The Best TV Shows About Blended Families
List of the best television shows that feature blended families. The theme of many of the top television shows through the generations is that family is not just the group you’re born into. Today, many TV shows feature characters who consider their friends and coworkers to be their family,while others show a tight bond with their makeshift families. No matter what the genre or content of the show, most shows heavily feature the idea of family. However it’s much rarer for a show to feature a blended family, which is essentially two or more familial groups that come together to form one big family. The infrequent television trope began with The Brady Bunch, a family of six step brothers and sisters who viewed the world in their own, naïve way.
Throughout the years on television the idea of the blended family has popped up in new and interesting ways. Often these shows feature step parents getting to know their new children, such as Step by Step, while others feature adopted children, like Diff’rent Strokes and Webster. Families like the one in Full House began with friendships who became actual family,while others like Modern Family include step-families and adopted families.
What shows best showcase blended families? The shows on this list are known to have people who may not have started off life as family, but became close through blended circumstances. When you're done, be sure to check out our list of the best movies about adoption.
- John Stamos, Bob Saget, Dave Coulier
- Premiered: September 22, 1987
A widower enlists help to raise his three daughters. - Ed O'Neill, Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell
- Premiered: September 23, 2009
A diverse clan bridges cultural and generational gaps. - Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, Ann B. Davis
- Premiered: September 26, 1969
A woman with three daughters marries a widower with three sons. - Drake Bell, Josh Peck, Miranda Cosgrove
- Premiered: January 11, 2004
Two dissimilar teenage boys become stepbrothers. - Teri Polo, Sherri Saum, Noah Centineo
- Premiered: 2013
Two mothers raise a multiethnic family of foster and biological children. - Tia Mowry-Hardrict, Tamera Mowry-Housley, Jackée Harry
- Premiered: April 1, 1994
Twins, separated at birth, scheme to bring their single adoptive parents together. - Patrick Duffy, Suzanne Somers, Staci Keanan
- Premiered: September 20, 1991
A widow and a divorced man impulsively marry and merge their families. - Vincent Martella, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Ashley Tisdale
- Premiered: August 17, 2007
Stepbrothers keep busy during their summer vacation. - William H. Macy, Jeremy Allen White, Cameron Monaghan
- Premiered: December 12, 2010
An addict looks for ways to beat the system and feed his habits while his kids fend for themselves. - Conrad Bain, Gary Coleman, Todd Bridges
- Premiered: November 3, 1978
Two brothers from Harlem are adopted by wealthy Philip Drummond. - Max Wright, Paul Fusco, Anne Schedeen
- Premiered: September 22, 1986
I think Alf was adopted.An alien life form takes up residence with the suburban Tanner family. - Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown
- Premiered: September 20, 2016
The Pearsons' emotional story of love, life and family unfolds with unexpected revelations. - Michael Seater, Ashley Leggat, Jordan Todosey
- Premiered: 2005
Life with Derek is a Canadian television sitcom that aired on Family and VRAK.TV in Canada and on Disney Channel in the United States. The series premiered on Family on September 18, 2005, and ran ...more - Don Messick, Larry Storch, Howard Morris
- Premiered: 1971
Sabrina the Teenage Witch is an American low-budget animated sitcom television series produced by Filmation that aired on CBS from 1971 to 1974. A spinoff of The Archie Comedy Hour, the show featured ...more - Jon Cryer, Charlie Sheen, Ashton Kutcher
- Premiered: September 22, 2003
The social interactions of a group of misfits, including a divorcee and an Internet billionaire. - G. Hannelius, Blake Michael, Francesca Capaldi
- Premiered: October 12, 2012
A sitcom from a pet's point-of-view. - Fred MacMurray, Tim Considine, Don Grady
- Premiered: September 29, 1960
Widower Steve Douglas raises a trio of boys. - Paul Reiser, Greg Evigan, Staci Keanan
- Premiered: April 23, 2019
A docu-series weaving together stories from the turbulent time in history. - Soleil Moon Frye, George Gaynes, Eddie Deezen
- Premiered: September 16, 1984
An older man takes on a young orphan. - Soleil Moon Frye, Cherie Johnson, Quinn Copeland
- Premiered: February 25, 2021
Single mother Punky meets a girl who reminds her of her younger self. - Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Penn Badgley
- Premiered: September 19, 2007
The lives of privileged but dysfunctional friends on Manhattan's Upper East Side. - Susan Clark, Alex Karras, Emmanuel Lewis
- Premiered: 1983
Webster is an American situation comedy that aired on ABC from September 16, 1983 until May 8, 1987, and in first-run syndication from September 21, 1987 until March 10, 1989. The series was created ...more - Lea Michele, Chris Colfer, Darren Criss
- Premiered: May 19, 2009
A teacher tries to reinvent the high school's glee club. - Tia Mowry-Hardrict, Michael Boatman, Sheryl Lee Ralph
- Premiered: September 29, 2013
A party girl marries a man who has three children. - Elliot Page, Tom Hopper, David Castañeda
- Premiered: February 15, 2019
A dysfunctional family of superheroes comes together to solve the mystery of their father's death.