When I was a kid, one of my family’s go-to TV shows was The Love Boat. This hour-long dramedy took place on a cruise ship. Every episode, the ship’s zany crew made a new voyage with new guest stars. Boasting one of the most ear-catching theme songs ever, it ran for 250 episodes over 10 seasons.

The Love Boat proved formative for me. Broadcasting in the early 1980s, the show coincided with my arriving at the age of accountability (an age God apparently first revealed to the Greeks and Romans). More critically, without any help from Mom and Dad, eight-year-old Jake decoded the magical method of this hit show.

Watching week after week, I discerned the following formula:

  • Act One: the ship sets sail with lovers loving
  • Act Two: on the open ocean, lovers fall to feuding
  • Act Three: the lovers reconcile as the ship returns to port

I felt downright prophetic as I began clocking the formula. At about 47 minutes past the hour, I’d look at our family’s grainy analog TV screen and say to myself, “The characters are about to start making up.”

Those Were the Days

In recent weeks, I’ve enjoyed deciphering another show’s formula, working my way through the sitcom Archie Bunker’s Place. This show ran in the early ’80s, just like The Love Boat. A spinoff of the classic All in the Family, Archie Bunker’s Place sees the titular character living out a comedy-of-errors life in Queens, New York. To mixed results, it straddled the subgenres of family and workplace sitcoms. Archie, now a widower, juggles restaurant ownership with raising an orphaned niece, played tenderly by Danielle Brisebois. (She’d previously appeared in the original Broadway production of Annie.)

Neither a big hit nor a huge flop, Archie Bunker’s Place ran for four seasons. Some episodes are wonderful, others are forgettable. As I worked my way through the series (thanks to free ad-supported streaming on Tubi), I experienced the same satisfaction I did with The Love Boat. I noticed the following formula:

  • Act One: Archie expresses bigotry by objecting to a loved one’s life choice
  • Act Two: Archie witnesses his loved one being persecuted by an even worse bigot than himself
  • Act Three: Archie experiences a change of heart, choosing to stand with his loved one

One of the best examples of this formula involves Season 2’s episode The Incident. Archie becomes self-conscious when neighbors see him grocery shopping with his housekeeper, a woman of color. Initially played for comedic effect, Archie exhibits bumbling self-consciousness. Things turn dramatic when Archie finds himself caught between his housekeeper and a white store manager whose racism plays far more cruel. As the situation escalates, Archie must choose between saving face with his fraternal lodge or setting an inclusive example for his young niece. It’s a mainstream sitcom, so no big spoiler to say Archie makes the right choice.

Worth noting: this is one of the top-rated episodes of the series on IMDb. The episode’s penultimate scene features actor Barbara Meek. Playing Archie’s housekeeper Ellen Canby, she reflects hauntingly on a moment she witnessed racism turn fatal.

You Are What You Eat (Watch)

I could do multiple posts on the cultural dynamics of 1970s sitcoms like Archie Bunker’s Place. How well has the show aged? How is it problematic by today’s standards? A big part of my enjoyment comes from experiencing these shows as cultural time capsules. Back then, what could make tired adults laugh at the end of a long day? What social trends concerned them? What outcomes brought them comfort?

I find Archie Bunker’s Place problematic in all the ways you’d expect. But I think the character of Archie has aged wonderfully. He may get his conspiracy theories from print copies of the National Enquirer instead of doom-scrolling on a smartphone, but folks… like Archie, our world hasn’t changed much.

It’s easy to point fingers and scoff at what offends you. Nobody’s garments are spotless on that score. I’m more interested in discussing what the formulas of popular shows say about us today. So readers, it’s time for you to weigh in.

Questions for Discussion

Think about shows show you enjoy. What formulas do you see utilized to tell the stories? How and why do they work?

What do the shows you watch, and the formulas they use, say about you? For better and worse.

Framing it as we do here at Wheat & Tares: In religion in general, and Mormonism in specific, what formulas do you see church leaders and parents relying on to inspire and persuade?