12 TV Families Ranked From Worst To Best
4. The Walkers Brothers And Sisters
On paper, the Walkers are a very desirable family to be part of. Who wouldn't want to grow up in a lovely suburban Pasadena home with Miranda from Mrs Doubtfire as a parent and a successful food company to fall back on should your career aspirations go south? Yes, everything seemed like roses on Brothers and Sisters until William the man of the house snuffed it and left his offspring to deal with the fallout of his lying, philandering and mis-management of their business for the next five years. Compared to the rest of the entrants on this list, the Walkers come off on the more realistic side of things. To their acquaintances they're the perfect picture of a middle-class American family. All five children are smart, hold down good jobs, have thriving children of their own and enough witty banter to keep their conversations from going stale. It's only after they close the door to the outside world that their unresolved tensions start to manifest themselves. Over the seasons they've dealt with bankruptcy, cancer, drug addiction, infidelity, infertility, paternity drama and a whole host of other issues that inevitably rear their ugly heads during their infamous family dinners. To be fair to them, in the face of their numerous crises we as the audience are never in doubt as to how deeply the Walkers care for one another. Sally Field plays Nora, the glue that holds them all together to perfection and when the scenes aren't filled with the siblings reeling from the latest revelation, they're padded out with everyone either apologising to each other or seeking advice on their conflicts. With the exception of Tommy who was thankfully put on a bus after season four, Brothers and Sisters is one of the rare instances where I actually like all the family members in their own way. They don't hide behind their perfectly trimmed lawn whenever things start going wrong, they stand up to them together and even manage to make light of some of their darkest moments, which are lessons we all could learn.