At Home with the Webbers

On Thursday, January 11, 1973, the first broadcast of An American Family changed television history forever. A 12-hour documentary series on PBS, An American Family chronicled seven months in the day-to-day lives of the William C. Loud family of Santa Barbara, California. An audience of ten million viewers watched in fascination the unfolding real-life drama of Bill and Pat Loud, and their five children, Lance, Kevin, Grant, Delilah and Michele.

The series challenged conventional views of middle class American family life with its depiction of marital tensions that led to divorce, an elder son's gay lifestyle and the changing values of American families. Prior to An American Family, the staples of television family programs such as The Brady Bunch profiled a model of the perfectly happy family that seldom faced any crisis. The broadcast of An American Family in 1973 proved to be a groundbreaking watershed that forever changed American television programming and led the way to more complex family portraits such as Roseanne, One Day At A Time and even The Simpsons.

TV Guide magazine acknowledged An American Family as the first reality television series and named it among "The 50 Greatest Shows of All Time." Lance Loud, the eldest son of the family, was the first openly gay person to appear on television as an integral member of American family life. Alan and Susan Raymond, the filmmakers of the original An American Family PBS series, remained friends with the Loud family and have continued to chronicle their lives for the past 30 years. They produced and directed An American Family Revisited in 1983 and bring audiences this "final episode" of the Loud family saga.

Pre-dating the whole reality TV craze, "The Webbers" is about "an average American family" who agree to have their daily life broadcast on TV. Dad's a psychiatrist lacking patients; mom's a sad and horny housewife; son's isolated himself from the world after the death of his beloved girlfriend; and daughter's an aspiring sculptor obsessed with male nudes.

The film is hit-and-miss from start to finish, but when it hits the mark, it's a bullseye. Fans of Jeffrey Tambor in "Arrested Development" would probably get a kick out of his warped character here; fans of David Arquette would probably enjoy his sensitive portrayal. Jennifer Tilly, however, devours the scenery at every opportunity, in a portrayal that's hilarious and far more three-dimensional than the standard airhead bimbo that she always gets stuck playing (she even gets to sing a fun little song here!) – she's still an airhead and a bimbo, but it's a really juicy role. Robbie Benson also gives a memorably campy performance as a lecherous TV exec who tries to pit members of the family against each other to sustain high ratings.

It's a shame that this one went straight to video where it remains unnoticed all these years later. It's uneven, but has some fantastic moments, and it's a worthwhile time waster for fans of the cast, as well as those who are annoyed by reality TV.

Unforgettably bad from the first frame to the last. Utterly uncinematic, wholly uninspired dialogue, and no discernable plot development. Both David Arquette and Jeffrey Tambor seem to have been labotomized. And Jennifer Tilly, try though she might, sinks under the weight of her severely underdeveloped character. For a film that attempts to satirize the superficiality of media culture, this mess comes off more shallow and empty than any reality show currently plaguing the airwaves. Though it clocks in at about 100 minutes, this excruciatingly boring film drags on for what seems like an eternity. Run, don't walk, from this dreck.

This movie is sarcastic yet good-hearted. It sticks it to the bad reality TV guys and has the nice guys come out alright in the end. Jeffrey Tambor is brilliant as the father. Rita Taggart as the mom. The children are well played as well. Leslie Sachs deserves special mention for a sensitive and endearing turn. Made in 1993 this movie is more relevant now than it was then. Then it was a (unheeded) warning and now it's a rueful look at the moronic new millennium.

I could listen to Jennifer Tilly's voice until the Sun became a red giant. I don't know if this movie has become a Midnight Movie cult classic anywhere, but it deserves to be for her solo song/dance. I rarely laugh outloud viewing a video alone. I did on frequent occasions for this flick. Jeff Tambor's silent takes..so classic. Robby Benson was repulsively vile as the rep of mindless media intrusion. I'd not heard anything about the movie and just picked it up at the library because of J.T. Now I'd recommend it to anyone who wants a quick elevator out of the dumps.