One of my favorite topics is how television positively changed the trajectory of my life. I get weird looks whenever I say this, but then again, I don’t really care much for what people don’t care to understand. Our lives are molded differently and we all learn our own coping mechanisms to deal with the world around us. I found connection and solace with American sitcoms as a child. Sure, I loved books, and they were good for helping me introspectively, but television helped me learn about human connection. No, I wasn’t raised in a barn or by wolves (although, that probably would have scored me some great scholarships for college). I did, in fact, have family, but my family dynamics were quiet, and very often, isolated. Turning on the TV wasn’t just a distraction for me, it was a comfort. 

I took a quick break in writing this to research why family sitcoms were so big in the nineties and I read a lot of what I had already assumed: there was a culture shift and a need. The need being, family values, and although I could write a novel about why family values were more sought out for during this time period in America, I’ll move to the other part of my research. I found that I’m not alone in how these shows impacted me. I found a few blogs talking about how the shows that they watched as a child made an imprint on their view of the world around them. A few discussed how black-led sitcoms made them feel better understood and represented (another topic I would like to write about in detail but I will save it for another time). Another blogger spoke about how television sitcoms helped her blend in with her American peers as an child immigrant. 

What stuck out to me most is that television was filling the various needs that we had. My need was family. Cheers, Frasier, Reba, Family Matters, Full House, Step-by-Step, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and the list goes on, all showed me variations of families with the same messaging: Life is okay. Yes, I’m sure that you were expecting something more insightful there, but for a child who had a life that normally was not “okay,” the simple reassurance that there were families or friends that had and loved each other and worked through mistakes and problems, was mind-blowing. And I think that is what it comes down to: that a child has the ability to want more for their life if they know there is more out there than what they have experienced. 

Sometimes I watch old reruns and smile and laugh (and sometimes cry, too) with the characters, feeling grateful that I had them to keep me company as a child. I still learn lessons and am reminded that I have room for growth. But I am also reminded at how resilient I was as a child, and how proud I am of that kid, and I how I still have never given up wanting more.