The Tulip Driven Life

By: Thomas F. Booher I can still remember watching shows centered around family when I was young. Very young, like seven. You remember them: Family Matters, Growing Pains, Full House, The Cosby Show. Family Matters held on til 1998; Growing Pains 1992; Full House 1995; The Cosby Show 1992. Now look at the lineup of shows today on stations that you would expect to be family oriented. Let's take the obvious one -- ABC Family. They boast shows such as Pretty Little Liars, Switched at Birth, The Vineyard, Twisted, and yes, Baby Daddy. With exception perhaps to The Vineyard, I think you get the idea of what these shows are about, and not only are they not about the traditional family and its values, they are diametrically opposed to them. It's not as if going back to the family sitcoms of 20 years ago will fix things -- obviously it was on the brink of extinction even at that point. The actors in those shows have track records that indicate they weren't really much for f