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EntertainmentAnAmericanFamily Biography

American documentary considered the first "reality" series on American television. It was originally intended as a chronicle of the daily life of the Louds, an upper middle class family in Santa Barbara, California, but ended up documenting the break-up of the family via the separation and subsequent divorce of parents Bill and Pat Loud. The groundbreaking series was filmed from 30 May through 31 December 1971, and first aired in the United States on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) from 11 January 1973 to 29 March 1973. After being edited down from about 300 hours of raw footage, the program of 12 hour-long episodes aired Thursday nights at 9:00 p.m. A year after this program was broadcast, the BBC in 1974 filmed its own similar 12-episode program, called The Family, focusing on the working-class Wilkins family, of Reading, Berkshire, England. The show included footage of intimate family interactions, including an on-camera separation demand from wife Pat to her husband, and the coming-out of one of the children, Lance, who was gay. Lance Loud (1951-2001) is credited as the first continuing character on television who was openly gay and subsequently became an icon within the LGBT community. He later became a columnist for the national LGBT news magazine The Advocate. One of the more notable moments of the series was when, after 21 years of marriage, Pat asked Bill for a divorce and to leave the house. Pats saying to her husband "You know theres a problem" – with Bills response, "Whats your problem?" – was chosen as one of the Top 100 Television Moments by TV Guide. In 2012, Pat Loud released a book about her sons life called Lance Out Loud. Pat Loud (nee Russell, born 4 October 1926, Eugene Oregon) died in her sleep from natural causes on 10 January 2021 at age 94. Link to Wikipedia biography Read less