brilliant and fascinating documentary follow the life of a typical american family in santa barbara and ca and during the early 1970 . the 12 part series be commission for pb and run every thursday night from january 11 and 1973 and through march 29 and 1973. at the time and i be 8 year old and and i recall much of the controversy surround the program and as well a my own family reaction to it . unfortunately and the loud family purportedly receive tremendous public criticism a be cold and materialistic and unsympathetic figure . have recently view the series in it entirety and i find these accusation completely unwarranted . i come of age in the same era while i can say quite honestly that the louds weren not much different from my own family or any others in our neighborhood for that matter . admittedly and they be a bit more affluent than average american and but the family dynamic be just the same . they have the same fear and the same desire and the same inability to communicate their feeling that every other american family of the 1970 have . the series be certainly groundbreaking . remember and this precede the real world by 20 year . the idea of follow real people 24 hour a day and 7 day a week to present the whole life experience have never be do before . make no mistake and though and this be not the reality tv foist on the public today . there little cursing and no hair pull and no fistfight and and none of the trailer park exploitation feed to nielsen family in the new millennium . those who enjoy the obscenity of a jerry springer episode definitely should avoid this series . although the filmmaker have also be criticize for use their camera to manipulate emotion and the series do appear to be a genuine attempt to simply chronicle the life of ordinary people . only once do an obvious manipulation occur and a dramatic cliffhanger at the end of the 8th episode when pat loud have decide to divorce her husband and and son grant be force to pick his dad up at the airport and know exactly what will transpire when they get home . additionally and far too much have be write about flamboyant son lance and the infamous episode in which he come out to mother pat . although lance be a wonderfully outrageous presence and enliven the scene in which he appear and he really doesn not dominate the series to the extent one would think . i actually identify more with young brother grant and who at 17 and just want to strum his guitar and enjoy his last summer before adulthood and while dad bill prefer his son work . with five child and there be many different archetype to be find here . i find it difficult to believe that someone couldn not identify with at least one . an american family be best view from a cultural and sociological context . indeed and anyone interested in the era should seek out this program . even when the situation and dialog fail to engage ( there be plenty of low key moment amidst the angst ) and it fun to watch a filmed time capsule of 1971 where you can see dial telephone and pop top beer can and smoking in retail shop and and defunct airline like pan be . of course and this be essentially a real life soap opera and so many poignant moment occur . the scene where pat and bill attend a santa barbara fiesta be almost painful to watch and not because of what be say and but because of what isn not . the look on pat face a she carefully watch bill talk animatedly with another woman speak volume about the state of their fragile marriage . another sad moment come in the now infamous footage of lance rid his bike through the hill of santa barbara and while in voice over and bill read a letter to his son explain the destruction of the marriage and how he hop one day he and his son can be friend . despite the occasionally banal dialog and petty squabble and this be obviously a family with whom love be deep yet unspoken and and emotion that be universal . some have deem an american family tragic . i do not think it be tragic from the standpoint that one son be gay or that the parent marriage dissolve . i do not even think it tragic because the filming of their life perhaps accelerate certain unpleasant event and leave lance to decry later and television ate my family . no and the real tragedy here be that the louds be really no different from your own friend and family and neighbor and and they still aren not . 35 year later and american be no good at communication and solve problem . a a society and we apparently haven not learn any lesson from history either . it easy to look at another family and pas judgment and especially when the unhappiness you see be secretly a reflection of your own unsatisfied life . truthfully and the american family be even more broken now than ever before and which ironically and give this series more relevance today than it have 35 year ago . out of 4 star .