than Wonderfalls?

And come to think of it. Wonderfalls is a good family show as well, since Jaye's "problems" also root in her relationship with her family, although Wonderfalls was more of a comedy then a drama.

Dottie wrote:

2099net wrote:I know you'll say it has "supernatural" elements, but without a doubt Joan of Arcadia.

The God stuff was incidental - well, not incidental, but perhaps metaphorical. Well, what I mean is, the family aspect was so much stronger than the Godly stuff.

Was Joan really that good? I've heard so many great things about it, especially on its similarities to Wonderfalls which I adore. Is Joan as funny or quirky or is it more on the drama side than Wonderfalls?

And come to think of it. Wonderfalls is a good family show as well, since Jaye's "problems" also root in her relationship with her family, although Wonderfalls was more of a comedy then a drama.

I don't consider Joan of Arcadia to be like wonderfalls at all. As you say, Wonderfalls was a comedy primarily. Joan is most definitely a drama. Not that it can't be funny, but the focus is on Joan and her family, and the trials that they go through.

The "God" stuff isn't really "key" to the drama, but it helps to address the big issues that everybody in a similar family situation would ask - both about their lives and their faith, even if they are not "religious" as such. God's tasks are normally metaphors rather than being quests that automatically put everything right in the world, no questions asked.

I actually think Joan of Arcadia was the best TV programme ever. Yes, even more than my beloved Doctor Who.

In a way, I pleased it ended when it did, as almost each and every single episode is of high quality, and I didn't like the path the last few episodes of Season 2 seemed to be taking with the "anti-Joan" for want of a better description.

The one I am watching on DVD right now - The Waltons. Goodnight Mary Ellen.

Mr. Toad wrote:The one I am watching on DVD right now - The Waltons. Goodnight Mary Ellen.

Goodnight John-Boy.

Totally classic, I grew up watching reruns of the Waltons and some of my earliest memories is actually watching the Waltons before my mom would take me to kindergarten every day.

I used to watch a lot of TV but I don't have time anymore. A few nights ago, I sat down and watched TV for a whole hour, it's been ages since the last time I did that! It felt so great!

So, I can't say which one is my favorite right now since I just don't know anymore what is on TV... but, in family dramas, Gilmore Girls would be my all-time favorite. I had so many hours of fun while watching this serie! I just couldn't wait for the next episode!

I would love to watch Nip/Tuck, I might buy the season 1 set (well...I guess it has been released?!) or try to rent it somewhere! You guys seem to like it and some of my friends like this serie too so it might be worth a try!

Little House on the Prairie
The Waltons
Freaks & Geeks
American Dreams (Brittany Snow)
does the Sopranos count as family drama?

jon

I dont watch any family drama