Why Every 80's Sitcom Decided To Kill Off The Mom - After Hours

[@oliverdavey5648]

This is something I have thought about a lot recently: in movies and TV when there's a single mother she is divorced, but when it's a single father the mother was dead. Is it because they couldn't explain how a man would receive full custody unless the mother had been hit by a truck

[@jessicalee333]

Back then that was pretty true - hell, we're still getting over the idea of "a woman's only value is for child-bearing and child-rearing so that's what she should be doing" but in the '70s and '80s that was definitely alive and well. Likewise, men were expected to find "parenting" so alien and incomprehensible that it's all hijinks and shenanigans when they attempt it - STILL when a man is taking care of his own kids people refer to that as "babysitting". At least now (in the U.S., I can't speak for other countries), when a man actually asks for whatever level of custody of his kids he's very likely to get it. It's too bad sitcoms didn't really deal with partial/shared custody arrangements like a lot of us experienced at the time.

[@shorewall]

I mean, that would make a fun show. :)

[@FallingGalaxy]

Yeah, but that wasn't until 2003. I think the poster is talking about in the 80s and 70s whenever they grew up and lots of other people were growing up and living the divorced life shuffling between families, but watching shows about orphans, single parent families, etc instead of the shared custody deal.

[@werlost]

I think because for a long time in custody cases, custody would be given to the mom over the dead, although the dad would have visitation.

[@carlrood4457]

It's still true today that even in joint custody arrangements. The vast majority have physical custody going to the mother. They go to the school in the district the mother lives in, meaning they spend far more time in their mother's home than their father's.

[@MelodicQuest]

What about 90's sitcom tropes? i.e. Bumbling husband and Nagging wife.

[@AnthonySforza]

Nagging "Know-it-all" wife.

[@Anybol]

That trope's been around since the 1950s. Look at the Honeymooners, for example.

[@MelodicQuest]

Anya Bolden But what does it mean...? (goes into deep philisophical trance)

[@LuLeMen]

In Everybody loves Raymond, I felt like his wife was literally verbally abusive. She was mean, and acted like she didn't even love him :(

[@MelodicQuest]

Lucina Mendez King of Queens was the biggest offender in my book. Doug was a hard working guy, yes he's a doofus but he always means well and Carrie constantly insults him and shoots down his ideas. There was no love in that marriage.

[@TwitchyTopHat1]

I think my favorite old sitcom was Horsin' Around

[@derekconnors4128]

I prefer Mr. Peanutbutter's House

[@natedaviz9178]

Mr. Peanutbutter's house was a CLEAR rip off of Horsin' Around

[@hylianmontage451]

Nate Daviz But the Cast of Mr Peanutbutter's House has(/d) more talent, they executed the idea better.

[@seanbirch]

Eh, que sera quesedilla.

[@AnnasNotReal]

ha

[@Offended83Shadow]

They forgot that the reason it was always invariably the mom is because the shows didn't want to address poverty. This was a major downside to the no-fault divorce scenario, women who were not readily hired to do anything but file a man's paperwork for pennies on the dollar no matter what their degree was in suddenly finding themselves responsible for being the sole provider for their families. Not much humor in electricity being turned off and applying for food stamps and getting fired cause little Timmy got the stomach flu at school and you had to miss the big meeting while catching vomit in your hands on the car ride to the ER. Actually there is a ton of realistic humor in that, but that real-life common people comedy didn't come in till the early 90s and by that time the nuclear family had made a big come back just with quirkier neighbors

[@Broockle]

You mean on TV right? I don't think the nuclear family was a thing in RL in decades. Lone Mother does make some intense drama. It wouldn't work in a sitcom I guess cause those are supposed to be tuneinable at any episode. It would have to follow a consecutive story and that's just hard to do without Netflix giving you all episodes to binge for a whole season xD So, that's also part of why that wasn't a thing I think.

[@Offended83Shadow]

Broockle um Grace Under Fire, Gilmore Girls, Later Murphy Brown, Reba

[@Broockle]

Offended83Shadow I've watched Gilmore Girls a bit. Not really what I mean with Drama. I mean it's not bad but it's not as intense as any of those issues you described in your initial post. It's still very light and sitcomy. It does portrait the single mom needing to work hard to get the money she needs for her daughter and she needs to reach out to her grand parents which she hates at first and stuff, but I was thinking more heavy. With a story to follow where you can't forfeit a single episode. Dunno any of the others, srr.

[@Offended83Shadow]

Broockle Gilmore girls is a comedy about a single mom, so are the other two. it's possible to do comedy's about single moms they just make sure to start off with there was once a really rich woman who was already successful and now she is a single mom.

[@Broockle]

Offended83Shadow You're right. I just had a very different picture of a show in my mind when I read your post. Might be kinda interesting to venture into something like that. Sitcoms have drama, nothing wrong with that.

[@dropUrPeaches]

Now the stereotype seems to be a quirky group of oddballs cohabiting. Sending the message that... Young people can't afford to live alone?

[@TheScottishRoots]

That seems like a fairly accurate assessment of young peoples living possibilities atm.

[@timwells4757]

dropUrPeaches it's sort of the same thing. Family isn't as important to our generation, or we come from broken families, so we make our own with our friends or coworkers. Community, Parks and Recreation, The Office, etc.

[@PppGameboy]

And it's all going to be ok. We want to relate to the characters in some way.

[@Loader2K1]

@DrupUrPeaches: To be fair, a lot of the post-college careers that were "promised" to college graduates are either drying up or going overseas.

[@goneyon]

Nah, that's more just corporations capitalizing on the "I'm so special" private niche thing that most young people have, which I think is popular mostly due to the success of teen movies and shows in the 2000s starring the introverted character who keeps to themselves.

[@NewMessage]

3 words. Sitcom serial killer. Best show ever.

[@deadmemesarethedreams62]

New Message Too Many Cooks

[@otisflannegan9655]

Dead Memes Are The Dreams want some dank memes.

[@aliyassin8920]

YAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSS!!!

[@amandap9332]

Dexter.

[@jaredjensen1418]

This was a great episode-- kept me laughing and engaged. I also noticed "Full House was just a series of catchphrases." This, followed by the fact that "Be very careful here" was repeated throughout this episode. That was clever.

[@snatchadams69]

Also the mock PSA at the end.

[@TwitchyTopHat1]

Jared Jensen nice catch yeah that is pretty clever

[@jackbailey9714]

Hey! Be very careful here!

[@alienhivemind7121]

Jared Jensen be very careful here was only funny when the girl said it imo

[@finalfantasy7freak664]

Jared Jensen lol

[@shortpettite]

But really Disney was doing the dead parents thing long before 80s sitcoms. Honestly wondered why Disney killed them off.

[@SaturdayParker]

That's because his mom died

[@hughmoon4628]

Walter Disney Parents died because carbon dioxide in Their new house that Walt Disney bought

[@amandajohnson3531]

Disney blamed himself for his mother's death because in the new house he bought his parents their was a gas leak that ended up killing his mother and so he wanted the characters he created to feel his pain. Although for some that was just how the story went like with Snow White and Cinderella. When it comes to Disney Princesses only 5 have both their parents.

[@shortpettite]

Was more of just a comment. The video pointing out lack of moms in the 80s when it's been happening before that and aimed towards kids. Honestly trying to remember any disney character not just princesses that have both parents. Only one I can think of is maybe sleeping beauty has both alive. Can't remember if mom died in childbirth. Wait wait Mulan has both.

[@amandajohnson3531]

Nicole Joyner Sleeping Beauty has both as does Mulan, Rapunzel, Merida, and Moana

[@izzy1221]

**finishes video** **sets 'After Hours' timer for another month** And now we wait.

[@darnsmall]

Isagail Carshuen so fucking true! you know as soon as you start the wait is inevitable

[@finalfantasy7freak664]

Isagail Carshuen we shall wait together lol

[@Morlock19]

the time between episodes is a vast desert, devoid of all other comedy.

[@Peecamarke]

Riiight?!

[@crclayton]

I only subscribed for after hours, then unsubscribed because I didn't care about the other videos. New ones still always show up on my recommended feed.

[@KatiKosta]

The Nanny. I KNOW. 1993-1999, BUT STILL.

[@SimonVanliew26]

nope

[@analogsignal]

What do you mean?

[@theworstactionhero9186]

I can't hear her laugh

[@TaraWert1]

See when it came to the "Missing Mom" Phenomenon, I always attributed it to the 70's Traditional Mom transition into the '80s Modern Woman paradigm. Writers for sitcoms in the 80's into the 90's were primarily male and they really only knew how to write "Mom" characters one of two ways. You were either a "Leave it to Beaver," "Moral Center of the family." type of Mom or the career minded, work focused, uber-ambitious "Damn I forgot my kids birthday" type of Mom. So what do they do with the "Mom" roll instead of risking offending woman. Just don't write them. Don't face the problem, just pretend it doesn't exist and stick Scott Baio or Danny Tanner in there to do the "maternal stuff" and lets go already!

[@givememore4free]

kinda what they said, but ok.

[@jessicalee333]

That's where I thought Daniel was going when he "solved it". Not just the existential fears associated with the increased divorce rate like he went with, but a response to second wave feminism and middle-class and upper middle-class women increasingly entering the workforce rather than staying at home (since middle to upper class are usually the people depicted in the sitcoms they mentioned). So, from the home & family perspective _of male writers_ women were "gone" and men had to pick up the slack and do "family" stuff men hadn't been expected to do before - which was a recipe for hijinks, like they said. ...Instead of the reality, where women are "gone" to work to help support their family since most people can't support a family with a single income anymore, and women _still_ tend to be expected to do more of the household domestic tasks when they get home - which is still a thing now, but was much more of a thing back then where women being "allowed" into the workforce was seen as a privilege, so if they wanted to go to work they still had to do all the "woman's work" at home too. Unless they were those upper middle-class to upper class people we always saw in old sitcoms, who somehow all had live-in housekeepers full of sass or folksy wisdom.

[@angryreader8857]

I thought the same as well. Fathers are much easier to write than mothers. It's a lot easier to write about bumbling fathers than it is to write about mother-child relationships.

[@JennTheRebel456]

That's where I thought they'd go as well. The no fault divorce idea was a close second in my head.

[@donnagosdantian4932]

Latch-Key Kids

[@emilybelzer5773]

I'll make the point that there was a big shift in focus from adults to children in the 80s in both TV and movies. I don't know all of the reasons, but I do know that the decade of the 80s saw significant rises in three statistics: divorces (as mentioned in the video), percentage of families with two parents working (with noticeable increases in both the second earner working part-time and the second earner working full-time), and in the percentage of television-owning families with *more than one* TV set. This means that kids were home, either by themselves or with a non-parent caregiver (both of which are likely to increase TV-watching), a lot more, and when the kids were watching TV, there were more available sets. All that means that kids began to drive ratings a whole lot more, plus there was the financial incentive of advertising--if you reach a critical mass of a particular demographic watching your program or lineup, you can get that sweet, targeted ad money. So, now we have kids driving ratings which heavily influences the shows that get made. Every plot needs to have drivers, which tend to be bad decisions. So the kids in the shows need to have space to make bad decisions that they can learn from. But dads get (and certainly back then, got) wayyyyy more leeway for casual neglect than moms. I mean, it's still a joke that the way a dad watches the kids is sitting them on the sofa next to him while he plays video games. We are likely to forgive a dad whose kids get into trouble while he's busy or not paying attention, and it mostly makes sense to us when the kids are the only ones who have to learn a lesson, because they can't expect Dad to be watching them every minute and they need to grow up. More than that, if the dad realizes he needs to spend more time with the kids, it's a bonus heartwarming. However, if it happened while a mom was in charge? That's when you get to "very special episode" territory. Finally, the moms have to be dead, pretty much. If the mom wasn't there because she was working, she'd never live it down, so they would've had tons of viewer backlash from people angry about the kind of role model she was, and remember that "two working parents statistic?" They would've gotten tons of viewer backlash from working moms, too, because the message that they got constantly (but, ha ha, all that's changed, of course) is that they shouldn't be working because what will happen to their kids?!? Ultimately, it was better to have a saintly, slightly martyred mom to remember than show the actual pressures that real moms and families were under at the time, because putting an honest version of that on the screen is just bleak.

[@ErmenBlankenberg]

This is even more thought-through than the episode itself.

[@geoffroi-le-Hook]

The first season of Saved by the Bell was called Good Morning, Miss Bliss and focused on the teacher as much as the students

[@EmilyReddish]

Why didn't they mention Horsin' Around?

[@greenmedic88]

That was a 90s show.

[@benzur3503]

that's too much, man!

[@jasonblalock4429]

What is this, a crossover episode?

[@geardog24]

Will Reddish you're definitely a Zelda.

[@givememore4free]

I had to google this show. I found out it was a show within a show and a cartoon. They were talking about 80s sit-coms though. It must not have been popular either because me and my friends never saw it.

[@Loremastrful]

4 stars Cracked. I would add that it wasn't just divorce. Working moms, latchkey kids, step families all added to the anxiety of the 80s. But this is also about an insta-family as much as divorce. Most sitcoms started with an unlikely family man now with a couple of full grown kids.

[@gamewiz720]

69th like

[@RobertJones-gq3jq]

Came to say this.

[@packerpf]

The mom's work movement was the 80's moms were killed off because their role in family in views became diminished when working, and thus "dead". It also was an attempt to show that men can step up and be great parents when always being prior portrayed as oofs who knew nothing or total jarheads; never the caring loving father.

[@hylianmontage451]

packerpf But in the sitcoms the dad's were always portrayed as both.

[@packerpf]

Hylian Montage because that's REAL dads..crazy how the best is the most real.

[@MrQuaiven]

Note how for the past 20 years or so TV fathers (if they are present in their kids lives at all) have become completely incompetent morons. If not for the mothers being present modern TV dads would kill themselves via their own stupidity by trying to supe up a power tool or some nonsense.

[@iKeto_gal]

Many Disney films had single parents; Belle from Beauty in the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Jasmine from Aladdin, Pocahontas, Nemo from Finding Nemo, etc.

[@Germania9]

That reminds me, you should watch the cartoon F Is for Family by Bill Burr, which features the angriest dad on TV.

[@joey4track]

This is Wisecrack levels of insight. Well done, sirs(and Katie)

[@zinhoferraz13]

joey4track wisecrack is very superficial kkkk

[@joey4track]

Zinh0 Ikr? They are always talking about 8-Bit Philosophy on Keeping Up With The Kardashians. So lame

[@meanlittlegoblin]

I really liked how they finished on "sitcoms are intended for comfort" because I actually find watching Cracked (esp After hours) very comforting. There's a nice symmetry to a show about four fictionalised people talking about other fictional people, and a nice symmetry to the After Hours crew finding the meaning in other forms of media while also providing their own viewers with a means to understand media analysis itself.

[@jrt99b]

Miss Emma December ...did you just do a meta analysis of a show that is all meta, all the time?

[@meanlittlegoblin]

I also wrote my honours thesis about memes, welcome to a crash course on Emma Takes The Internet Seriously.

[@jrt99b]

Miss Emma December I'm more than a little intimidated by that statement. I'm also more than a little curious about what your findings were.

[@RevengeOfThaNerd]

same... I was like hmmm I'd read that.

[@meanlittlegoblin]

You can read the whole thing if you like, buddies! www.scribd.com/document/331523571/Memes-as-Participatory-Politics-Understanding-internet-memes-as-a-form-of-American-political-culture-in-the-2016-United-States-Presidential-election

[@robbie2951]

It's funny how in modern times we view unsupervised children as neglect. Back then it was normal to be able to go out and do stuff without being metaphorically tethered to a parent.

[@rayafoxr3]

Robert Sievert ya but it’s a good thing. Lot of serial killers in the past partially because of this.

[@laurent1144]

I was unsupervised and I never played in a dump.

[@CyricZ]

Stranger Danger. As soon as that got it hooks into society, the familial monolith overreacted and basically hasn't recovered. Of course, it wasn't actually strangers that were the danger. It was vastly more often that it was someone the family knew, such as a divorcee or an abusive uncle or any number of things that society was more than willing to overlook for the purpose of preserving the vision of the Wholesome American Nuclear Family.

[@gamewiz720]

69th like

[@KBWeeds]

Yeah and we almost killed ourselves multiple times because no one was watching us. I set my own house on fire from being unsupervised.

[@greenmedic88]

And then by the late 80s the formula/trope became The Idiot Dad, AKA: Father Knows Nothing, carrying through the 90s.

[@metalmurcielago]

Daniel Okada what about uncle Phil, Cosby, red foreman, carl Winslow

[@solarscreams2447]

metalmurcielago all groundbreaking unconventional shows. The norm was what op was talking about.

[@k9commander]

Red Foreman was based in the 70's. The others were strong BLACK fathers. The black father was either absent like Will's dad, or strong like Uncle Phil.

[@thedissidentleftist6997]

lol yes

[@PicturesqueGames]

and then they tried to bring it into cartoons, goof troop happened and it sucked (aside from Pete's family)

[@pixxelwizzard]

The chemistry amongst these fine folk is unparalleled. They were all so good individually and fireworks when interacting with each other. So entertaining.

[@CWScally]

After Hours is literally the only thing in the world that didn't get worse in 2016.

[@jmorel42]

Croshawable shut the fuck up Trump won get over it

[@CWScally]

Satisfied Pepe and that was the only good news all year.

[@thechickengod]

Satisfied Pepe Not sure if you're being sarcastic or just overly salty...

[@saipandit9268]

Croshawable that's the mother of overstatements

[@LoganWH8]

Satisfied Pepe nobody mentioned Trump dude, this year just sucked all around. We're a nation on its seventh month of mourning a gorilla. Bill Cosby is apparently a rapist. Vine is getting taken down. Almost all the big movies this year sucked. Clowns. 2016 just sucked man.

[@Drewggles]

I know it's 5 years later, but Swaim blurting out "I'm divorced!" just... It still gets me.

[@jessicalee333]

One of the things I feel like they fail to mention here is the tendency of "protagonists" to have no parents in the equation (as in the Hero's Journey characters like Luke Skywalker, Harry Potter, Frodo Baggins, et al.) for two reasons: 1. Family relationships are lifelong and complex and since people see their family members as full, dimensional people, shoddy 2d cutout characters fall flat more easily, so the people and their relationships with each other have to be written believably - it's _harder to write_ and takes up a lot of space when that's not the premise of the story. 2. Most stories are about a change in circumstance leading to the unfamiliar, and about characters needing to forge ahead on their own, to form new relationships, and to grow and mature in order to gain the skills needed to solve the story's "problem" - especially when it's a "coming of age" story, which most stories involving younger characters have elements of anyway. People with a family around them have some support, thus the stakes for any story are lower. It's easier to create more tension when there is less support. Like how kid adventure stories have absent (or just oblivious or incompetent) parents, so that the kids have to figure out and take care of the adventure stuff themselves. Basically... it's easier for a writer the fewer family members a character has. Respect for the writers of _Eight is Enough_ (even though that's another dead mom one).

[@Leedark3]

In a show where a father has three daughters, one of them has a best friend over all the time, and he gets his two buddies and one girlfriend to help out, they aren't too worried about too many characters. Full House was full. They certainly didn't cut out the mom because it was easier to not have her there. And most of these shows wrapped up a story in one episode, rarely two. They weren't telling many great coming of age stories. They were telling stories like teaching the kids a lesson but having the adults learn one in the process, too.

[@TheGamingDandy]

Jessica Lee They've talked about that phenomenon in many other articles/videos and one of their podcasts.

[@robertkraak4385]

Jessica Lee aaaqAaaaaa

[@TItrisThrawns]

i've been recently watching a lot of Studio Ghibli movies. So many examples of how the parents/family support system are shut down in some way to let the unattended adventure take place. (^_^)=b

[@ackbarfan5556]

Dude, I can't watch Spirited Away for that reason alone. I mean, I know her parents return back to normal at the end of the film but the emotional trauma that the main protagonist had to go through is almost too much.

[@Glowfate]

"Be really careful here" made me chuckle a bit every time

[@mustang6172]

2:46 There is an episode where Archie is invited to join the KKK, but he turns it down because even he is too disgusted by them. Feeling good was a common theme to almost every 80's sitcom, even when the mom was alive (Family Ties and The Cosby Show come to mind.) By the late 80's some TV producers had decided to rebel against this trend by creating shows with dysfunctional nuclear families [The Simpsons, Married with Children, and Roseanne.]

[@brettfawcett9391]

"Silver Spoons! Are you kidding me? Who's the Boss?" That absurdly corny sitcom joke deserves so much more credit for its brilliance.

[@igt3928]

This and Roger owner of Horton's shenanigans is what keeps me subscribed to this channel.

[@stevesayswhat]

This was actually a really good critical analysis of 80s sitcoms as opposed to being a fake conspiracy joke. Well done, After Hours!

[@TronaldTheWizard]

"Silver spoons whos the boss?" Lmao that was pretty good

[@lakikkelynneschroeder8397]

I've gone back and rewatched every video in this series over the last 2 days. Really wish you'd bring it back.

[@jasonjohnson4803]

Reasons why I watch after hours : 1. I admire Katie 2. It's funny and 3. It's always insightful.

[@DrSpaceman42]

Katie is the least funny one

[@Nomadic813]

​@@DrSpaceman42... Yeah that's internal bias on your part. They don't write their own lines. Every one of them writes full episodes of the whole thing and beyond some pretty loose characterization, their lines are more or less interchangeable.

[@DrSpaceman42]

@@Nomadic813 or maybe im not a fan of her delivery? Cope

[@pickledjellybean5016]

I thought it said it was uploaded 3 hours ago, not 3 years ago. My excitement jumped high, then fell off of a cliff.

[@rockhopper10r]

Interesting discussion and Soren in a tight polo shirt. This is one of the best videos ever!!! 😊

[@TheCharleseye]

Fast-forward thirty years: Maybe making everyone comfortable with the destruction of the nuclear family was the wrong tact...

[@dude2345672]

Maybe convincing everyone that divorce would result in the end of the world as we know it was the wrong tact...

[@TheCharleseye]

Note To Urist Except it _did_ end the world...as we knew it. That's what that phrase means. "The end of the world as we know it," doesn't refer to utter, physical destruction, necessarily. Merely to an overall transformation into something different than it once was. That being said, it wasn't actually the point I was making at all, but your argument is quite funny, seeing as how it defeats itself. Thanks for playing, though.

[@dude2345672]

Charles Eye Actually, the phrase means change into something SIGNIFICANTLY different than it once was, and, in the way people treated it then (and some still do now) as a worse world than before, which is the exact opposite of what opening up the availability of divorce did, if anything.

[@TheCharleseye]

Note To Urist Oh yeah. The world's a great place now. Kids are so much better off now that their parents never have to bother trying to work things out...

[@Peecamarke]

Yup you're right actually they are. Parents are happy and the kids are happy. If only they done that sooner, well only men were able to do it for a while, smh oooh, Amurca...

[@billiemcintyre275]

Oh god I remember the fridge episode of Punky Brewster. I never looked at fridges the same.

[@givememore4free]

That's why when you get rid of your fridges you need to take off the doors. Even though most fridges don't have a locking device on them. I don't remember that episode though.

[@billiemcintyre275]

givememore4free The gang was playing hide and seek and Cherie was about to lose so she hid in a fridge. She passed out and when they found her she wasn't breathing, so Punky had to use her new CPR skills. Harrowing, really.

[@TadBigby]

That moment when you realize you weren't the only person scarred by the fridge episode. 😂

[@OSCARMlLDE]

I swear Soren eyefucks and lovingly stares at Dan more every episode. Also I'd love to see an episode where Katie was missing and the boys just fuckin around.

[@jjk2639]

"Be really careful!" - Catchphrase, something they make fun of Internal humor, love it

[@ECL28E]

*Intentionally spills a jar of thumbtacks on the ground* Be really careful here.

[@CheeseCircus]

Missing mom sitcoms go all the way back to the 60s with Family Affair, The Andy Griffith Show, and My Three Sons. 70s had The Courtship of Eddy's Father.

[@smcneal057]

My goodness I never thought of this. I always wondered why did all those 80's shows have the Mom missing or dead. It makes sense now.

[@fanaticaH]

Weirdly enough this was also popular in Fairy Tales and it was some dark content that Disney didn't remove in their adaptations. It's weird how a lot of protagonists in general (not just Disney, but also characters like Harry Potter, Batman, Steven Universe) are orphans of one or both of their parents.

[@officerbucktuddrussel394]

eh I would also say that it has something to do with the fact that it's much easier to write a dad in comedy then it is for a mum. I mean there is a reason why we have the bumbling dumb dad trope but no mum equivalent because it's more easy to paint the muscle as a moron then it is the morale.

[@officerbucktuddrussel394]

Shariq Torres ya that's true I guess that's why most of the mother's after hour brought up "died"

[@snatchadams69]

To further that point 40-50% of marriages ended in divorce 70-80% were initiated by the woman..so t.v. shows just responded to the trend...

[@thejerg]

The numbers weren't there in the 80s though. I remember everyone being shocked to hear that 50% of marriages ended in divorce in the late 90s/early 2000s.

[@batmanlaughed800]

Nothing easy about it at all. Look at the dads in tv sit coms. They are all carbon copies of the most popular ones of their time. The only time there is ever an exception like an Al Bundy is when a show or network takes a chance on something new. What you should say is it's easier to write the same bafoonish Homer, or Hal, than it is to come up with something new. And someone else here really hit the nail on the head, the real issue is that the feminists would loose their ever loving tiny minds if someone wrote a stupid woman character. And since more than 3/4 of the audience for tv is female they know better than to piss all over their main source of bread and butter.

[@ileolai]

Lol, right-o. You've never heard of I Love Lucy then.

[@shepherdaaron9683]

“When God closes her casket, he doth open a window” and “Be really Careful Here” are now things I say somewhat regularly

[@chancenicely2417]

Woo-Hoo!! loved the sneaky way you managed to talk about silver and how its been going up! BUY BUY BEFORE ITS TOO LATE

[@marlogreene432]

@2:04 One of my all-time favorite Deany O'Beany moments. Swaim's quick side-eye is simple and beautiful. Even the 20th time around, this whole episode is one of my favorites. Peak Cracked right here.

[@thatguywithawatch53]

Katie's reaction when Dan was like "fuck you!" was basically the funniest thing I've seen from Cracked in years.

[@erictobias9679]

The 80s, in general, was all about neglect. Mom's and Dad's were always working, so kids were left alone a lot. At least, that's my childhood experience. :D

[@doctordoom85]

Thank you, Cracked. I used to be so confused at how so many people could love Full House even to this day. Now I see the light. So the next time someone mentions they love Full House I'll be sure to hug them and say, "I'm glad it was there when you needed a light in the darkness" and then walk away smiling as they stare at me in total bewilderment.

[@big_dro1713]

I appreciate the shoutout at 4:34.

[@Crazy56U]

0:11 Something I learned today: "Gimme a Break!" is a TV show.

[@carlrood4457]

Technically Who's The Boss had a dead mom and an absentee Dad. Angela's husband (technically they weren't divorced at the start of the show) appeared about twice during the run of the show. Actually Philip Drummond was very excited to have the boys live with him. He'd always wanted a son.

[@DangerousDan5]

Dec 2018 re-watching all the After Hours. Miss it.

[@pupcuz1]

Ok. I feel stupid. Can someone explain what Katie means when she says, “The basement? I thought he just lived downstairs and it was *understood.*” I feel like I am missing some sort of double entendre, but idk what.

[@RyanReeder]

Then you've got the ones where the Mother was present--"Growing Pains," "Family Ties," "The Cosby Show," "Mr. Belvedere." But I think your point about dealing with divorce in the '80s is probably relevant. It's probably also at the root of the trend of Disney films also featuring single-parent families. Here's another question, though: Why were there so many family sitcoms in that era and so few over the last twenty years or so? I think the family sitcom effected a response with the anti-family sitcom, such as "Roseanne," "Married With Children," and "The Simpsons." Then the traditional family sitcom eventually died out ("Home Improvement" (1991-1999) perhaps being the last example of this format). Then, interestingly, all we had left was "The Simpsons," which then evolved back into the closest thing we have today to the traditional family sitcom--what it was originally designed to respond against. Explain that!

[@brookeelliott4315]

That IS interesting though. As of late, sitcoms have moved away from families and center on groups of friends

[@carolsimpson4422]

Susan Faludi wrote about this phenomenon in "backlash: the undeclared war against American women in the 1980s"

[@thatgeekdad]

Next topic: Why did sitcom Dads go from funny yet still smart/intelligent to just idiots? George Jetson, Fred Flintstone, Barney Rumble, Tim from Home Improvement, step by step, According to Jim, Everybody Loves Raymond, Modern Family, etc.

[@alaskaguyd963]

I disagree. It all started with Ralph Kramden and his buddy Ed Norton. They were bumbling idiots with rational wives. Most sitcoms to date have followed that formula. You mention Fred and Barney who even talked just like them. The shows with dads that had their shit together were usually centered around the children. My 3 sons, Dennis the Menace, leave it to Beaver etc.

[@waynerembert3116]

@prettymonsterofevil Oh, you're one of those.

[@Alakaizer]

It's because of The Simpsons. They brought the bumbling husband/exasperated wife trope back through satire, and studios got the wrong idea, as they do.

[@dmaster2]

More after hours, opcd, and whatever that game one's name is.

[@AnthonySforza]

Escort Mission. Lowest Common Dominator is pretty cool, as well.

[@Zombiepull]

no. and why? just because u didnt care enough to say Please. no they cancel ALL of your favorited Cracked shows... just to teach u a lesson you little spoiled ass

[@therealdgh13]

I kinda liked Internet Content.

[@leprechaunluck24]

THE GAME ONE! Thats escort mission damnit! Thats my favorite!

[@bluestrife28]

Anyone know why they killed such a great channel? Money or they just didn’t like the truth of it all?

[@caesarmatty]

Silver is actually way down right now.

[@dooplon5083]

caesarmatty Well maybe it's because people keep selling them forks

[@SivartOrder66]

I love After Hours. Funny and well thought out every time! Down to earth dialogue and simple to follow but still deep in texture. Another fantastic episode. Keep it up!!!

[@Briansgate]

Because we just came out of the 70s of sitcoms with moms and not dads, like Alice and One Day At A Time.

[@Samael1113]

OMG! this is like the first well-written well-structured well-discussed episodes in probably a year. Good on you Cracked team for getting your shit back together for an episode. You should have given it more time and elaborated a bit more, but overall I am impressed. You get a golf clap sirs and madam.

[@Gonk]

"Married with Children" kept their mom but she was the most flawed of them all, God I love that show was fuckin hilarious.

[@VinnyDaQ]

"Bewildering sex talks and tampon shenanigans" - sounds like my childhood, since I was the only boy out of 4 children. : (

[@henri7120]

I miss this show and this cast

[@cheesecake134]

Dan's actual anger towards Katie is always hilarious.

[@Chris.Davies]

Katie did turn out great! One of my favourite internet people of all time.

[@Gmagnani100]

I'm quite young but in Italy, the afternoon programs were filled with reruns of 80's sit-coms and I've asked this question myself frequently, thank you for giving me an answer

[@theloniousswope2814]

I've been trying to deny it for the better part of a year but it's too much to bear now- it's true you guys really do hate doing this show. I am so sorry you're going through this and I wish I could offer any comfort or ideas. For what it's worth your talent and professionalism are unmatched in on-line video and whatever direction you go I hope it brings you joy and growth.

[@balls261]

Why do you say that?

[@Im_Behind_You]

This was one of the better ones in ages. Watchu talking 'bout [rest of catchphrase here]

[@finchcarvingadiamond]

What makes you think that? Did they actually say something about it?

[@Im_Behind_You]

***** Nope

[@mjohnson5030]

I'm not saying you are a Troll, because I don't know you, but this clickbait trigger-comment reeks of the food served beneath bridges. Best After hours in terms of content, writing AND performance. Thanks for playing, Rumplestilskin.

[@Irishprice1]

I still miss this show.

[@TheMotherfer]

Whose is the lady who keeps trying to get in the shot outside?

[@MerlinHills9004]

This actually adds a lot of weight to Abeds fixation to these shows specifically. Ya know, givin his whole situation with his mom

[@billyrobinson6815]

Holy cow good observation amigo

[@robinburt5735]

I have literally never seen any of those TV shows and i am older than all the cast.. To be fair though i am not from the US.

[@corsaircarl9582]

In Roseanne, it's proof that she *wrote* the story, she made the writing of her husband cheating on her when he actually died because symbolically, him dying made her feel 'betrayed', like he cheated on her.

[@WyldstaarStudios]

No mention of the most notorious Mom killing sitcom of them all? The show Valerie (1986-87) was renamed The Hogan Family (1987-88) after the Mom (Valerie) was killed off. Remember kids- demanding more money during contract negotiations doesn't always work out the way you expect it too!

[@zjenji]

The analysis was spot on. Would love to see these weekly if they can keep the content this good. Well done Cracked AH.

[@MichaelCoolGuy86]

Anyone else think Katie's pixie cut makes her look super cute?

[@SmartArtzzz]

After hours is what I subscribed for!

[@DyrconaBob]

My Three Sons - 1960, The Andy Griffith Show - 1960, A Family Affair - 1966, The Courtship of Eddie's Father - 1969 these are earlier examples of the trope.

[@vikkiikki1226]

I love the dialogue in this episode. It hits all the things I love about this serious-animated arguing between friends about pop culture concepts.

[@KcHazeMusic]

"Family is at the core of American Social Structure..." Don't most Americans leave home (or get kicked out) by 18? Whereas, Mexicans stay home until they're married, usually.

[@mf1520]

2:04 Sorens like "OH SH*T! What'cha gonna do Katie?"

[@jennifermc1221]

Is that Stars voice at the end?

[@StarlineHodge]

:)

[@shineymendoza]

Love this ep. Hope you guys do Katie's idea. Why are we obsessed with procedurals that center a tactless hero/heroine?

[@brendanobrien8198]

Mom Murderer would be a great mini series to find the missing moms.

[@WhitneyDahlin]

I'm soo glad they're making new episodes!!! This is my favorite cracked show!!

[@MantisUzumaki]

But it worked though, those shows had moral lessons and the moms being gone leads to emotional issues...more lessons and somehow better shows.

[@roninwarriorsfan]

full house is still dull, and the dad in that one is second-hand embarrassment incarnate.

[@PushingWalnut]

That's Bob Sagget. Watch some of his standup and I guarantee he will redeem himself :)

[@PushingWalnut]

Be warned though, it is VERY explicit stuff

[@Jack-rk7jc]

Full house is oddly comforting to watch. Great way to put it into words, guys

[@syntacticalcrab]

Jeez. I love After Hours. I learn so many things about social history in it, somehow XD

[@Roserae16]

I think this was your most profound episode. Seriously, I'm not being sarcastic, I feel like I learned something today. Nice work, this is why I'm subscribed :)

[@Talowolf]

Well here's a bonus for working graveyard.

[@ChainsGoldMask]

1:44 Micheal talks about the very thing that just happened to him and Abe in 2019. Sad irony

[@Char12403]

Not 80s but rest in peace Joyce Summers :(

[@MrsVincentsClassroom]

Charmanderaznable TOO SOON CHAR! 😭

[@falmiekeddy8270]

The 80s and 90s WERE a feel good time. But it was such a rouse.

[@supersizesenpai]

Personally my favorite sitcom was Dinosaur Detective. lol

[@dooplon5083]

chef12005 XD

[@negascoot23]

I'm more of a Detective Dinosaur man, personally.

[@jalisacater1213]

chef12005 actually I was more of a fan of The Vagina Whisper

[@IsaacMayerCreativeWorks]

Do you prefer the original with the dinosaur who works as a detective in the modern age, or the reboot with the detective who goes back into dinosaurs times to solve dinosaur crimes?

[@supersizesenpai]

Oh it's all about solving those dinosaur crimes. lmfao

[@afraider09]

I came to make sure someone mentioned the Queen of England joke Michael made xD Correction Michael, they have a King now.

[@aaronspillman1140]

My mother died when I was a baby and my father raised me. I really connected with full house

[@blue04mx53]

Thank you. that was one of the best ones in a while.

[@Isrjisoneavalable]

are the after hours episodes getting shorter?

[@Emh19]

i can only now just under 2 years later get all the house references mainly "if he says Lupis" but also the drawing

[@LisaLee__]

I thought I dreamt about the robot daughter show, someone please give me the name of that show!

[@Naraki11]

Luna Robocop

[@kjultra01]

Luna Small Wonder, it's reputable for being one of the WORST sitcoms of all time

[@WhatWouldDaraWatch]

Luna Small Wonder

[@greeng8er]

my life as a teenage robot

[@joemartin6078]

a.i. lol

[@plastickhero]

I can't unsee how Dan holds a pen. It's the Riker Maneuver all over again.