TV Shows in the 1950's Compared to Today

Reality TV Show Comic

I have been researching the history of the American Family portrayed in television shows and am not too surprised by what I have found. I started off by researching television shows from the 1950’s and watched a few episodes. I then watched a few shows from today’s time so that I could get the full picture of how different these shows really were. Most all of my information came from my own knowledge after watching a couple of episodes of Leave It To Beaver as well as Keeping Up With The Kardashians and 19 Kids and Counting I was able to come up with my own opinion on which of these shows are the most alike, and what makes them so different from each other.

The Cleaver Family

In the 1950’s, television shows were very family friendly. Most of them portrayed the family life to be an extremely pleasant, picture perfect lifestyle. After witching a few episodes of Leave It To Beaver, I noticed how the show had no profanity at all. The Cleaver family also wore very conservative clothing that covered most all of their skin. One of the episodes that I watched showed Beaver Cleaver receiving a note from his teacher at school. His teacher told him to take the note home and give it to his parents. This did not settle too well with Beaver because of the fact that the last kid who took a note home to his parents was expelled. Beaver postponed giving the note to his parents and the story went on. He later ended up running away because he thought he was going to get in trouble. Later that day his mother, father and brother found him in a tree. This shows how innocent family life was portrayed to be back in the 50’s. An object as simple as a note was a big deal back in that time. Also, it was no big deal for Beaver to run away in his small town. His family, though they were a bit worried, knew they would find him at the end of the day and that everything would be okay. 

Kourtney, Kloe and Kim Kardashian

In today’s society, television shows that are most popular are ones such as Keeping Up With The Kardashians and 19 Kids and Counting. These two shows are completely opposite from one another. For example, Keeping Up With The Kardashian’s is about a family who’s wealth is used for both good and bad. This show that I am very fond of, uses a lot of profanity and the stars show a lot of skin. The Kardashian’s are a very tightly knit family and would do anything for one another. Kim, Kourtney and Kloe are some of the most famous sisters in the world. But what are they known for? Their bodies, clothing line and their choice in men. These extremely popular women are seen as sex symbols by people everywhere. They know what they have and like to fault it. All of this is shown by watching just one episode of their reality TV show. On the other hand, 19 Kids and Counting is a television show portraying the gigantic Duggar family. Although I have only seen a few episodes of this strange TV show, it is nothing like the Kardashian’s. This family has a strong bond between one another and the love of Christ. Their morals are completely different than those of the Kardashian’s. In this show, I have never once heard any of them use and explicit, wear revealing clothing, or even show affection to someone outside of their family such as a boyfriend. One episode I clearly remember seeing, was one of their older daughters was starting to date this guy. They were not aloud to be alone together so their mom, dad or one of their siblings has to go wherever they go. They also are not aloud to kiss, or hug from the front, only a side hug is aloud. This show is extremely popular in today’s time because it shows how different their family is from the rest of the world and they are okay with it. 

The Duggar Family

When comparing Leave It To Beaver with Keeping Up With The Kardashian’s and 19 Kids and Counting, it ends up being most like 19 Kids and Counting. No surprise there! Leave It To Beaver and 19 Kids and Counting seem to both display the same morals throughout the show and give off the impression that they are both good family shows. These are also shows that you could sit down and watch with your whole family while on the other hand, I would be embarrassed for my mother to watch an episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians with me, or even by herself. But, going off the example I told about Leave It To Beaver, if someone’s child was to run away in today’s society his or her family would have every right to think everything might not be okay and to think about the worst case senario. This clearly shows how times have changed drastically. Also, people in today’s society would much rather watch a rich family who curses and wears skimpy clothing rather than a family who is not wealthy and wears conservative clothing. Why, you may ask? Well, a family who’s mother and father curses and buys their children everything they ask for seems a lot more appealing to people in today’s time. This explains why Keeping Up With The Kardashian’s is such a popular show. 

TV from the 1950s

After my research I have concluded that to be a successful, popular television show in today’s time, you have to be provocative, extremely wealthy and willing to do whatever it takes to become famous. In the 1950’s, television shows were based off of a good family who loved one another and showed their daily life. Shows back then did not have to have profound language for people to enjoy it. 

Sources.

E! KUWTK 

This allowed me access to watch the show. It was very helpful and it's the official website of Keeping Up With The Kardashians. 

TLC 19

TLC gave me access to watch 19 Kids and Counting. This is where I found out about the show and the Duggar family. It was very helpful.

Netflix LITB

Netflix allowed me to watch Leave It To Beaver. It was so helpful because I have only seen the show once a long time ago and gave me access to learn more about it.

AOL 50'

This was helpful because it gave me background information on TV show from the 1950's. I really didn't use it that much though because a lot of it was my own knowledge.

Retro Waste TV Shows

This was pretty helpful because it gave me lists of shows that played in the 1950's so that I could watch episodes of them or find out more about them if I needed to. 

Perfect TV Families

This website was very helpful and helped me see how perfect the family life was portrayed as in the 1950's.