In 1973, the 12-episode nonfiction series An American Family shook television audiences with its harsh view of a seemingly normal suburban household coming apart at the seams. Viewers witnessed the ups and downs of the appropriately named Loud family of Santa Barbara, CA, whose domestic crises ranged from the collapse of Bill and Pat's 21-year marriage to the coming out of their son Lance (the first openly gay person featured on a primetime television show). An American Family: Anniversary Edition essentially compresses the original series into a two-hour highlights reel, with an emphasis on the sordid (including the now-classic demand by Pat for Bill to leave their house and her life). Viewed today, the Louds can be seen as the unwitting precursors of the current crop of exhibitionists who populate reality TV, and like much of the genre, An American Family is a crashing bore, as people with no talent strut and fret about their neuroses for voyeuristic viewers. DVD extras include a 1973 panel discussion with anthropologist Margaret Mead about the show's impact on modern culture, and contemporary interviews with several of the original participants. Train-wreck fans may get a kick out of this blast from the reality-TV past, but for others this is an optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)
An American Family: Anniversary Edition
(2011) 120 min. DVD: $24.99. PBS Video. ISBN: 978-1-60883-509-6. Volume 26, Issue 6
An American Family: Anniversary Edition
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