Single Parents on TVWhen we think of TV families, they usually mean happy nuclear families with a mom, dad and a few kids. What happens if this family is not a full family and a parental figure is missing? Would the disappearance of a parent really affect the way a child is raised? The realization of single-parent families in everyday households is becoming more and more a reality in the United States, and television shows talk about this fact. The new trend on television is to have a single mother or father facing the risk of becoming a single parent, while raising two or three children, working full time and continuing to take care of the household. The Parents Television Council examined all original series airing in prime time (8 p.m.-11 p.m.) on the broadcast networks during the 2001-2002 television season. The analysis covered 119 programs representing 150 children. The main findings are: 47% live in a traditional family with their biological parents married, 14% are raised by single fathers, and 90% of TV's single fathers are widowed. On the 97 television channels...