Families are the cornerstone of society and have long been portrayed as the comedic center of television sitcoms. Over the years, there has been an evolution not only in the lives of families, but also in their representation in the media. Since the sitcoms of the 1950s, the way families are portrayed on television has constantly evolved. I Love Lucy was groundbreaking with its interracial marriage, and her on-screen pregnancy was considered almost scandalous at the time. Imagine the reaction of 1950s audiences when they watched a modern-day television series like Modern Family, Motherhood, or Glee. The progression of families on television can be seen across shows over the decades. Some good examples are I Love Lucy from the 1950s, The Brady Bunch from the 1970s, The Cosby Show from the 1980s, Gilmore Girls from the 2000s, and Modern Family from the 2010s. These shows were/are not only popular and successful franchises , but they do a good job of showing how families were constructed during the shows era. The way families are shown on television reflects the makeup of families in that era or what society believes a family should look like. Relatability is what makes shows popular, people want to watch a show about a family like theirs. Sitcoms are easy-to-watch, funny, and relatable shows that people enjoy watching (Kohne, 2012). The first episode of the second season of I Love Lucy is titled “Job Switching”. This episode aired in 1952 and depicted popular marriage in the 1950s, as well as a popular controversial topic: the difficulty of working outside versus inside the home. In this show, Lucy and her husband do not have children, but are a young married couple. Ricky works outside the home and Lucy stays home, cooking and raising...... middle of paper ... realistic expectation. Over the years, the family structure has changed, but certain aspects have persisted. All the shows I analyzed had some things in common with their family structure. All families that had men were "headed" by the men, but in every family the mother took care of the children and the house, whether they worked or not. Men have always been portrayed as incapable of caring for children on their own, which doesn't sit well with either gender. What I found surprising about this mission is how far back the “supermom” model goes. It seems that the mother's expectations have increased, but the father's role has changed much less. The content of sitcoms changes quite dramatically from decade to decade, especially when comparing the 1950s to today. There's been a lot of changing family structure on the big screen over the years..