Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Heads or Tails #22 -- Loud

Make any kind of post using "Loud" as your prompt. You can either use the word itself or post about something that IS loud.

My "loud" post is all about the family that starred in a PBS "reality show" (back then they were merely 'documentaries') more than 30 years ago. The Louds enjoyed instant, if short-lived, celebrity as An American Family.

Bill and Pat Loud lived in California with their 5 kids. They opened their upper-middle class home to filmmakers, who documented their every move and aired them over 12 episodes -- including when, at Pat's request, Bill moved out of the house, and when their son, Lance (second row, far right), came out of the closet.

My family was riveted by the show when it first aired. My parents were aghast by Lance, but I thought he was great. He was totally over the top and nelly, but I figured he had to be to get his uptight parents (we used words like "uptight" back then) to see and accept him as he was. I was sad to learn from Wikipedia that Lance died back in 2001 at the age of 50. Even though his life was relatively short, I hope it was happy.

To play Heads or Tails yourself, click here.

8 comments:

  1. I never heard of the show, but I bet if I'd known about it I would have. I maybe would have thought the kids were.. groovy. :)

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  2. I would have WATCHED it I meant. Darn typos.

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  3. I don't remember the show. But your post was still very interesting. 50 is a short life...

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  4. Anonymous4:24 PM

    I had never heard of the show either. It sounds like it would have been a lot more fun and realistic than the "reality" shows they have now. Thanks for the fun HoT.

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  5. I had forgotten that show. Good post!

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  6. I remember the show and the spoofs that came later of it. Great post. Thanks for reminding us.

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  7. That was a new one for me also. But I would probably have enjoyed it too. I like shows like that.

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  8. I never heard of the show, I don't think. It sounds interesting, though.

    When I hear Loud, I think of the Loud family from the early days of Saturday Night Live.

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