Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Skyler Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

guanche I remember this show from when I was a college student. I even had a moronic professor who assigned us episodes to watch. It always rubbed me the wrong way, and I had to endure lynch mob-like opprobrium from my contemporaries when I tried to explain why. Especially when I said that I hoped Lance would just get it over with and commit suicide already rather than torturing his family (who loved him and accepted his homosexuality) with his constant false alarms and solipsistic behavior.The show reminded me of the sort of TV programs shown in the futuristic society depicted in 1966's "Fahrenheit 451". A time and place where books and independent thought were banned. That film (based on an earlier book by Ray Bradbury) seemed dated, even by the 70s, but is more topical than ever now. And it reminded me of this series, where the lives of insufferably self centered people supplant any and all larger concerns, including abstract and critical thought itself. The fact that this travesty ran on a publicly funded station makes it a milestone in the dumbing down of our society.Group narcissism at it's most nauseating!

cllrdr-1 I saw it when it was first ran and taped it when it was repeated during the first Gulf War.Despite all the pontificating and finger-pointing the Louds come off as quite a nice family. Divorce didn't "tear them apart" at all. They're still connected to one another to this very day.Lance was of course the breakout 'star" of the show, thanks to episode for. The critics claimed he "came out" in this episode. But Lance was never "in," and his whole family adored him. Bill's disapproval had less to do with Lance's sexuality than the fact that he was goofing off too much and should set some goals in life. Lance tried a number of them, with mixed success, but he remained a terrific guy. (I got to know him personally as we were both writing for "The Advocate" and had many mutual friends.) His memorial service (captured in the documentary sequel "ADeath in An American Family" ) was quite an occasion, bringing together all manner of people in the arts and all the Loud family to celebrate Lance's life.

nocompassneeded One of the key aspects that makes this series compelling is the director's insistence that it somehow adheres to strict rules (if such are even theoretically possible) of cinema Veriee. So much of the "reality" we observe in this precursor to the current deluge of reality shows is very subtly contrived. Given the fact that Pat and Bill were on the outs well before the series started, plus the fact that Lance had already come out, much the seemingly real-time tension viewers experience is really quite contrived in much the same manner as a scripted soap opera. The show--even in all of its heavy handed scandal-mongering--does illustrate the strains present in many modern nuclear families and does elicit much interest if only for the fact that it captures the strange transition between the spontaneous daily drama of life as seen from a fly on the wall and the media's shaping of such drama to suit its own thesis. By watching Lance, who even goes so far as to tip off the audience by self-consciously parodying his on-stage persona, we can readily observe the innocent wonder years of PBS well before it grew into the great dictator of perception that it is today.

clara-17 The Loud family did not reside in Santa Monica, but Santa Barbara, California. Several mass media books incorrectly site Santa Monica as the central filming location for this ground-breaking documentary. Otherwise, Zog-3's comments are correct. "An American Family" is an exemplary American cinema verite film. For serious fans of the documentary genre, this thirteen part television series is a must see!