A Different Family: The Fosters

In my earlier post on my favorite new shows from 2013, I mentioned ABC Family's The Fosters as a nice addition to TV family dramas.  The family consists of a bi-racial lesbian couple raising five children - one biological son, adopted girl/boy twins, and two foster siblings.  Well, it appears Emily Nussbaum from The New Yorker magazine is also a fan of the show.  In her article "Sweet and Low," she states:

"The Fosters" is a perfect example of why it makes sense to bake diversity into the premise of a TV show - once its there, you don't have to add it later, through romantic interests or a "diverse" plot in Season 3, as many cable dramas have done.  The characters fee like individuals, not like abstractions.

This is an excellent point.  Once you get past the construction of the family, what you have is the typical problems of a family with a number of extra twists.  For instance, does the biological son have privileges beyond the adopted children?  Will the foster children be sent back or can they too be adopted?  And what happens when potential "brother" and "sister" find they are attracted to one another?  This is not Flowers in the Attic, but honest questions about a constructed family.