By Marco R. della Cava, USA TODAY
From The Brady Bunch (a Technicolor version of suburban life that still managed to tackle the growing pains of a blended family) to Beverly Hills 90210(a Dante-esque vision of teen life in L.A.'s faux paradise) or Sex and the City(a parable about the highs and lows of singles living New York's vida loca), indelible television always has heart, soul and a fierce familiarity.
In these TV worlds, marriages fracture, babies cry and friends die. Disputes don't always get resolved, and a good laugh doesn't necessarily conquer all. Most of all, they're people and predicaments that become achingly real.
The increasingly fractured nature of today's entertainment landscape means it's unlikely any one television show will ever again capture our collective attention like these TV milestones, Brooks says. But their cathartic kind are still very much needed.
The Brady Bunch may not have felt truly real, but it presented a curious combination of canned one-liners, relationship problems and a willingness to work those out. Brady went on to truly strike cultural gold during its mid-'70s syndication run, which led, decades later, to feature films and a touring stage production.
The Cosby Show, Friends and, to some degree, Seinfeld invited viewers into a world whose characters generated a measure of envy. You wanted to if not live in, then at least visit their domains.
"Friends epitomized aspirational TV with its cast of fit and funny people," says producer Tom Nunan, former entertainment president of UPN and now a visiting assistant professor at the University of California-Los Angeles. "Friends was almost a reaction to dysfunctional shows like Roseanne. Viewers wanted to experience milestones with characters that were similar to their own."
Nunan was among the executives pitched on Friends. "There was no way to tell this was going to be a big hit," he says, laughing. "If I knew what created successful aspirational TV, I'd be richer than Aaron Spelling. It's usually four factors: the show runners behind the program, the perfect concept, the perfect cast and the right network. All those stars have to align. It's ephemeral."
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10 shows with ageless appeal
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