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''Family'' is an American television drama series that aired on the ABC television network from 1976 to 1980. Creative control of the show was split among executive producers Leonard Goldberg, Aaron Spelling and Mike Nichols. A total of 86 episodes were produced. It is not related to the ABC sitcom ''A New Kind of Family'' that aired concurrently with ''Family'' during its final season. ==Premise== The show featured Sada Thompson and James Broderick as Kate and Doug Lawrence, a happily married middle-class couple living at 1230 Holland Street in Pasadena, California. Doug was an independent lawyer and Kate was a housewife (she would eventually go back to school). They had three children: Nancy (portrayed by Elayne Heilveil in the original mini-series and later by Meredith Baxter Birney), Willie (Gary Frank), and Letitia, nicknamed "Buddy" (Kristy McNichol). (There was another son, Timothy, who had died five years prior to the series' beginning.) The show raised the profile of all of its featured actors during its run and, in particular, catapulted McNichol to stardom. The show attempted to depict the average family with realistic characters. For example, Kate was depicted as the practical, rational and realistic voice of the show. Kate always stood by her opinion and was motivated to do what was right, even if it made her unpopular, as occurred in the "Jury Duty" episode. At one point, she expressed frustration with the monotony of her life, feeling that all she did was run errands and make phone calls, usually on behalf of other people ("An Eye to the Future"). She did, however, express resentment when people told her that she could have attained much more, because she had high aspirations in school and achieved a great deal academically ("Home Movie"). However, Kate felt that her family was a higher priority. She eventually returned to college as a music major. Buddy was also a believable character in that she was somewhat of a tomboy, although she did express an interest in adopting a more feminine appearance in the "Coming of Age" episode. She was a loyal friend and had compassion for other people, and was well-liked by the majority of her classmates. She had the habit of walking into a room where adults were talking about something confidential and demanding (in a friendly way) to know what was transpiring. Buddy usually sought the help of her mother when she experienced a dilemma. She was self-conscious about her height and considered herself short, believing her body was not developing as quickly as it should. Doug was a practical man who did not use his intellect to make others feel inferior. He listened to what Kate told him and always made time for Buddy. His career ambition was to become a judge. Willie had a close brother-sister relationship with Buddy and affectionately called her "Peaches". Willie was interested in becoming a writer. He at first made an agreement with his parents that he would take a year off school in order to write a screenplay, but later decided to drop out of school completely, to his father's chagrin. Although he was making passing grades at the time of his decision, and Doug believed he had a high IQ, there was speculation from the other pupils that he was failing. Ironically, Willie was nominated in the school's yearbook as the student most likely to succeed. Willie later pursued work as a photographer but quit because he did not find the profession alluring. He also expressed an aspiration to leave Pasadena. Nancy Lawrence Maitland was a divorced law student. She fell in love with a young man named Jeff Maitland and had a child with him, Timmy. Jeff was everything she wanted at that point in her life: he was young, attractive, rich and loved her. This information was revealed in the "Best Friends" episode of the series. At times, Nancy struggled as a single mom, and often relied upon her mother for assistance to the point of selfishness. Story lines were very topical, and the show was one of the first to feature what have recently been termed as "very special episodes". In the first episode, Nancy walked in on her husband Jeff (John Rubinstein) having sex with one of her friends. During the second season she and Jeff divorced, but Jeff would continue to appear regularly as an active father, as well as finding himself involved in more of the Lawrence family's affairs. Other topical story lines included Kate having to deal with the possibility that she had breast cancer, as well as Buddy dealing with advances from boys. In the later seasons, there were instances in which Buddy had to decide whether or not to have sex; she always chose to wait, most notably in an episode with guest star Leif Garrett, who was a teen idol at the time. Another topical episode dealt with Buddy's friendship with a teacher who was revealed to be a lesbian. ''Family'' also dealt with alcoholism (Doug's sister; Buddy's old friend) as well as adoption, when the family adopted a girl named Annie Cooper (Quinn Cummings). One episode in 1979 (directed by actress Joanne Woodward) guest-starred Henry Fonda as a visiting elderly relative who was beginning to experience senility and memory loss. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Family (1976 TV series)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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