thought on TV shows, etc

I only just noticed the transition of TV shows through the 80s, 90s, and 00s from shows about families (Full House, Alf, Who's The Boss, and...oh help...that one about the family with Michael J Fox? And/or the one with...uh...oh man, I don't remember his name anymore...Cameron someone?) towards shows oriented around groups of friends (Friends, Sex In The City, Fraiser, Cheers, Seinfeld), towards shows oriented around workplaces (the CSIs, the SVUs, the Stargates - it's spinoff city!).

Maybe this is just the perception of a fanfic writer, but it appears as though, in spite of the orientation change, the viewers (and the fans) attempt to maintain the sense of family connection, even in the workplace shows. Especially in the workplace shows. Sometimes in focusing on relationship connections made at work, sometimes in focusing on team output and the sense of family found by solitary oddballs drawn together by winds of fate and chance, etc, etc, but always trying to maintain the sense of family.

Not everything fits neatly into these categories of course: Supernatural is about two brothers, so is Prison Break; Smallville is more about a group of friends as is Veronica Mars - although those last two are about school which is the adolescent equivalent of work.

BSG melds family, friends, and workplace with an 'end of the world as we know it and I feel fine' scenario all at once.

And who knows what Dr. Who is about.

I'm sure someone's written papers on these trends before (banfennid, would you know?), but I only just noticed them.