Watching such TV shows is a big part of people’s lives. I remember when our family got their first color television. What was great for the whole family to sit in the living room and greet the family TV program on television referring to the goods, He outlined what we had in our family at that time. Back in the 60’s, we didn’t have the tradition to look far & amp; Domestic goods were saved on television because it was the norm. But today’s generation is not worth it. Many people have changed with the times, while others have not and continue to explore stations that show the type of programming families want to share with their families. If the major television networks do not carry enough healthy family TV programs today, people will look to the station’s cable programs of the past and look to buy videos and DVDs of their old favorites.
An alternative to looking for old family favorites from the past on DVDs is watching the HALLMARK station and also the new Lifetime station. Those two stations have many great Christmas specials this past season as well as other specials throughout the year. Hallmark is a great force for family-friendly programming. Direct TV has a family package of good service extra money that gives you 40. familiar streams.
Listed below are 40 family-friendly programs of the past. Look for them on DVD or on family-friendly TV stations.
1. Little House on the Prairie – 1974-83
This television show tells the story of the author’s life as Charles and Caroline Ingalls and their family in the early 1900s in the West.
2. The Waltons – 1972-81
This television show tells the story of John & Olivia Walton with her children and grandparents living on top of Walton’s Mountain in sadness.
3. Father knows best – 1954-60
This television program known as Jim & Margaret Anderson with her 3 children pictured in middle class America in the 1950s.
4. My Three Sons – 1960-72
This TV program is about the widow of Steve Douglas and his 3 sons and uncle Charley. The three children are the main focus of the show with the eventual marriage for the father and the older 2 sons.
5. VanDyke Show Dick -1961-66
This TV show tells about the life of Rob & Laura Petrie with her son Richie, living in New York. Rob is a comedian for TV.
6. Leave Beaver – 1957-63
This is a 1950s all American family of Ward & June Cleaver with her 2 sons Wally & Castor (Theodore).
7. The Donna Reed Show – 1958-66
This is another typical family sitcom from the 1950’s placing a housewife, Donna Stone and her doctor husband and 2 children.
8. Bonanza – 1959-1973
This TV western features the Cartwrights, a widower, Ben, with their 3 sons, Hoss, Adam and little Joe.
9. Father Eddie’s Treatment – 1969-72
Here we have another TV show featuring a widower, Tom, whose son Eddie is a play match-maker here. and inveterate his wife;
10. The Way To Heaven – 1984-89
In this show, Michael Landon played an angel named Jonathan Smith, who traveled all over the world to help people and make their lives better.
11. The Apple Way – 1974-75
This show was short, but I remember that family with many children who went to the farm and put all of them at the mill on their property.
12. Family Ties – 1982-89
Family Ties features the Keaton family with Elyse and Steven and their children, Alex, Mallory, Jennifer and later Andrew living in suburban Ohio.
13. The Cosby Show – 1984-1992
This show focuses on the Huxtable family, an upper-middle-class African-American living in Brooklyn, New York.
14. 7th Heaven – 1996-2007
This series is good television because Camden has a family in which a minister and his wife live at home and their 7 children.
15. Touched by Angel – 1994-2003
I loved this show depicting angels who appeared at the right time in the lives of people who were in crisis and needed God’s intervention.
16. The Adventures of Ozzie & amp; Harriet – 1952-66
This TV show is based on a real-life family, The Nelsons, who played the musical.
17. Tackling Daddy – 1957-64
Danny Thomas played Danny Williams, a comedian and nightclub host in this television program.
18. Christy – 1994-1996
This Christian-based fictional drama is based on a girl who moves to Cutter Gap, Tennessee to teach boys.
19. Eight Is Enough – 1977-81
This was a family with about eight children, whose mother died, and the father, Tom Bradford, finally fell in love with the teacher and the children who came home to tutor.
20. Father Murphy – 1981-83
This is another creation of Micheal Landon, which did not run long. Murphy pretends to be a priest to save some orphans.
22. Lassie – 1954-73
Who hasn’t seen Lassie? This show is long overdue with many series after that. The all time favorite of many about the boy, Timmy and his dog.
23. Julia – 1968-71
This TV show made history with an African-American woman as the main character. Playing the Nurse, Actress Diahann Carroll played a nurse, Julia, who was a widow and had a young son named Corey.
24. The Andy Griffith Show – 1960-68
This was and remains a very popular television series, still in syndication today, featuring Andy Taylor, a widowed father who is the town’s sheriff, and his son Opie, living with his aunt Bea.
25. Gentle Ben – 1967-69
The story of a boy and his father, who was a park wanderer, who rescued an orphaned cub from a bear and raised it as a pet.
27. Flipper – 1964-67
Flipper was a show about a game ranger named Porter Ricks and his two sons Sandy and Bud. A show about a pet dolphin named Flipper and all his adventures.
28. Gilligan’s Island – 1964-67
This show still runs today and is loved by many. Who does not know the story of S.S. A minnow that had gone on a journey alone on an island shipwreck?
29. Happy Day – 1974-84
The Cunningham family lives through the 1950s with the help and guidance of the lovable fat man, Fonzie.
30. Laverne & Shirley – 1976-83
Thorns from the show, happy days, this comedy two gals, Laverne and Shirley, who have an apartment in Milwaukee next door to Lenny & Squiggy.
31. Azel – 1961-66
The show revolves around a lively maid and her relationship with the family she worked for. George Baxter, Dorothy and Harold Baxter stood. And let’s not forget the dog, Smiley!
32. The Real McCoys – 1957-63
Grandpa Amos was the main character in this show where his family, The Real McCoys, learned life lessons every day of their lives.
33. Family Matters – 1966-71
This was a series about an architect, Uncle Bill, a bachelor, who was raising three orphans with the help of his brother’s butler, Master Gallo.
34. Behold the Bride – 1968-70
This show was about the Bolt brothers who owned a mountain and were camping in Seattle. The brothers borrowed money to bring back the following ladies to increase their morale. But if any of the women leave Seattle within a year, the Bolt brothers lose their mountain to the man who provided them with the money.
35. Vulgens Nun – 1967-70
Sally Field played the flying nun- This fun sitcom was about a nun whose huge attitude used to catch her breath and lift her into the air.
36. The Wonderful World of Disney – 1954-90
This weekly show had a variety of movies to capture every family member. This family was certainly a favorite of many!
37. Little Hobo – originally 1963-65, then rebuilt 1979-85.
Both TV series centered around a wandering German Shepherd dog who wandered from town to town helping people in need.
38. Maya – 1967-68
I loved this show because it was about an American boy looking for his missing father, a big game hunter in Africa. American Boy played by Jay North of Dennis The Menace TV show.
39. Dennis Menace – originally 1959-63
In the sitcom, Dennis was generally a good boy who always tried to help people but ended up in worse situations.
Rin Tin Tin – 1954-59
The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin was one of the first canine television heroes who left a large footprint for his posterity to follow.
