Line #17 Series/FamilyAffair


1	[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/family_affair_cast.jpeg]]
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3	''Family Affair'' was a 1966–71 Creator/{{CBS}} DomCom about three children named Cissy, Jody, and Buffy, who -- having lost their parents to a car accident -- went to live with their bachelor uncle Bill Davis (Creator/BrianKeith) and his British manservant Mr. French (Sebastian Cabot) in a swanky Manhattan apartment.
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5	Today, the show is mostly remembered for both its creator-producer Don Fedderson and the network insisting that the character of Buffy [[NotAllowedToGrowUp should remain a young, prepubescent child]], even as actress Creator/AnissaJones entered puberty and got closer and closer to high school.
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7	A {{revival}} of the series, starring Creator/GaryCole as Uncle Bill and Creator/TimCurry as Mr. French, aired on Creator/TheWB during the 2002 season.
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9	Not to be confused with British soap opera ''Family Affairs''.
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11	!!This series provides examples of:
12	* ActorAllusion: In the second episode, Mr. French reads ''Literature/WinnieThePooh'' to Buffy and Jody. Earlier the same year, Sebastian Cabot had narrated Disney's ''[[WesternAnimation/TheManyAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree]]'' and he would go on to narrate the other two classic Disney ''Pooh'' shorts too. Repeated references to French reading them the book are made throughout a good part of the series.
13	* ArtisticLicenseLinguistics: The children are said to come from Terre Haute, Indiana, but they always pronounce it as "Terre ''Hut''" instead of the correct local pronounciation "Terre ''Hoat''".
14	* BittersweetEnding: The ChristmasSpecial, "Christmas Came a Little Early." The Christmas party given by Bill and the family makes Eve happy, but Eve is still going to die soon. The episode ends with Buffy realizing this sad truth and crying in Bill's arms.
15	* AndStarring: On the revival, thanks to Creator/TimCurry getting top billing (followed by Caitlin Wachs, Creator/SashaPieterse and Jimmy "Jax" Pinchak), Creator/GaryCole gets "And.."
16	* BrokenPedestal: In one episode, Cissy develops a crush [[TeacherStudentRomance on her psychology teacher]] Julian Hill, played by Robert Reed of future ''[[Series/TheBradyBunch Brady Bunch]]'' fame. But when he visits the apartment, he horrifies Cissy by calling Buffy and Jody "little monsters" when they accidentally spill hot coffee on him (although he immediately apologizes). After a talk with Bill, Cissy learns to respect Mr. Hill as a teacher yet realize that he's [[HumansAreFlawed a human being, not a flawless idol.]]
17	* CandyStriper: The episode ''[[https://embarrassingtreasures.com/2013/06/15/family-affair-fridayish-season-2-episode-6-the-candy-striper-10161967/ The Candy Striper]]'' sees 15-year old Cissy wishing to join her friend Sharon as a Candy Striper at the local hospital. The minimum age for volunteers is 16, so Cissy needs her Uncle Bill to meet with the hospital administrator to give permission for her to work. Cissy nearly causes an incident when she brings an old woman a glass of water before surgery, but she makes up for her earlier misstep when she helps a pregnant woman on the maternity ward deliver a baby.
18	* ComicBookTime: Buffy, six in season one, mentions that she's "almost nine" in the third-to-last episode of the final season (five). You could argue that the series takes place over a shorter amount of time than it was aired...if not for the fact that the fifth season opens with an episode called "It Can't Be Five Years" where the fact that the kids first came to live with Uncle Bill exactly five years ago is ''repeatedly and explicitly stated!''
19	* CompanionCube: Mrs. Beasley, Buffy's doll, which she still treats like a living person [[NotAllowedToGrowUp even as a preteen in the later seasons]].
20	* DelicateAndSickly: Creator/EvePlumb of future ''[[Series/TheBradyBunch Brady Bunch]]'' fame plays a terminally ill little girl in the episode "Christmas Came a Little Early".
21	* DomCom: A classic example of the genre, with most episodes taking place in and around the family's apartment.
22	* DontSplitUsUp: Cissy, Jody and Buffy were originally split up and each sent to live with different relatives after their parents died. In the first episode, Bill initially takes in just Buffy, and is reluctant to take in all three siblings, but by the end of the second episode he decides not to split them up again.
23	* EmbarrassingFirstName: Mr. French's first name is Giles.
24	* GirlishPigtails: Buffy's signature hairstyle.
25	* HeartwarmingOrphan: All three kids.
26	* TheJeeves: Mr. French, the [[IAmVeryBritish very British]] "gentleman's gentleman" who also serves as cook and babysitter to the children.
27	* KiddieKid: Jody and Buffy in the later seasons, due to being NotAllowedToGrowUp.
28	* LastNameBasis: Bill just calls his servant "French," while the children call him "Mr. French." This is his preference, since he [[EmbarrassingFirstName dislikes his first name, Giles.]]
29	* LethalChef: Now and then Cissy attempts to cook for her uncle and siblings, but the results are comically bad.
30	* ManipulativeBitch: Aunt Fran. In the pilot, she coaches Buffy as to what to say to Bill, and she points out in front of Bill, that his penthouse has plenty of room to house a child. In a later episode, she decides she wants Buffy back with her and thus attempts to manipulate Buffy, again.
31	* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: Buffy's new friend Lana in the season 3 episode "The Latch-Key Kid" creates a hairdo out of Buffy's hair that would be the envy of many high-end salon hairstylists despite her young age and complete lack of professional training.
32	* {{Nephewism}}: Part of the show's premise; Buffy, Jody and Cissy move in with their uncle after losing their parents in a car crash.
33	* NotAllowedToGrowUp: Buffy and Jody were still made to act like 7-year-olds toward the series' end when they[[note]]particularly Anissa Jones, as Whittaker was two years younger than his onscreen twin[[/note]] were pushing 13, not only on the show but in their real-life public appearances too. The whole sordid story is on the trope's [[Analysis/NotAllowedToGrowUp analysis page]].
34	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Cissy's real name is Catherine, but hardly anyone calls her that. Sources such as the show's Website/{{IMDb}} page give Buffy's full name as "Ava Elizabeth" and Jody's as "Jonathan," though these never seem to be stated in the show, so the canonicity of these is dubious.
35	* ParentalSubstitute: Uncle Bill and Mr. French both serve as this to the kids in different ways.
36	* PlotAllergy: In the episode "The Award," Jody and Buffy start to constantly itch, and Uncle Bill worries that they've developed a psychosomatic allergy because he's been overly strict with them. But actually they're allergic to the modeling clay they've been secretly using to make a "Best Uncle Award" sculpture for Bill.
37	* PrecociousCrush: In one episode, Jody becomes enamored of his [[TeacherStudentRomance substitute teacher.]] Eventually the family realizes why: the teacher bears a striking resemblance to his MissingMom.
38	* PracticallyDifferentGenerations: Cissy is nine years older than her younger siblings Buffy and Jody.
39	* ShowWithinAShow: In one episode, Mr. French is cast as UsefulNotes/HenryVIII in a movie about the famous king. But when Bill sees a private screening before the premiere, he sees that the film has been edited as a comic farce that will humiliate Mr. French, so he threatens the producer with a lawsuit to prevent it from ever being released.
40	* TheTonsillitisEpisode: In "A Matter of Tonsils," Buffy and Jody both have their tonsils removed.
41	* VerySpecialEpisode: [[ChristmasEpisode "Christmas Came a Little Early"]], which sees the family holding an early Christmas for [[LittlestCancerPatient a terminally ill classmate of Jody's.]]
42	* WrittenInAbsence / SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: When Sebastion Cabot became ill and had to miss part of the first season, Mr. French was said to be off accompanying the Queen on a tour of the Commonwealth. His brother, Nigel French (John Williams), took over the household duties in his stead.
43	!!The 2002 revival series provides examples of:
44	* DarkerAndEdgier: Creator/SashaPieterse's version of Buffy responds to Mr French's dismissal of her love for her doll as a friend by threateningly saying "You're beginning to ANNOY Mrs. Beasley!"
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Context Series / FamilyAffair