Hi, there. My name is Ethan Thompson and I
study, teach, and write about TV history. A couple of years ago, I chanced upon a TV show that has dominated my work since, and led me to embark upon making a feature-length documentary, TV Family, that now needs a little help crossing the finish line of
postproduction.
In TV Family, a Texas family reflects on the forgotten television documentary produced about them in 1960, describing how the program both mirrored and distorted the reality of their lives. Combining rare footage with new interviews, TV Family opens a window onto the limitations of television and representations of family in midcentury America. It also features leading media scholars who help explain the show's historical significance and as well as its connection to today's family-reality TV programs. My hope is to have the film finished by spring 2015.
About the Project
I grew up in south Texas, went to the University of Texas at
Austin as an undergrad, then studied film and television as a graduate student
at the University of Southern California. After that, I returned to south
Texas, where I live with my family and teach at Texas A&M University –
Corpus Christi. I’m the author or editor of three books about television, and this is my first feature-length documentary.
Back in 2012, I was talking casually with
another parent about what I did for a living, when she told me that her family had
been the subject of an NBC TV Special in 1960 called Story of a Family. That
parent’s name was Carrie Robertson Meyer. At first, I thought maybe she was talking about An American Family, the well known show that is considered the first family-reality program, like The Osbournes or Duck Dynasty. But that show was from 1973 and on PBS, and the family in it are the Louds of Santa Barbara, CA, not the Robertsons of Amarillo, TX. I hadn’t heard about any other specials about “real” families before that in TV history. Carrie let me borrow a copy of her family’s show on VHS, and when I finally got around to watching it, I couldn’t believe what I saw.
[You can watch some clips from NBC's Story of a Family below.]
Story of a Family didn’t look like a typical
documentary, because it was hosted by Jane Wyatt, the mom from Father Knows
Best. And it featured all the members of the Robertson family reenacting scenes
from their lives. It also was fascinating as a document of postwar ideas about
gender and family roles. Jane Wyatt even said it herself at the beginning of
the program: the purpose was to find the meaning of family. More than a typical documentary, the show looked like it wanted to
be an entertaining show about family. It even called itself “a new kind of
visual reporting.” Story of a Family wanted to be a family-reality program—but
what we know as reality TV didn’t exist in 1960.
After I finished watching the show and emailed Carrie about five or six times about how interesting and surprising it was, I looked to see if any media historians or others in the field of TV studies had written about Story of a Family. There was nothing. Not only that, but the show wasn’t in any of the big media archives such as the Paley Center or UCLA Film & Television Archive. It was a missing piece of TV history, and the Robertson family were the only ones who knew about it.
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I immediately wanted to share Story of a
Family, and explain what was significant about it, with others. But I didn’t
just want to write an academic paper. I thought this was a terrific
opportunity to tell a story about television and American cultural history to a
broader audience, in the more compelling form of a documentary.
Because of my contact with Carrie, I thought I had a chance of involving the
Robertsons in the project, too. Luckily for me, not only did the Robertsons agree to participate, but they all proved to be terrific on camera and generously shared their stories. My wife was excited by
this new opportunity as well, and we paid for our first shoot in Amarillo
directly out of our own pocket. I was also able to talk a couple of terrific
former TAMUCC students and current media professionals into helping: Megan
Bercaw and James Rubin. They helped conduct the initial interviews we shot with
the Robertsons in 2012 and 2013, as well as a series of interviews with media
experts at a conference in Chicago. A grant from my university helped pay for that travel and
assistance, but that money is long gone.
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Since the end of 2013, I have worked long, hard, and
alone on TV Family, and I am very proud of what I have accomplished. TV Family is not a “maybe.” It already exists in the form of a 80 minute cut
and it will get across the finish line. I’ve posted a five minute excerpt that
you can watch and get a sense of what the documentary is like. The question is just how good TV
Family will be--I need help getting TV Family across the finish line in style.
What We Need
Your contributions to TV Family will pay for
these key things:
1. Sound editing. TV Family
includes interviews with ten different people, and clips not just from Story of
a Family, but many other kinds of video footage, including films, TV shows,
newsreels, still photos, etc. TV Family looks really good—but it doesn't sound
very good. It needs a careful sound edit by an experienced editor, not me.
2. Titles. Contributions
will also pay for opening credits and intertitles, which are currently being
done by an experienced designer who has worked on, amongst other things, a
variety of documentaries and music videos. There is no voiceover on TV Family,
so these are very important, and will elevate TV Family beyond what is commonly
produced in editing programs.
3. Score. An original score (which I plan to incorporate sparingly) is currently being produced which draws inspiration from the period and place of Story of
a Family: the late 50s, early 60s Texas plains--think Buddy Holly meets Chet Atkins.
Those things are the major pieces necessary to complete TV Family. Beyond them,
funds will help pay for costs associated with the production of discs, and submission
to film festivals. Thank you so much for considering helping out.
What You Get
$15 -- A “Thank you” with your name in the credits.
$25 -- Digital download of TV Family, plus a thank you in the
credits.
$50 -- Copy of TV Family on disc, a digital download, and a
thank you in the credits.
$100 -- A copy of my handsome co-edited book, How to Watch Television (a $29 value!), signed and
personally inscribed to you, plus a digital download of TV Family and a thank
you in the credits.
$150 -- The whole shebang: an inscribed copy of How to Watch Television, TV Family on
disc and digital download, and a thank you in the credits.
Really, Really Want to Help?
$1000 -- An Associate Producer credit to acknowledge your substantial support of the film.
Other Ways You Can Help
I understand some people just can't contribute $$$, but that doesn't mean you can't help. Please help share the word about our project and campaign. You can also follow TV Family's Facebook Page for updates.