History Main / NuclearFamily

* The Carsons in Creator/ZilphaKeatleySnyder's ''Literature/TheChangeling'' are like this. Outside of Ivy and Josie, the only one of the eight kids who appears or does anything is Jerry. (Older brothers Max and Randy are mentioned and at one point we're told the only other girl is 18-year-old Brenda, who is "much too busy with other things" to take care of a baby.) They're described as all looking pretty much alike.

* In the DCU comic ''ComicBook/BatmanAndTheOutsiders'' (first run), there was a group of robot super-villain terrorists called the Nuclear Family. They were based on an idealized 1950s sitcom family and had radiation-based powers. They were eventually blown up, but were rebuilt for the much-maligned ''Battle For Bludhaven'', and then later reappeared in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueAction'', much less maligned than said Bludhaven bout.
* ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' has a strip where the kids are watching TV while the parents are welcoming guests, telling them to come in and meet their 1[[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe .5]] children.
* In ''ComicBook/{{PS238}}'', The Nuclear Family is a superhero team which is also an extended family. Despite their "Nuclear" moniker their power set varies from GadgeteerGenius to at least one FlyingBrick. Student Susie Fusion is the child of one of its members, [[spoiler:and Julie Fincher ("84") is the daughter of a [[{{Muggles}} non-superpowered offshoot]], who doesn't get along well with his superpowered cousins.]]
* Invoked by ComicBook/TheVision in ''ComicBook/TheVision2015''; he creates a nuclear family of synthezoids for himself (comprised of a wife, a son, and a daughter) and gets a house in a suburb near Washington DC since he's trying to live a normal human life.
* ''ComicBook/SensationComics'': The Allen family, which Franchise/WonderWoman meets in issue #38, is the down on their luck remains of such a family. The father died a little over a year before and the mother had to take her two kids and move in with her brother-in-law, whom she did not realize was a massively abusive {{Jerkass}} until she was in a position she couldn't easily escape with her children.

* ''ComicStrip/ForBetterOrForWorse'': The Patterson family, which consists of father John, mother Elly , son Michael and daughters Elizabeth and April. The nuclear family who all lives close to each other is also shown to be the ideal life and family in this strip’s world, which anyone who lives otherwise (such as being child free or the wife the breadwinner) is a DesignatedVillain.

* The Family from ''Series/{{Titans|2018}}'', since they're based on the Nuclear Family (see Comics above). They don't appear to actually be related since [[spoiler: when Dad is killed, he's simply [[LegacyCharacter replaced by a new man]]]], but are [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashed]] into acting like an old-fashioned nuclear family of [[StandardFiftiesFather Dad]], Mum, [[TheAllAmericanBoy son]] and [[SeeminglyWholesomeFiftiesGirl daughter]] all while performing horrific acts of torture and murder.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. [[TheNineties Early on]], it even used "America's Most Nuclear Family" as a TagLine. Homer working at a nuclear power plant even makes this more literal than other examples.

If you want to break out of the 2-or-3-kids pattern, you could try going [[MassiveNumberedSiblings much, much larger]]. This can be justified via religious beliefs [[note]]Catholics, Mormons, some Evangelical Christians, and Orthodox Jews are just a few of the groups whose beliefs promote large families[[/note]], but it doesn't have to be. However, if the big family is not the ''main'' family for the story, it's almost certainly a religious reason -- and almost certainly, most or all of the kids are treated as a unit, not as individuals. They may even dress and look identical except for age and gender.

* ''Series/FellowTravelers'': The Fuller family consists of a father (Hawkins, a war hero), a mother (Lucy, a housewife), a son (Jackson), and a daughter (Kimberly). They live in a beautiful house in a suburb outside of Washington, D.C., and they also have a lovely cottage in the Pennsylvanian countryside [[note]]the police cruiser that picks up Timothy Laughlin has "State Police Pennsylvania" on the door[[/note]]. Although they appear to be the stereotype of a picture perfect white American family in the 1960s, they're actually dysfunctional beneath the surface. Hawk and Lucy's marriage is fundamentally an unhappy one because it's based on a lie -- [[ClosetGay he's a gay man pretending to be straight]], and she only discovered this after they tied the knot. As a result, they cheat on each other to meet their own "needs"; Hawk occasionally does GayCruising, while Lucy has an affair with their mutual friend (a married man) because Hawk doesn't make love to her as often as she'd like. Jackson frequently argues with his sister and his parents (especially his father), and he copes by smoking cigarettes and taking drugs like LSD -- he's around 10-11 years old, so the damage to his health will be far greater on a child than an adult.

* ''Series/FellowTravelers'': The Fuller family consists of a father (Hawkins, a war hero), a mother (Lucy, a housewife), a son (Jackson), and a daughter (Kimberly). They live in a beautiful house in a suburb outside of Washington DC, and they also have a lovely cottage in the Pennsylvanian countryside [[note]]the police cruiser that picks up Timothy Laughlin has "State Police Pennsylvania" on the door[[/note]]. Although they appear to be the stereotype of a picture perfect white American family in the 1960s, they're actually dysfunctional beneath the surface. Hawk and Lucy's marriage is fundamentally an unhappy one because it's based on a lie -- [[ClosetGay he's a gay man pretending to be straight]], and she only discovered this after they tied the knot. As a result, they cheat on each other to meet their own "needs"; Hawk occasionally does GayCruising, while Lucy has an affair with their mutual friend (a married man) because Hawk doesn't make love to her as often as she'd like. Jackson frequently argues with his sister and his parents (especially his father), and he copes by smoking cigarettes and taking drugs like LSD -- he's around 10-11 years old, so the damage to his health will be far greater on a child than an adult.

* ''Series/FellowTravelers'': The Fuller family consists of a father (Hawkins, a war hero), a mother (Lucy, a housewife), a son (Jackson), and a daughter (Kimberly). They live in a beautiful house in a suburb outside of Washington DC, and they also have a lovely cottage in the Pennsylvanian countryside [[note]]the police cruiser that picks up Timothy Laughlin has "State Police Pennsylvania" on the door[[/note]]. Although they appear to be the stereotype of a picture perfect white American family in the 1960s, they're actually dysfunctional beneath the surface. Hawk and Lucy's marriage is fundamentally an unhappy one because it's based on a lie -- [[ClosetGay he's a gay man pretending to be straight]], and she only discovered this after they tied the knot. As a result, they cheat on each other to meet their own "needs"; Hawk occasionally does GayCruising, while Lucy has an affair with their mutual friend (a married man) because Hawk doesn't make love to her as often as she'd like. Jackson frequently argues with his sister and his parents (especially his father), and he copes by smoking cigarettes and taking drugs like LSD -- he looks around 12 years old, so the damage to his health will be far greater on a child than an adult.

* ''Series/FellowTravelers'': The Fuller family consists of a father (Hawkins, a war hero), a mother (Lucy, a housewife), a son (Jackson), and a daughter (Kimberly). They live in a beautiful house in a suburb outside of Washington DC, and they also have a lovely cottage in the country. Although they appear to be the stereotype of a picture perfect white American family in the 1960s, they're actually dysfunctional beneath the surface. Hawk and Lucy's marriage is fundamentally an unhappy one because it's based on a lie -- [[ClosetGay he's a gay man pretending to be straight]], and she only discovered this after they tied the knot. As a result, they cheat on each other to meet their own "needs"; Hawk occasionally does GayCruising, while Lucy has an affair with their mutual friend (a married man) because Hawk doesn't make love to her as often as she'd like. Jackson frequently argues with his sister and his parents (especially his father), and he copes by smoking cigarettes and taking drugs like LSD -- he looks around 12 years old, so the damage to his health will be far greater on a child than an adult.

* ''Series/FellowTravelers'': The Fuller family consists of a father (Hawkins, a war hero), a mother (Lucy, a housewife), a son (Jackson), and a daughter (Kimberly). They live in a beautiful house in a suburb outside of Washington DC, and they also have a lovely cottage in the country. Although they appear to be the stereotype of a picture perfect white American family in the 1960s, they're actually dysfunctional beneath the surface. Hawk and Lucy's marriage is fundamentally an unhappy one because it's based on a lie -- he's a gay man pretending to be straight, and she only discovered this after they tied the knot. As a result, they cheat on each other to meet their own "needs"; Hawk occasionally does GayCruising, while Lucy has an affair with their mutual friend (a married man) because Hawk doesn't make love to her as often as she'd like. Jackson frequently argues with his sister and his parents (especially his father), and he copes by smoking cigarettes and taking drugs like LSD -- he looks around 12 years old, so the damage to his health will be far greater on a child than an adult.

* ''Series/FellowTravelers'': The Fuller family consists of a father (Hawkins, a war hero), a mother (Lucy, a housewife), a son (Jackson), and a daughter (Kimberly). They live in a beautiful house in a suburb outside of Washington DC, and they also have a lovely cottage in the country. Although they appear to be the stereotype of a picture perfect white American family in the 1960s, they're actually dysfunctional beneath the surface. Hawk and Lucy's marriage is fundamentally an unhappy one because it's based on a lie -- he's a gay man pretending to be straight, and she only discovered this after they tied the knot. As a result, they cheat on each other to meet their own "needs"; Hawk occasionally does GayCruising, while Lucy has an affair with their mutual friend (a married man) because Hawk doesn't make love to her as often as she'd like. Jackson frequently argues with his sister and his parents (especially his father), and he copes by smoking and taking drugs like LSD -- he looks around 12 years old, so the damage to his health will be far greater on a child than an adult.

[[folder:FanWorks]]

* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': The Conklins, Osgood, Martha and teenage Harriet, are a nuclear family, and the only one shown on screen ("The Embezzled Dress"). TeachersPet Walter Denton also lives with his sometimes-referenced Mother and Father ("Hawkins Travel Agency"). Harriet Conklin and Walter Denton each suffer from OnlyChildSyndrome. Recurring characters [[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname Stretch (Fabian) and Bones (Winston) Snodgrass]] are in a larger nuclear family. In "Stretch Has A Problem", Stretch refers to having one brother (Bones), and two sisters . . . one of whom is named Rapunzel Snodgrass.
%%* ''Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond''
%%* ''Series/EightSimpleRules''
%%* ''Series/TwoPointFourChildren''; they named the series after it.
%%* ''Series/TheGeorgeLopezShow''

* Ma and Pa Kettle, stars of a popular franchise of late '40s/early '50s comedies, were a rural farm couple with 15 children. A running gag would have Ma forgetting a kid's name.
* On the RealityShow ''Series/NineteenKidsAndCounting'', the Duggar family has 19 kids. There also is a SpinOff about their friends the Bates, who have 21 kids.
* ''Series/TheBradyBunch'', bringing together a father with three boys and a mother with three girls.
%%* ''Series/StepByStep''
%%* ''Series/LifeWithDerek''
%%* ''Series/DrakeAndJosh''

* The Family from ''Series/{{Titans|2018}}'', since they're based on the Nuclear Family (see Comics above). They don't appear to actually be related since [[spoiler: when Dad is killed, he's simply [[LegacyCharacter replaced by a new man]]]], but are [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashed]] into acting like an old-fashioned nuclear family of [[StandardFiftiesFather Dad]], Mum, [[TheAllAmericanBoy son]] and [[SeeminglyWholesomeFiftiesGirl daughter]] all while performing horrific acts of torture and murder.

* ''Series/BlackMirror'', "Beyond the Sea": David has the picturesque midcentury family life: gorgeous house, beautiful and happy wife, two cheerful kids. It's in contrast to Cliff's gloomier rural farmhouse, occupied by his lonely wife and son. So of course, [[TooHappyToLive David's family gets the chop]] to get the episode's drama rolling.

%%* ''Series/TheAddamsFamily'' is an inversion of the Nuclear Family.

* WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse has a very unconventional family (his mother gave up her physical form to become half of him, and he lives with three of her close friends who are sentient gemstones with humanoid projections), but his friend Connie's parents are very traditional, which leads to this humorous dialogue when Connie's parents want to meet Steven's.
--> '''Connie:''' I told my parents you have a nuclear family.
--> '''[[LiteralMinded Steven]]:''' ''Nuclear?'' Sure, they make stuff blow up sometimes, but that's because they're magic, not radioactive!
** Steven then has the Crystal Gems fuse into Alexandrite to pass themselves off as his mother, because he can't choose just one of them to play the part.

[[folder:Film]]

* In more traditional societies, like some in Latin America, the Mediterranean, and South/Southeast Asia, this is ubiquitous. Extended family are almost universally considered close family in those cultures. In many of these areas, extended family either lives under one roof or near one another. The Arab Gulf states, for example, are notorious for having cases of three or four generations living under one roof, with ''all'' of a particular patriarch's (very fertile) descendants living in a single building. In profound cases (e.g., Italy), "family" might include TrueCompanions, or [[TwentyFourHourPartyPeople casual acquaintances.]]
** Weddings are an issue in these cultures. The minimum size for an Indian or Middle Eastern wedding is somewhere in the triple digits; anything smaller and you will run the risk of offending many people. If you live far away from most of your relatives, they will insist that it be held close to them. This goes double if you live abroad—they ''will'' have you get married in TheOldCountry, and that is final.