What’s With All the Orphans in 80s Sitcoms?
Added 2025-02-19 02:48:02 +0000 UTCIf you grew up watching TV in the 80s, you may have noticed that there was a preponderance of… if not shows about orphans specifically then similar shows where the care of children was entrusted to people who weren’t their parents and maybe didn’t know how to raise kids. We’re talking Diff’rent Strokes, Rags to Riches, Punky Brewster, Webster and Gimme a Break, but also The Facts of Life, Charles in Charge, My Two Dads, Full House, My Sister Sam, Silver Spoons, The Hogan Family and more. Sure, a lot of factors could explain these absent parents, but what if we told you there was a single patient zero for this whole trend? Because Drew thinks there is one, and its history stretches back to the 19th century.
Links to previous episodes mentioned in this one:
Gimme a Break Meets Yet Another 80s Orphan
Gimme a Break Transformed Into a Lesbian Perfect Strangers
Backdoor Pilots: Diff’rent Strokes Spins Mrs. Garrett into Facts of Life
Weirdest Episode Ever: Day by Day Has a Very Brady Nightmare
Superstore Is Queerer Than You Think
And if you want to watch the video version of the Seinfeld addiction/cashmere examination at the end of this episode, click here.
Comments
*low volume
Grey H. Horsfall
2025-02-22 18:03:40 +0000 UTCShout-out for another night of cramps when this podcast in low vo me me was the one thing I could handle as accompaniment to the pain. I find you guys super chill and can't thank you enough for all your work. Wishing you the same ease-aid in your lives.
Grey H. Horsfall
2025-02-22 18:03:23 +0000 UTCOh and you’re totally right about the Disney/Nick sitcoms doing the stuff that the network ones did. Hannah Montana didn’t have a mom, Zack & Cody didn’t have a dad & the most popular Disney show of the 10’s, Jessie, was about a family with four kids, three adopted, one white, one black, one Asian and they’re raised Charles in Charge style by the nanny & butler.
Zach Wilson
2025-02-20 00:44:28 +0000 UTCIn the 90's the trend shifted to siblings having to take care of their younger siblings, like in Party of Five. Kirk, Camp Wilder & On Our Own all had the same concept, none of which lasted long though.
Zach Wilson
2025-02-19 21:46:40 +0000 UTC
