TV on a Budget: 10 Blue-Collar Classics

By stella.louise (view all posts by stella.louise)
at 11:31AM Friday May 29, 2009
under Stuff We Like

Over at WalletPop, Aaron Crowe writes about the new trend in television with recession-inspired programming. With the one-hour special UN-BROKE airing tonight on ABC, it does seem like Crowe's assertion about TV bringing the recession right to your living room is coming to fruition.

But while shows singing the budget blues might seem like news, blue-collar heroism has long been a staple subject in television. Here are ten Savings.com favorites:

The Honeymooners - Bus driver Ralph Kramden and long-suffering wife Alice epitomize the hopes and dreams of the working class. The iconic comedy inspired The Flintstones and numerous other blue-collar sitcoms but remains the unparalleled original.
All in the Family - While Norman Lear used this groundbreaking sitcom to explore issues of racism, chauvinism, politics and war, Archie Bunker was the original King of Queens--hardworking, persevering and ultimately good-hearted.
Good Times - A spin-off of an All in the Family spin-off, this show about the Evans family struggling to make the best of life in the Chicago housing projects launched Jimmie (Dy-no-MITE!) Walker's career. But it was its unflinching depiction of working class issues like possible eviction, unemployment, poor living conditions that made it relevant.

Roseanne - The antithesis to The Cosby Show, Roseanne was not only a paean to the working class, but a far more authentic depiction of family--dysfunction and all.
Alice - Inspired by the movie Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, this show portrayed a single Mom working as a waitress while raising her teenage son and dreaming of her big break as a singer. Optimism and persistence and a "Kiss My Grits!" attitude towards life make it a classic underdog story.
Grace Under Fire - Yet another single Mom struggling to make ends meet--but highlighting the more serious issues of domestic abuse and alcoholism and still managing to be heart-warming and funny.
King of Queens - Doug Heffernan is a deliveryman for IPS who deals with everyday problems like crazy in-laws, mold damage, barking dogs, insurance rates, bowling leagues and jury duty.
King of the Hill - This animated series details the life and times of hardworking and beer-drinking Hank Hill whose mantra is: "I don't have an anger problem, I have an idiot problem."
Married with Children - Al Bundy has a job he hates, demanding wife, clueless kids and all of the other trials that come with middle-class life in suburbia. Don't we all?
Little House on the Prairie - You think you have it tough? Try living without indoor plumbing or electricity! Of course the Ingalls family takes the term "working class" to the extreme, watching them struggle to get through the winter in Minnesota might make you re-think your priorities.

That's our list. Do you have any working class heroes or blue-collar sitcoms to add to the list? Add your suggestions in the comments...