Letter #287 -- Favorite TV Family

With the recent deaths of Tom Bosley, who portrayed the father on the TV show "Happy Days," and Barbara Billingsley, who portrayed the mother on the TV show "Leave It To Beaver," the world (or at least the U.S.) said good-bye to two more beloved actors.

I grew up watching re-runs of "Leave It To Beaver" and then in the 1970s "Happy Days" became a favorite. Nowadays, it seems that there are few TV shows that appeal to or are suitable for the entire family to watch together.

In fact, the shows are so scarce that when television broadcasting switched to digital, we just switched it off. You read that correctly...for more than a year, our little family has not had regular TV service in our house. We've never had cable, satellite or any other "premium" service because we didn't want to spend the money on it and because our rural location limits what's available to us. Our old, small TV wasn't pre-equipped for digital service, and we never got around to obtaining a converter. So, when the big switch was made, we stayed behind.

We still have the TV, and we watch videos and DVDs. We have some recordings of old TV shows, such as "Andy Griffith," "The Lucy Show," "The Waltons," "Leave It To Beaver," etc., and we watch those, as well as movies.

As you watch a TV show, you begin to feel like you know the (sometimes) fictional family portrayed on the screen.  Which TV family or character do you most identify with? Who's your favorite? Think about it. Write a letter about it. Mail it.

(TV graphic courtesy of www.freeclipartnow.com)