What the ‘perfect’ 1950s family looked like

Even though most people consider this a more modern problem, as early as 1950, the traditional family dinner and family time was going by the wayside.

With the relatively new distraction of television, families would sometimes pick up dinner and adjourn directly to the couch to watch their favorite program — all of this, of course, long before the days of VCRs and streaming video services like Hulu, Vudu and Amazon that allow us to watch whatever we want, whenever we want.

But back in the “Leave it to Beaver” era, already some folks thought there was a need to combat this alarming trend.

Long before this short film was skewered mercilessly (and hilariously) by Mystery Science Theater 3000, “A Date With Your Family” was aimed right at those folks who zoned out in front of the boob tube while forking down some TV dinners. – AJW