Part of the history of American TV involves families, some of which are functional, and some of which are dysfunctional. Early successes include “The Donna Reed Show” (1958 to 1966) named for one of the country’s most acclaimed movie actresses. Reed had the lead female lead in “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946). “My Three Sons” (1960 to 1972) starred another successful movie actor–Frederick MacMurray. Walter Brennan won three Oscars. He starred in “The Real McCoys” (1957 to 1963).
And, not all TV families include real people. “The Simpsons” has been on the air for 33 years.
To determine America’s favorite TV family, 24/7 developed an index based on internet popularity as measured by average daily pageviews on Wikipedia between Dec. 21, 2018 and Dec. 21, 2021, as well as average user ratings and number of reviews on IMDb, an online movie database owned by Amazon. (All three measures were weighted equally. Data on series runs comes from IMDb.)
One thing that’s clear is that families on the small screen have changed dramatically since the advent of television in the early 1950s. In the early days, they were white nuclear families, composed of a husband and wife and children. Some were light sit-coms such as “Father Knows Best” and “Leave it to Beaver” in which lessons about character and making the right choices in life were imparted. Others were shows like “I Love Lucy” that featured slapstick humor.
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The television family evolved in the 1960s to include ghoulish-themed programs such as “The Addams Family” and “The Munsters.” Comedy still ruled in family fare in the 1970s, but shows like “All in the Family” upended the genre by addressing such issues as racism and the war in Vietnam and shows like “The Jeffersons” and “Good Times” found comedy fodder with families of color.
Later, TV began depicting Hispanic families on programs such as “One Day at a Time” and Asian families on programs like “Fresh Off the Boat”. In 2009, to reflect the reality of blended families, ABC began airing “Modern Family,” a long-running comedy about the Pritchett and Dunphy families that included a family headed by a gay couple.
Not all TV families are comedic, of course. Consider the eponymous mafia-linked Sopranos, the Lannister dynasty in the bloody “Game of Thrones,” and the high-handed Duttons in “Yellowstone.”
America’s favorite TV family is House of Lannister. Here are the details:
> Show: Game of Thrones (2011-2019)
> Daily avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 22,937
> IMDb user rating: 9.2/10
> IMDb user reviews: 1,911,759 votes
America’s Favorite TV family is the House of Lannister from the medieval fantasy series “Game of Thrones” on HBO. The series amassed more than 1.9 million user reviews on IMDb, by far the most of any shows on this list. It won 59 Emmys over eight seasons, and is one of only two shows with a 9.2 IMDb user rating.
Click here to read America’s Favorite TV Families
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