It was family time when we sat around watching sitcoms in the 80's

I still remember rushing home from school, tossing my backpack on the floor and plopping down on the couch in front of our old boxy Zenith television set. The screen would flare to life in a flash of static as I flipped through the few channels we had back then with the turn of a dial. Finally settling on one of my favorite shows, I’d sit glued to the screen, laughter filling up our little living room.

Those classic 80s sitcoms were such a huge part of my childhood. Back then, TV options were pretty limited compared to today. We didn’t have hundreds of channels or streaming services. For the most part, families had just a handful of network stations to choose from. This meant the shows that did make it on the air ended up being watched by a huge portion of the country. These sitcoms weren’t just TV shows — they were a shared experience that brought people together.

I have such vivid memories of my whole family gathering in front of that Zenith TV to watch shows like The Cosby Show, Family Ties, and Cheers. We only had one television back then, which obviously sat there in the living room, so if you wanted to watch something, the whole household was watching it together. I’d be sprawled out on the shag carpet, my parents on the couch behind me, and my brother in the recliner next to them. The whole family…