Just once I would like to see a TV show with a childless couple!

[Lady Freedom Returns]

Watching Mike and Molly. They are trying have a kid.

Other shows have it where the couple are trying to have kids or have kids. Some are where the kids are grown up but still there are kids.

I would LOVE to see a show that the charters are more like me. Childless and happy for it.

[kentauros]

1. For that matter,

I'd like to see, for once, those pregnancy-test commercials show a couple ecstatic with a negative result

[Lady Freedom Returns]

2. That would be a nice change.

But for those like me that never have been baby crazy, we are out numbered.

[HipChick]

3. I've never been baby crazy..

When I tell people I don't want kids, they look at me as if I have 2 heads..

[GoCubsGo]

8. I know how that goes.

I get the same looks when I tell them that I don't want to be married, either.

[kentauros]

4. True.

However, there is the fact that women that get a college or university education hold off making a family until they're past thirty or more. So, there's time in there to make the decision to have none as well. I don't know what that percentage is, but I know a few other people that are childfree, or preferring to be that way. Both my past-wife and my current GF are of the same mindset as I for remaining childfree

[BainsBane]

16. Why?

I don't understand the resentment toward representations of people who want children.

There are TV shows with couples without children. The Closer comes to mind.

[kentauros]

23. Because it's one-sided as a commercial that can have two positive outcomes.

They're never going to show the anxious couple that want children getting a negative, yet for some reason they don't want to show the anxious couple that don't want children.

I don't watch much TV, so I'm not aware of shows that are childfree specifically. Only that I do notice how commercials present us all, and what stereotypes they push and encourage.

[Jokerman]

34. How about for the sake of realism?

Child free people do exist. It's the "resentment" that's a product of your imagination.

[JoDog]

62. I don't think anyone is suggesting that

they resent representations of people who want children. It just would be nice for us who do not want any to see ourselves in more in popular entertainment.

A family with children or a couple who wants children offers a lot of possibilities for dramatic situations and comic incidents. So does a couple who does not want children.

The problem is when one is not shown at all or shown so infrequently. Entertainment reflects and reinforces our society's standards. When a group of people is invisible or treated as weird in our entertainment, it is easier to treat them as invisible and weird in daily life.

[In_The_Wind]

20. Yes!!!

[MrMickeysMom]

5. Like Bob Newhart?

Sorry, they don't write like that anymore... No more writer's guild or unions or some pin...

[Tom Kitten]

7. I was going to mention Bob Newhart too

2 hit shows, neither had kids, the writing was superb, those days are gone!

[GoCubsGo]

9. Beat me to it, as well, and may I add...

I don't recall any babies on "That Girl", either. Granted, they weren't married most of that time, and there was no way the writers would've made Ann pregnant. Times sure have changed.

[Momgonepostal]

6. Mad about you in the 1990's

I think eventually they had a kid, but it took several seasons.

[OrwellwasRight]

53. And that's exactly when it started to suck and got cancelled.

Till then, it was excellent TV.

[Tom Kitten]

10. Took some time but remembered "Hart to Hart"

With Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers, a wealthy couple who enjoy sleuthing and having children doesn't enter the picture because it would interfere with their "hobby"

I found complete episodes on youtube, the show ran from 1979 to 1984 so it's a little dated!

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL71FC7FC8173193D2

[Art_from_Ark]

11. Childless couple TV shows

MacMillan and Wife
All in the Family (Mike and Gloria)
Maude
He and She
Mork and Mindy
That Girl
The Mothers-in-Law
Gilligan's Island (Thurston Howell III and Lovie)

[orleans]

12. mike and gloria eventually had a baby

and there was an earlier episode where gloria miscarried
(that was a wonderful scene with her and archie--used to make me cry)

and maude had an adult daughter

[Art_from_Ark]

14. Mike and Gloria had a baby?

I guess I must have missed that. Admittedly, I quit watching All in the Family around 1973 or so.

And I never knew Maude had an adult daughter.

I guess I can scratch those two from my list, then

[orleans]

15. lol - spoiler alert? (for mike and gloria)

i think the baby's name was joey
mike and gloria moved to california & edith & archie went out to spend christmas (that's when they find out mike & gloria are getting a divorce because gloria is having an affair)

also, before all that, remember edith & archie were foster parents for that little stephanie (who was edith's cousin's kid or something like that?)

and adrienne barbeau played maude's divorced daughter.

[Art_from_Ark]

18. I don't remember any of that

My TV viewing habits started to change dramatically around 1973 or so, when I began to focus more on school work and activities. Instead of actively watching shows like Maude and All In The Family, they became more like background sounds for studying. The same goes for Good Times, Happy Days, One Day At A Time, Welcome Back Kotter-- kind of comforting to have them on the tube, but I didn't pay a lot of attention to them.

[RILib]

31. gloria had an affair?

I didn't watch that long either.

[orleans]

42. from imdb dot com:

"Archie Bunker: [after finding out Gloria had an affair] Meathead, I never thought I'd be saying this, but YOU'RE too good for HER!"

[femmocrat]

27. Mike and Gloria had a baby, Joey.

Then Mike got a vasectomy. It was controversial at the time.

[whistler162]

30. More and mindy did have a baby

A little large and slightly unconventional. Maude had a grown daughter.

Mary Tyler Moore

[nolabear]

48. Jonathan Winters!

He aged backward before aging backward was cool!

[Gidney N Cloyd]

57. and I think Mork gave birth, didn't he?

[Art_from_Ark]

67. Mork and Mindy had a baby?

Next thing you'll be telling me that Joanie and Chachi had a baby, too

[orleans]

13. mary tyler moore show

wkrp in Cincinnati (the owner of the station was the only one with a kid i think)

lou grant (the newspaper show)

[OrwellwasRight]

54. Only those weren't couple shows.

Lots of single peeps.

[Tabasco_Dave]

17. The Honeymooners

Even the 50's had childless shows.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

41. The Honeymooners tried...

"The Jackie Gleason Show" The Honeymooners: The Adoption (1955)"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1073922/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl

Anxious to adopt a baby, Ralph and Alice go to great lengths to impress Miss Lawrence (Anne Seymour) of the adoption agency -- even passing off expensive borrowed furniture as their own. Touched by the Kramdens' desperation, Miss Lawrence agrees to locate a child for them, only to be taken aback when Ralph expresses anger that the baby is a girl and not a boy. Ultimately, Ralph comes to accept and love little "Ralphina," but his happiness, and Alice's, is tragically short-lived; the birth mother regrets putting the child up for adoption and wants her back. As Ralph, goes to the Nortons to contact the hospital to return the child, Alice was left alone sobbing. Written by Anonymous

[nolabear]

49. I remember it. It was one of the most heartbreaking things I've ever seen.

[BainsBane]

19. The Closer

The Wire, Battlestar Galactica, Fawlty Towers. There are doubtless others.

[sarge43]

22. Battlestar had Helo and Athena's daughter Hera - one of the major themes in the series. n/t

[BainsBane]

43. I thought the point was couples with no children

Not that the entire show didn't have anyone with children.

[ConcernedCanuk]

21. I Love Lucy?

.
.
.

There's one for us boomers!

CC

[mucifer]

24. little Ricky was their child

[femmocrat]

28. OMG.... and the episode when Lucy goes to the hospital to deliver...

absolutely hysterical!

[pipi_k]

33. One of my

favorite episodes was when Lucy was trying to tell Ricky she was "in the family way" and ended up doing it in the Tropicana during his show.

I've seen it dozens of times, and it can still make me weepy.

[raccoon]

25. Pete and Gladys. Topper. Oh, and the Real McCoys. Little Luke and Hassie were Luke's brother and

sister, not his kids.



Pete and Gladys is an American situation comedy television series starring Harry Morgan and Cara Williams that aired on CBS on Mondays at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific time for two seasons, beginning on September 19, 1960. The last episode was broadcast on September 10, 1962.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_and_Gladys

(In TOPPER, Cosmo Topper and his wife are childless, and so are the ghost couple, George and Marion.)

Sophisticated but stuffy Cosmo Topper (Carroll) is the vice president of a bank, married to sweet (but rather clueless) Henrietta (Lee Patrick). They live in a Los Angeles house they bought from the estate of a young couple, George and Marion Kerby (real life husband and wife Robert Sterling and Anne Jeffreys), who died after being swept away by an avalanche[citation needed]. A St. Bernard, Neil, who attempted to rescue them also died with them. Topper discovers his new home is haunted by the former occupants as well as Neil. Strangely, he is the only one able to see or hear them. Neil, the St. Bernard, loves martinis and a running gag is the invisible dog lapping up the drink.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topper_(TV_series)

[OrwellwasRight]

55. Topper!

Loved that show when I was a kid! Had to find it on an out of town station at times when I was usually in school so I didn't get to see it much.

[LiberalElite]

26. The Bob Newhart Show -

in the '70s. He and Suzanne Pleshette didn't have kids.

[Chan790]

29. I find it very telling...

that the only examples people can come up with are older than I am, crime procedurals or sci-fi/fantasy dramas.

As a writer, I can tell you this...if you pitch a situational comedy to network, the first thing they suggest is "why don't you add a hot teen so we can appeal to the "tween, teen and 18-24 demo"...this is not a suggestion, it's a condition of work. If you manage to get a show on TV and avoid the suggested kid, the second your ratings start to flag after a few seasons, you're given one of two directives: create romance between your leads (if they're not already involved) or if they are involved...it's time for a baby storyline.

Who doesn't love seeing their favorite shows ruined by a "will they or won't they fuck" subplot or a baby-drama arc.

[sarge43]

32. Yeah, that pretty much ruined the series Bones.

It's on its way to ruining Castle.

[OriginalGeek]

39. I disagree

from day one I wanted Bones and Booth together. And Castle and Beckett.

Although I do agree in general that romance between leads can mess everything up I just disagree in these 2 instances. I think they were intended all along to get together rather than being stuck together to boost ratings.

[alarimer]

58. Chlidless or unmarried people are also portrayed usually as workaholics.

Or their private lives are a mess. Think every police procedural since forever, especially if that single or childless person is a woman. Cagney and Lacey, Prime Suspect (the Helen Mirren version, but probably the short-lived American one as well), the Killing, The Fall (new show with Gillian Anderson as a hard-nosed detective married to the job), etc., etc.

Friends was one for a while, but then they married some of them off and gave them kids.

I can't think of any recent examples that go against the trend. Seinfeld was one.

On the other hand Dexter is a serial killer with a kid, so there's that.

Single people are almost invariably portrayed as messed-up, narcissistic, or desperate not to be single.

[Inkfreak]

35. I agree, but there are a few. Depends on if its sitcom or drama.

New Girl-no kids
How I Met Your Mother-it's kinda ok. They did bring in a child with a marriage. But another couple are going the no child route.
2 Broke Girls-no kids
Longmire-no kids


Crap. I can't think of any others right now. Those just popped in my head.



Lol. I do wish there were more. The wife & I have no interest at the moment. And most of our friends are knee deep in toddlers. I like to avoid em if possible. Not a fan. Not a popular opinion either, I get a ration of shit if I happen to mention my aversion to kids. Under 12 are the worst.

[pipi_k]

36. More childless couples shows...

The Lone Ranger and Tonto

Knight Rider (KITT was too cool for kids ha ha) and David Hasslehoff

Roy Rogers and Dale Evans

BJ and the Bear...although the chimp could probably have qualified as a very hairy, more civilized child...




hee hee

[raccoon]

38. You're saying the Lone Ranger and Tonto were a couple? maybe so. nt

[pipi_k]

40. It never occurred

to me as a kid...being a kid during the 50s and all, but looking back now, I suppose it could have been possible...

[graham4anything]

37. Bob Newhart Show, Newhart

[MiddleFingerMom]

44. I find it hard to believe that enlightened people are looking to TV to be representational...

.
.
.
... of our culture as a whole.
.
.
.
It's a media designed to give the majority what they want and (even more
importantly) to sell advertising space.
.
Therefore the hot teen daughter or the adorably coochie coochid coo baby.
.
.
They're not necessarily looking AWAY from you as looking TOWARDS money.
.
.
.

[ConcernedCanuk]

45. "enlightened people" - ur kidding, right?

.
.
.

just cuz we google all over the place don't make us "enlightened people".

GIGO

I call watching TV a vegetable sport.

Sit on ur ass and suck it in.

ESPECIALLY News Channels - Fox and CNN.

Others, PBS with the likes of David Suzuki on them are different, but viewed by a small percentage.

But TV runs our Western culture - it has been the tool for leaders like Bush, Obama and Harper to brainwash the masses.

Sadly, it works.

CC

[MiddleFingerMom]

46. Yes, I do consider the people who frequent this website to be MUCH more enlightened...

.
.
.
... and aware than the general public
.
And I myself am "run" by "Breaking Bad" and "The Walking Dead" and
Rachel Maddow and Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.
.
People with a steady diet of Fox News and its ilk DO have brains that
have turned to mush... but this website's inhabitants, along with
watching TV, have a wide variety of other interests and activities.
.
I guess in the "vegetablized culture" that you envision, we are arugula,
grilled asparagus and broccoli rabe compared to poke salad, collard
greens and 'taters.
.
.
.

[nuxvomica]

47. "He and She"

One of my favorite shows when I was a kid. I think it only lasted one season.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

56. 1 Season/Lots of awards; Head of CBS at the time called it 'the funniest show we ever canceled'

[nolabear]

50. Moonlighting? Having a kid is a famous shark-jumper for many shows.

You know they've run out of ideas if they decide it's time to breed.

You have my sympathy. It does seem to be hard to find. Even Dexter, FFS!

[Chan790]

51. Dexter didn't really jump the shark until they killed off his wife.

I have to say it was a great career move for Julie Benz, she's had the lead on a couple of other shows and seems to be growing as an actress.

The quality of Dexter on the other hand has fallen off the cliff.

[nolabear]

52. I got pissed when Deb's therapist told her it was okay to sleep with Dexter.

WTF? That's the craziest, most unprofessional thing I've ever heard. I don't care if they aren't blood, they're brother and sister! It's got to carry an emotional load that would sink them, not to mention make them pariahs.

[pipi_k]

59. Never saw

the show you're referring to, but I'm getting a drift here that two people who aren't blood siblings but were raised together may have become emotionally close and the female's therapist said it was OK to take it to the next level...

Gross. Just gross.

OK so I was about 20 when my mom married a guy who had five kids from two previous marriages. One of the three boys was near my own age, and was very nice, somewhat attractive, etc. I never thought of any of them as anything more than my step brothers and step sisters.

So fast forward to 2010 or so and there's a family reunion I couldn't attend, although my son went, and he was talking with my stepbrother, who told my son that he always thought I looked a bit like Margaux Hemingway. I guess that meant he thought I was sort of pretty...maybe he even had a crush. But at least he was decent enough not to act on it...or even say anything until nearly 40 years later, even though we weren't blood siblings and had never even lived together.

For me, it just wouldn't have felt right...

[Chan790]

60. Adopted siblings. n/t

[NoPasaran]

61. Green Acres

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

63. Watch reruns of

Newhart.......... :O)

[kiva]

64. And going back further,

George Burns and Gracie Allen; Fred and Ethyl Mertz (Lucy); Jackie Gleason and Alice.

If you look at many of the popular shows from the last sixties into the seventies, there were not a lot of kids; even when they began to pop up, there was never this weird desperation to have them.

Today you can't see a magazine at a grocery store checkout that doesn't have pregnant women on it (damn, I really miss Batboy!) and discussion boards talk about 'baby rabies'...there is a strangeness to this, a frantic push that is disturbing.

[Locut0s]

65. Friends, Seinfeld, Frasier...

Though granted those shows were more about dating and finding someone before the whole child thing.