Answer:If you’re new to the US, watching television is one of the easiest ways to get to know what kind of people Americans are, what they value, and how they live. Of course, nothing can compare to the real-life conversations you’ll have when you get out into the community and meet people face-to-face—but TV is an accessible introduction to American culture before you make new friends.
Even though they’re often exaggerated versions of real life, American TV shows can tell you more about the dynamics of everyday life in the US. They can also offer you a glimpse into American core values and traditions. Watching TV shows, you can learn about American family life, workplace dynamics, how to use common phrases, trends in dress, and hot topics of conversation.
Interested in watching some American TV? Check out our ten favorite shows that represent American people, values, and culture.
1. Modern Family
The title of this show offers a glimpse into what this comedy is all about. “Modern Family” reflects what American families look like today.
“Modern Family” explores the relationships between different types of American households. We follow the stories of one extended family: Mitchell and Cameron, a gay couple, and their adopted Vietnamese daughter; Phil and Claire, a straight couple, and their three children; and Jay and his second wife Gloria, a Colombian emigrant, and her son Manny, from a previous marriage.
The show first aired in 2009 and is popular with more conservative Americans. It focuses on how this family interacts with each other, rather than their relationships with the outside world. The show covers many other themes that will help you to understand modern American culture, including technology (it wouldn’t be a modern family without that) and defining the roles of mothers and fathers in modern-day American society.
2. Friends
“Friends” aired on TV for ten years, beginning in 1994—and it continues to be a pop culture phenomenon in America, even 13 years after its last filmed episode. “Friends” has inspired trends in clothing, hairstyles, and even some slang words. It probably wouldn’t be going too far to say that the show has even changed the way Americans interact with each other.
“Friends” follows the friendships of six 20-something New Yorkers. While most TV shows up to this time focused on family life, this show is about friendships—it shows that a group of friends can be a family.
Where older American TV shows often end each episode with a moral lesson, “Friends” instead focuses on the daily life of the characters. Instead of concentrating on topics like race, class or other big issues, the episodes center on the dynamics of friendship.
Years after the show ended, you can still say famous phrases from the show, like, “We were on a break!”, “How you doin’?”, and “Oh. My. God.” Americans will know that you’re referencing “Friends”. Of course, the last two phrases will only work if you say them in the characters’ voices—you’ll just have to watch the show to hear them firsthand.
3. Full House
“Full House” was a staple of many households’ TV viewing in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The show is still popular to this day— it inspired a reboot in 2016 called “Fuller House”.
“Full House” centers on Danny Tanner and his family. After the death of his wife, Danny is struggling to raise his three young daughters, so he enlists the help of his best friend, Joey, and Danny’s brother-in-law, Jesse. This living situation is supposed to be temporary, but it ends up becoming long-term, and Joey and Jesse become like second fathers to the three girls.
The show was a major influence on American pop culture when it originally aired. “Full House” represents society’s transition from a conventional family structure to less traditional families—or, perhaps, more realistic families. It also had some pretty memorable catch phrases, like, “You got it, dude,” “How rude!”, “Oh, Mylanta!”, and “Cut. It. Out.” But don’t try to say these phrases now—the show ended in 1995, so they’re not quite as well-known anymore.
4. Parks and Recreation
“Parks and Rec” (as it’s abbreviated) ran for seven years, starting in 2009. While the show is full of laughs, it also gives you a glimpse inside a section of American government on a tiny scale.
This show is based around the rising career of Leslie Knope, an overly positive, mid-level government employee in the Parks Department of Pawnee, a fictional town in Indiana. Using the setting of the Parks Department, “Parks and Rec” tackles current-day American issues such as advancement of women in the workplace, political activism, and anti-corporate sentiments in a funny way.
Watching the show, you’ll become acquainted with cultural slang words and the American sense of humor as Leslie and the other Pawnee government employees react to the daily and sometimes mundane tasks of running the Parks Department.
Step-by-step explanation: