History Series / TheBeachBoysAnAmericanFamily

* WellDoneSonGuy: The Wilson boys, most especially Brian and Dennis.
* YourCheatingHeart: Debra angrily leaves Dennis after she catches him having sex with a groupie.

The series stars Frederick Weller (Brian Wilson), Kevin Dunn (Murry Wilson), Matt Letscher (Mike Love), Nick Stabile (Dennis Wilson), Ryan Northcott (Carl Wilson), and Ned Vaughn (Al Jardine). David Marks, who had a short stint as Al's replacement at rhythm guitar, is played by Dublin James. Anthony Rapp also has a memorable guest appearance as Brian's musical collaborator, Van Dyke Parks, while Kurt Fuller briefly appears as Mike's father, Milton Love.

* ManipulativeBastard: When Murry proposes forming a publishing company (Sea of Tunes) to Brian, he essentially shuts out Mike (who's also written his share of Beach Boys hits) by advising Brian to tell his cousin that he's "covered" in the event he asks about it. No wonder Mike's especially pissed when Murry, without Brian's approval or knowledge, eventually sells Sea of Tunes for pennies on the dollar.

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: By the time the Beach Boys fire him during the recording sessions for "I Get Around," ''everyone'' in the band has had it with Murry's ControlFreak tendencies as manager and producer. As such, none of the band members nor the engineers speak up in his defense when Brian angrily fires him.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: InUniverse Murry Wilson's new proteges, the Sunrays, who dress like, and sound a lot like the Beach Boys on their biggest hit, the Murry-written "I Live for the Sun."

''The Beach Boys: An American Family'' is a 2000 two-part made-for-TV miniseries directed by Jeff Bleckner that covers the career of Music/TheBeachBoys from 1960 to 1974. The first part covers their beginnings as a band and their rise to fame, as dictated by their abusive father/manager/producer Murry Wilson, who gets unanimously, and unceremoniously fired by the band toward the end of the episode. The second part covers their transition from songs about surfing and cars into more serious, experimental works such as ''Pet Sounds'' and the ''Smile'' sessions, while also focusing on band leader Music/BrianWilson's descent into drugs and mental illness and drummer Dennis Wilson's infamous ties with UsefulNotes/CharlesManson and his Family.

* WellDoneSonGuy: The Wilson boys, most especially Brian and Dennis.

* DumbAndDrummer: Dennis, who's portrayed as not being particularly smart or sensible, and only average at best as a musician (a "clubber," in Brian's words), hence Brian's decision to have session wizard Hal Blaine play most of the Beach Boys' drum tracks from the mid-'60s onward. This gets averted when Dennis composes the beautiful love song "Forever," which, in the film, impresses even the notoriously critical Murry.

* ControlFreak: Oh, Murry. Even when he ostensibly promises to be more hands-off and stop showing up at recording sessions, he still keeps on meddling. It gets so bad that Chuck Britz and his co-engineer set up a fake control panel to give Murry something to tinker with.

''The Beach Boys: An American Family'' is a 2000 two-part made-for-TV miniseries directed by Jeff Bleckner that covers the career of Music/TheBeachBoys from 1960 to 1974. The first part covers their beginnings as a band and their rise to fame, as dictated by their abusive father Murry Wilson, who gets unanimously fired by the band toward the end of the episode. The second part covers their transition from songs about surfing and cars into more serious, experimental works such as ''Pet Sounds'' and the ''Smile'' sessions, while also focusing on band leader Music/BrianWilson's descent into drugs and mental illness and drummer Dennis Wilson's infamous ties with UsefulNotes/CharlesManson and his Family.

** Tommy Schaefer is a composite of several people (Tony Asher, David Anderle, Loren Schwartz, etc.) whom Brian befriended in real life as he began experimenting with drugs in the mid-'60s.

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Much like Casey Sander in ''Summer Dreams'' some 15 years prior, Ryan Northcott is noticeably slimmer than the real Carl Wilson, who had a portly frame, especially in his younger years.
* AdaptedOut: Outside of Brian's first wife, Marilyn, none of the Beach Boys' wives are specifically featured, as Mike's first wife Amy and second wife Pam appear to be composites. Ditto with Dennis' first wife, Debra. (His real-life third wife, Karen Lamm, who was featured extensively in 1985's ''Summer Dreams'' biopic, is not portrayed in the miniseries.)

* AdaptationalWeightLoss: Much like Casey Sander in ''Summer Dreams'' some 15 years prior, Ryan Northcott is noticeably slimmer than the real Carl Wilson, who had a portly frame, especially in his younger years.

** Tommy Schaefer is a composite of several people (David Anderle, Loren Schwartz, etc.) whom Brian befriended in real life as he began experimenting with drugs in the mid-'60s.

* TurnOutLikeHisFather: Implied in the case of Murry and Buddy Wilson. Several Beach Boys books have hinted that Murry was indeed a bit of a screw-up as a younger man, much to his father's chagrin, which explains why Murry grew up to be such a hard-ass on his sons, especially next-generation screw-up Dennis.

''The Beach Boys: An American Family'' is a 2000 two-part made-for-TV miniseries that covers the career of Music/TheBeachBoys from 1960 to 1974. The first part covers their beginnings as a band and their rise to fame, as dictated by their abusive father Murry Wilson, who gets unanimously fired by the band toward the end of the episode. The second part covers their transition from songs about surfing and cars into more serious, experimental works such as ''Pet Sounds'' and the ''Smile'' sessions, while also focusing on band leader Music/BrianWilson's descent into drugs and mental illness and drummer Dennis Wilson's infamous ties with UsefulNotes/CharlesManson and his Family.

* WellDoneSoneGuy: The Wilson boys, most especially Brian and Dennis.

* TheUnfavorite: Dennis to Murry, and Murry himself to his father, Buddy.

The series stars Frederick Weller (Brian Wilson), Kevin Dunn (Murry Wilson), Matt Letscher (Mike Love), Nick Stabile (Dennis Wilson), and Ryan Northcott (Carl Wilson). David Marks, who had a short stint as Al's replacement at rhythm guitar, is played by Dublin James. Anthony Rapp also has a memorable guest appearance as Brian's musical collaborator, Van Dyke Parks, while Kurt Fuller briefly appears as Mike's father, Milton Love.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: The Charles Manson scenes in Part 2 feature an instrumental number with very similar chords and guitar licks as Music/{{Cream}}'s "Strange Brew," as well as a slightly tweaked version of Music/TheBeatles' "Helter Skelter" where the singer appears to be screaming unintelligible gibberish in the place of the original song's lyrics.