It's kind of ironic how many TV shows start off with someone dying. Typically the death of a woman, or a married couple.
Like the parents on Family Affair, or the mom on Full House. On Full House at least the mom had
a name, I think, unlike the real parents on The Brady Bunch, who I don't think were ever even mentioned. I mean,
they did have one episode where Bobby was all upset because Carol was his step-mother, but that of course was neatly resolved
and never mentioned again.The children never seemed at all traumatized by the deaths of their respective parents; at least,
I had always thought they were dead until I read once that Carol was supposed to have been divorced. They never once mentioned
visitation or child support, or dealt with abandonment issues, so I suppose its natural that I would be confused.
Mel Gibson in the first Lethal Weapon movie didn't deal with the death of his wife as well as Robert Reed
did on The Brady Bunch. But they say Robert Reed was gay, though, so maybe that's why.
There's been lots of shows about single dads who were widowed with young children. I think I've seen every single episode
of
The Andy Griffith Show and I don't recall that they ever once mentioned Opie's mother, or what happened to her.
Was she dead? Did a vengeful ex-con who Andy put away escape and kill her? Did she die in childbirth? Or is that why Barney
keeps his bullet in his pocket? I mean, they never mentioned her, not once, ever. They never talked about what the wedding
was like, or how they met. She also apparently had no parents, no family, no siblings who ever came to visit or call. This
is especially troubling considering how everyone in Mayberry was kin to one another. Maybe she was one of those drifters who
came to town like that guy in
The Long Hot Summer (was it Paul Newman?)...anyway, she did seem to vanish.
If there are aliens who intercept our TV signals to try to figure out what Earth people are like, they probably get the
idea that we reproduce by "budding." Either that, or that we find death funny.
Like some guy in Hollywood went into a producers office and said "I have a great idea for a show! It'll be about three
young orphans whose parents die unexpectedly and are then shipped off to live with a bachelor playboy uncle who doesn't want
them and is completely unprepared to care for them!"
"HA HA HA! Wonderful! Hilarious!"
If you think about it, the single-parent home has been so idealized on TV that its a wonder disillusioned kids haven't
started killing their mothers off just so that they can set their dads up with their algebra teachers and wacky hijinks can
then ensue.
