Top family TV shows at our house

Our family is pretty addicted to TV. Watching the tube is a participatory event at our house and very little vegging-out actually occurs. This can be a good thing and a bad thing.

The good part is that the kids are engaged with what they see. A single sit-com episode might inspire several trips to Google, dragging out the atlas, measuring and note-taking along with constant talking over the dialogue-- so much so that we have to go back and watch the episode again.

The bad thing is that some nights I'm so tired from my day that the last thing I want to do is moderate an argument about whether it was Aerosmith or ZZ Top who appeared on the "Flaming Moe's" episode of the Simpsons (it was Aerosmith).

We seem to be pretty caught up in the 70's and 80's around here (for movies too). Between Netflix and sites like Hulu and Fancast, we rarely watch broadcast TV. Which is a good thing since we're living on borrowed time with our old analog set.

Here are some of the Bowen-Biggs' Favorite Family TV Shows. I hope you will add your favorites to the list. These are for school aged kids. When they were younger we pretty much only watched PBS Kids (Zoom was our favorite!)

1. MacGyver -- Probably the most influential TV show for our family. Handsome, rugged scientist with a mullet and a heart of gold. Loved the environment before it was cool. Totally turned my kids onto science. Memorable Quote: "Well, when it comes down to me against a situation, I don't like the situation to win." And V just reminded me that Henry Winkler (yes, the Fonz) was a producer of the show. Whats not to like?
Best ages 7-12. Don't bother watching the last season, its terrible. You can get away with giving your kids nothing but Duct tape for birthdays and Christmas for several years if they are fans of this show.

2. Gilligan's Island -- Who needs the modern show "Lost" when you can watch the original? Gilligan and the Skipper are adorably buffoonish, the Howells are howlingly funny and Ginger and Mary Anne are still some of the sexiest women ever to be on TV. And the professor. . .who do you think MacGyver got it from? Best ages 6-11. Older kids can be too "cool" for the cheezy sets.

3. Brady Bunch -- Okay, it sounds corny, but when my kids were about 8-12 they loved this show. The Brady kids are always doing something interesting: putting on plays, writing jingles that they hope will make them famous, attempting to break Guinness records. Just the kinds of things that my kids like to do in their spare time. And while Greg pulled pranks on his younger siblings and often dressed like a game show host, he was a good brother. Plus, if your kids ever complain about sharing a room you can remind them that all six Brady kids had to share only two rooms.

4. The Simpsons -- this is my most controversial pick, but say what you will about it, Marge Simpsons is the inspiration for my most successful parenting tricks. My kids have never bought into any of my attempts to discipline them unless they saw it first on the Simpsons. I'll admit that my kids have been watching this since they were very young. In fact, when I found out I was pregnant with V, in my panic/confusion/joy I immediately wrote out a list of families that I knew with three kids. The Simpsons were at the top of the list.

Other shows worth mentioning: Mork and Mindy, Charmed, Freaks and Geeks, Dr. Who (our latest obsession)

What are your go-to shows for family viewing? Outside of the box please! And let us know what ages you think are best.