European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 16, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse A it u Rev it it a few f a tit amp Sutky 0\\ of Abc nurturing father figures abound in a full House a Bob Saget right plays a widower who lives with David Coulier left John Stamos and three television daughters including Mary Kate Ashley Olsen pictured. Goodbye mom bumbling dads taking her Placebo Joy Horowitz the new York times Quot a Quot Quot a Quot Quot then the television producers were Wjk / casting their Abc situation comedy Davis rules a Jonathan Winters and Randy Quaid a a ,. And son raising que aids three. Boys a they find the right actress to play Quaid a wife. So they killed her off before the show Danny Jacobson recalls that As they Quot wrested with that decision co producer Norma Sailor Vela walked. A is this going to be another dead mom show a she asked. A mothers in Case you Hadnot noticed Are biting the dust in prime time comedies. Lately there has been a weird sort of Post feminist backlash in televisions depiction of the american family and the message is hardly subliminal if mom s not going to stick around in the Kitchen then a poof a lets dump her. Sometimes she has up and walked out As in Blossom to pursue a singing career or As in wings to serve time in prison for embezzlement. Usually though she a dead the victim of a car crash. And riotously or not a hapless dad a la or. Mom is left to fend for Himsel and the kids often with the help of a male in Law. In abcs full House a father his Boyish looking brother in Law and his pal do their heartwarming Best to look after three girls. But Motherless families have Long been a Sta pie of american television. Think Back to the Ponderosa Days of a and Hoss on Bonanza. And there were my three sons Bachelor father and the courtship of eddies father. Then for a while to moved closer to mirroring reality with fatherless series most notably one Day at a time and Kate and Allie. So Why the resurgence now Why arc so Many television mothers missing is to reflecting the culture or offering a fantasy could Marge Simpson be the next to go a a i shudder to think what would happen if Marge weren t there to keep Homer front killing the kids a says Matt Goering creator of the Simpsons who has As keen an Eye As anyone in television for How dysfunctional families work a in our culture fathers have schemed their Way out of familial duties a he says. Quot these sit corns without mothers finally Force them to do the parental thing truth most american children arc still being cared for by their mothers not their fathers even though the majority of mothers work outside the Home. But the current rash of shows without mothers can be traced to a Confluence of psychological sociological and economic factors including the exploitation of every working mothers most Basic deserting her children and the flip Side of that a a child a fear of abandonment caused by women a changing roles in society television says the child psychologist Judith Wallerstein is simply ahead of the social sciences in reflecting an emotional truth if not reality. Wallerstein who is the co author with Sandra. Blakeslee. Of second chances men women and children a decade after divorce explains that a rising interest in father child relationships has. Been sparked by the fact that the mothers role has changed because of both divorce and work. Quot the children i see of divorces complain of this All the time a there a nobody Home. I come Home to an empty House these children Are full of compassion about How hard mom is working so their anger is inhibited by the compassion. But the sense of the being there accurately reflects the psychological experience and the longing and the anger. A what these to programs seem to be giving us a she says a is a sense of the vanishing Mother a both symbolically and in reality. From the perspective of television writers and executives though the High stakes of prime time push for the concept of the nurturing father simply because television is always looking for borne thing different. The current trend comes on the heels of tvs so called new traditionalism exemplified by series like the Cosby show growing pains and family matters depicting an intact nuclear family. So the question is How Many variations can you get from mom dad and the kids says Bob Grenblatt a Fox programming executive a we done to sit around and try to figure out How to do a show with a Mother figure not on the scene. Its just a setup that has inherent conflict in it. A lot of Good comedy can come out of it a a that said its Siili mostly men who Are writing these shows. And not Only do men generally Leel More comfortable writing male roles sometimes their unconscious desires seep into their work. So moms get killed off and. Dads get exalted. 1 then there a the copycat have had recent Success with the Motherless premise. The Box office draw of films like or. Mom and three men and a baby has spurred on television development executives. A from their perspective its a cute idea that men Are incredibly nurturing Loving gentle Crea 1 Tures which they re absolutely not a a says Charles i i flee who produced the to series moonlighting. Another reason for the current High to mater rate is that death on television is still More acceptable than divorce Many , a widowed father and his Brood Are a More sympathetic from the Start than a divorced Parent. Also single moms Are not inherently funny they re the business of real life. Plus bumbling fathers Are better fodder than inept moms. A a it a easier to write about he men than women because men Are perceived As the Power figures so its easier to pull them Down in rank a says 16, 1991 i sunday .1 in it Page 15 a
