Where Fathers and Mothers Know Best

Despite Quayle's complaint, television is filled with families who may have faults but at least stick together

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The Simpsons too, despite its "eat my shorts" irreverence, presents a cohesive family that could almost be a role model, even if its constituent parts are not. Homer may be an incompetent father and breadwinner (stuck home alone to take care of baby Maggie, he manages to lose the kid), but his heart is in the right place (he feels terrible about it). When Homer loses his job at the nuclear power plant, Marge tells the kids they will have to pitch in to help save money. Bart volunteers to skip baths and read his comic books in the store rather than buy them. Talk about family spirit.

Nor has TV embraced such perceived threats to traditional family values as teenage sex and homosexuality. Doogie Howser lost his virginity last fall, but only after so much sensitive deliberating that it seemed virtually a religious act. Brenda slept with her boyfriend Dylan on Beverly Hills, 90210 but regretted it almost immediately. Roseanne's boss at the restaurant is gay, and C.J. (Amanda Donohoe) on L.A. Law is bisexual. But homosexual couples are kept almost entirely out of sight on series TV.

So are unwed mothers, though Murphy Brown had at least one important precursor. Molly Dodd, the neurotic single New Yorker played by Blair Brown in The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, found herself pregnant two years ago, and the suspense revolved around which boyfriend was the father: the white bookstore owner or the black policeman (the law carried the day). Yet the revelation caused little stir: the show was tucked away on cable, and went off the air shortly thereafter. It took a Top 10 network series that will undoubtedly be around for years to grab the Vice President's attention. Now he needs to do some channel switching.

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