Little House on the Prairie (1974-1983)

Arthur (1996-Current)

This television show is kind of pushing it. I know for a fact that children will like this show, but parents might not enjoy this show as much as their children. Arthur is based off of a children's book series written by Marc Brown.

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In the show, it is about a boy named Arthur who is a fourth grader. The show is just about the daily occurrences in his circle of friends and family. The show captures the minds and really emphasizes children's imagination. I will put a few real shows on this blog post.

Here are some comments about the show:

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In my family, which is just my mom and I, my mom DID enjoy this show and she used to watch it with me. I can only tell you how great a show is, please comment on how you feel about this show. These episodes are the Picky Eater and Buster and the Daredevils. Enjoy!

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Lassie (1954-1974)

Almost every know knows the story of Lassie, or at least has heard about this famous dog. Lassie was the fourth longest-running TV show in the in the US for prime TV. This show was originally filmed in black and white and then transitioned to color in 1965.

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Lassie's first owners were the Millers. The Millers had a son named Jeff. He was the first owner of the famous dog. Jeff's father had past away so him and his mother, Ellen, live with Ellen's father, Jeff's grandfather.

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Lassie's second family was the Martin family. Timmy, who was Lassie's new companion, was a boy the Miller's adopted, but when the Miller's sold the farm, they left Timmy in the custody of the new owners of Ruth Martin and Paul Martin, along with Lassie. The adventures continued.

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To continue with the story of Lassie, the Martins moved to Australia. Random, I think so. But, no worries, a forest ranger Corey Stuart and along with two other forest rangers adopted Lassie. The adventures continued.

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In the final seasons of Lassie, she wonders around the country side and has little baby puppies. After this phase in life, she finds a children's home and is loved by many children and puts a smile on there face. This ended the T.V. series and movies are produced based off the T.V show. The actual T.V. was based off a movie, ironically.













Here is an episode of Lassie, The Storm. I hope everyone enjoys this as much as I do! Video found here

Heartland (2007-Current)

This television show is a marvelous show for the family and is based off of a book series. It is about a girl, Amy Fleming, who's mom died in a car accident when she was fifteen and who's dad is not a part of her life. When her mom died, Amy started living with her grandfather, Jack, and older sister, Lou. This family owns a ranch called "Heartland" which they help and heel horses that have been abused or damaged. This is what Amy's mother did and she wants to continue the practice because it is what she loves and enjoys doing. Here is a picture of the cast of Heartland.

This picture was found here
The main charter, Amy, is played by Amber Marshall (middle)

Being a big fan of this show, I would not necessarily consider this show for younger children. I personally believe this show is for children ten and above. Excluding that opinion, I do believe family can learn from this show and is a safe and family oriented television series that does focus on family. The slogan of this show is "Healing Horses, Healing Hearts". The slogan demonstrates, alone, what the show is about. Here are some reviewers opinions about Heartland.

These reviews were found here.

This show talks about a variety of issues from relationships, judgement, financial crisis, high school, dreams, and much more. This show is on their ninth season and continuing. It is a Canadian television show, it is playing on the Up Lifting Entertainment (UP), and INSP. These episodes are not updated due to the fact it is not an American television show. Here is an episode call Miracle. This is is the third season. I could not find many episodes on YouTube, so I hope everyone enjoys this episode as much as I do. I own seasons one through three. I am a major fan.

"An accident on the highway involving a school bus and a trailer full of Olympics bound horses leads to sudden fame for Amy and a surge of business at Heartland." This summary is from this link.

If this show interests you, there are a few more episodes on YouTube, but this series is on Netflix. I encourage everyone to look into this show, but if you do not, that's cool too.

Here is a link of summaries for a majority of the episodes. Click Here.

Leaver It to Beaver (1957-1963)

This television show is an oldie but a goody. This show is about a family, the Cleavers, that live in the 1950's. We all know that the historical aspect of this show is not correct, but during the time period of this show it brought smiles to the children and adults. My mother was born in 1962 and she remembers the reruns of this show while growing up, and all my aunts and uncles sitting in the living room watching Leave It to Beaver. 

The Cleaver Family
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This show is a show that I highly enjoyed as a child. It is one of the shows that my mom allowed me to watch because, now, she has told me that the message at the end of the episodes was that parents care about their children and want them to learn from their mistakes and we should listen because they were in out shoes at some point in time. The show really emphasis the importance to listen to elders and respect them. Here are some reviews from people:

Link Found Here

The summary of this entire show is that the youngest child, Theodore (Beaver), is a typical boy who enjoys having fun and does not think before he does something. Beaver has an older brother, Wallace (Wally). Wally represents the typical American teenager in this time period. Here is an episode that I highly enjoyed and hopefully will put a smile on people's faces. This episode is called The Haircut. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4p7o5IzlCc 

Beaver uses the language of a little kid, for instance he says "gressive" instead of "aggressive" and he comes up with "comebacks" to avoid disappointment from his parents or punishment. Every episode consist of a new adventure with a lesson at the end. There are some episodes where the parents, Ward and June, learn a lesson or two about parenting. This episode shows how the parents learn something about their parenting. 

Leave It to Beaver is now on Netflix. Please, watch an episode or two. 

7th Heaven (1996-2007)

Cast of 7th Heaven
Link: http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/18/showbiz/tv/7th-heaven-reunion/

This t.v. show is about a family of nine, the Camdens . It is about a minister and his wife and seven children. This show demonstrates that a pastor's family is not perfect but normal. They have family related issues that they have to solve together in order to fix the scenario. The topics in this show include drug abuse, teenage pregnancy, homelessness, bullying, racism and many other topics that parents should talk to their children about. Here are two comments about the show.

Link: http://www.tv.com/shows/7th-heaven/

This episode is probably one of my favorite episodes. It is call the Color of God. This one is about racism and how it is unacceptable. The show is based on religion and what the Bible has to say about living the life of what God has given to you, but the messages in this show is not only about religion, it is about helping people and loving people for others and not yourself. I hope you enjoy this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toTydhQ6Xfk 

If you are not religious, I still encourage you to watch this video. Have an open mind as I like to say. I believe anyone can learn from this show and the messages from this show are things that I believe parents should talk to their children about once they reach a certain age. 

Here is a link to the summaries of a lot the episodes:

Click Here!

That's So Raven (2003-2007)

The Baxter Family
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This is show is another Disney Channel show that I thought would be a good contender in this blog. I remember in my second grade class, we had to vote for a favorite t.v show in order to do a math problem. There were three shows that were put up on the board: Scooby Doo, Sponge Bob Square Pants, and That's So Raven. One person voted for Sponge Bob, two people voted for Scooby Doo, and seventeen for That's So Raven. I am now a freshmen in college and I still remember that day in second grade math class. An other whelming majority of the class favored That's So Raven.  My second grade class was not the people who fell in love with this show, here are some comments from this website: http://www.tv.com/shows/thats-so-raven/reviews/

This show is about a teenage girl, Raven Baxter, who has brief visions of the future. What makes this show family friendly? This show is family friendly because Raven always misinterprets her visions and tries to pursue them or tries to stop them. Just as in life, if we want something to happen, we can usually find a way for that something to happen. But, sometimes in the end it is not what we wanted. Every episode she learns something about herself and has her family's and friend's (Chelsea and Eddy) support. Here is one episode: (Mother Dearest)

In this episode Raven pretends to be her mother to avoid punishment.

I catch myself watching this show on YouTube every once in a while to escape reality, and to remember my mom and I watching this show when it was on. I hope everyone enjoys this show as much as my second grade class, and my own mother. 

Here is a link to a lot of the summaries for episodes

  

The Waltons (1971-1981)

A picture of the Walton family
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The next TV show I would like to talk about is the Waltons. This show is about a family living in the great depression living in the mountains of Virginia. It is in the perspective of the first child of seven, John Boy (17). In each episode, John Boy gains a new life lesson. It is a religious show, personally, it does not force it down one's throat. The wife, Olivia, is a strong Baptist and her husband, John, does not like to put himself in a sect of Christianity. They balance each other out.

Reviews found at this link:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068149/reviews

Here is the theme and intro to the T.V. show. I personally find it very catching and explains how big the family really is and the importance of the radio during the 1930's.

If that caught your attentions here is the very first episode of the Waltons!

I, once again, personally believe this is the ultimate family friendly show. 

Please comment if you have any suggestions for family friendly T.V. shows. 

A more in detailed description of the T.V. show. 

"This is the story of the Waltons. The show takes place during the Depression and then during World War II. John & Olivia had eight kids, three girls and five boys. One of the boys died at birth; he was a twin to Jim-Bob. John and Olivia's children names are John-Boy, Jason, Mary Ellen, Erin, Ben, twins Jim-Bob & Joseph, and Elizabeth; Joseph died at birth. John's parents also lived with them - Esther and Zeb. The Waltons was based on the life of the Hamner family. Earl Hamner Jr. was the show's creator and narrator. This show was based on his life growing up." Link: http://www.tv.com/shows/the-waltons/ 

Good Luck, Charlie (2010-2014)

In my last post, I stated Dr. Quinn, Medicine Women was a family orientated T.V. show. This post I wanted to do something a little more modern. The next T.V show I would like to mention is Good Luck, Charlie.

Cast of Good Luck, Charlie
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This show is about a family, the Duncans, the mother gives birth to her fourth child, Charlotte (Charlie) . Teddy, the older sister, decides to create video diaries for Charlie, the new baby girl, for her to watch when she is older. This video diary is to give Charlie advice for her teenage years. Good luck, Charlie. Here is one of Teddy's video dairies to Charlie.

Teddy's 16th birthday Video Diary

This show demonstrates a normal family. Everyone of the kids and both the parents have imperfections, but this is what makes this show relatable. Every episode ends with a video diary provide by Teddy. This show is on Netflix, and I believe it is still aired on television, Disney Channel. Here are two people who reviewed Good Luck, Charlie. 

These comments were found at THIS site.

To find out more information about Good Luck, Charlie, here is a link to all the episode summaries to fully understand what this show is about and the different shenanigans the family puts themselves into. Try it on Netflix, escape the world for a little while. If you do not have Netflix, THIS link provides a variety of different video diaries that could possibly make you smile.

Good Luck Everyone!

Last Video Diary
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Dr. Quinn, Medicine Women (1993-1998)

Almost everyone has watched television in their lifetime. Lately, in my opinion, there has not been family oriented television shows. I believe families should have at least one T.V. show that the family watches together that the parents would like and the children, which includes all ages (even those teenage years). For the next couple months I will be talking about television shows that I believe the whole family would enjoy together.

The whole cast of Dr. Quinn Medicine Women
http://www.endedtvseries.com/tag/dr-quinn-medicine-woman/

                                                                                            

The first T.V. show I think that would be good for the whole family would be Dr. Quinn, Medicine Women. This show is about a women physician from Boston, Massachusetts who left her high-civilized life to the west, Colorado Springs, Colorado. This show demonstrates how she is adjusting to her new life and the adventures she encounters. Down below is a picture of comments people have posted to a website about how they feel about the show.

http://www.tv.com/shows/dr-quinn-medicine-woman/reviews/

In Dr. Quinn, Medicine Women, almost in all the episodes at least one character learns about something or gains a new perspective. The episodes range from banning books (The Library) to homosexuality (The Body Electric). These are common subjects that parents teach their children and engage in conversation because of controversial ideas.

A photo from the episode The Body Electric

The little boy is one of the main characters, Brian played by Shawn Toovey

Picture was found on this link: Here

 

 

A photo in episode of The Library
Picture of the town buring books.
Picture found  Here

Here is a link to all the episodes and a brief summary of what they are about: Click Here!