"Whaddaya gonna do?"

I’ve never seen an episode, but I am fascinated by the buzz. Of course, I’m especially fascinated by the unrelenting presence of family tables in popular culture. I think perhaps the truest portrayal in most recent television was the Barone family, where the kids almost never ate with the adults, but were set to the side (except in the finale). Even TV families struggle to find a way to get together for dinner. :)

When they want to show the “regular people” side of a character or group of characters, screenwriters seem to lean on the table: The Sopranos, Everybody Loves Raymond, Sex and the City, Friends, Seinfeld, Happy Days, the Brady Bunch, Leave it to Beaver.

After all, ya gotta eat. But sometimes I wonder if a bit of the symbolism isn’t lost on viewers, especially when we’re told how few people actually gather at a table regularly with their family. Do you think cultural references to the family table might one day end up as amusing as Gordon Gekko’s Wall Street cell phone?