MovieChat Forums > Caitlin's Way (2000) Discussion > Modern Equivalent of Old Christian Famil...

Modern Equivalent of Old Christian Family Shows...?

posted 16 years ago by R-W-Watkins
2 replies | jump to latest

I've been doing a fair bit of writing these past few years regarding various children's/adolescents'/family shows of the past 2 or 3 decades (it all started with a couple of papers I wrote for a 4th-year university course). The only thing that grabbed me about this show was the fact that when my elderly parents and I watched a few episodes while it was in syndication on a Canadian channel 2 or 3 years ago, we suddenly reached the conclusion that this--like a few other modern adolescents' shows--was probably the closest thing to the old-style 'Christian family values' shows of the '50s, '60s and '70s available on television today.

So what do the rest of you think? Are youth shows like Caitlin's Way the modern, humanitarian equivalent of Father Knows Best, The Waltons, Little House on the Prairie, etc...?

[–] xPopPunkPrincess 15 years ago

I see what your getting at.

with the way she usally has her little "thoughts" at the end when she usally sums it up in...well, to quote one episode

"Maybe someday I'll even be a law abbinding citizen...hey crazier things have happened"

LoL :p

[–] micCee 13 years ago

The show does seem kind of outdated in the sense that she always learns something and is able to sum up her lesson in a few trite sentences at the end of each episode. The 'edginess' of Caitlin's background as a troubled teen just seems to be trying to pull in an audience that wouldn't normally go for your typical moralising 'family values' teen comedy/drama, yet that's kind of what Caitlin's Way is, once you peel back the veneer of Caitlin's firebrand personality.

It seems rather too wholesome, trite and preachy for a teenage audience in the 2000s. I think that most teens of the 21st century just want madcap inanity, without any of the pathos and the sentiment.

I liked it though and found it very touching. I've recently discovered the episodes now available on Youtube, and as an adult in my late 20s, can still appreciate it.