The problem I have with this show is the setting doesn't feel 2016. Is this supposed to be set or feel like it's set in the 90s? This has nothing to do with following Fresh Off the Boat. At least I don't think. In the latest episode they spend time on a laptop and the mother takes it with her to the interview. This used 21st century technology. But, it just still has that 90s feel. I don't know. It's odd.
shareNotice how n one is walking around with a cell phone glued to their hands so thats far from 2016
shareI have to say what I love about this show is that despite it being 2016, the kids aren't constantly on mobile gadgets and ignoring their surroundings and everyone in their surroundings. I may be biased as I'm 37 years old and grew up during a time when people actually communicated with each other face to face rather than through a Wi-Fi connected device. A show like "Roseanne" was so great because it dealt with human interaction on a personal level; not on a "cyber" level.
The children actors on The Real O'Neals I feel are way more dynamic and interesting than the boring children actors on Modern Family (specifically Phil and Claire's kids). Perhaps the writers of Modern Family could have considered at least toning down what seems like non-stop gadget use for scenes that allow the actors to communicate with each other face to face.
Its the 2000's by the way not the 90's
shareNeveemind he just mentioned lana del ray its must must 2016
shareI know it's not supposed to be set in the 90s. It just gives off this feeling.
shareI don't think so. Kenny and Shannon both have and use newer cell phones in the last episode, Kenny and Jimmy are shopping online at the end and Shannon talks about Grindr being an out dated app. Seems pretty 2016 to me.
shareIf I understand correctly, Dan Savage is the primary creative force, or certainly one of the prime forces, behind the show and its conception. I can't even begin to start describing who Savage is and what his record of work and controversy is. Just check the wikipedia page for an introduction.
At any rate, Savage was raised Catholic (and is half Irish), in Chicago. The retro feel of the show may be simply due to the fact that he was growing up gay and Catholic (and now gay and atheist) in the '70s and '80s. He would've been about the age of the gay character here in the very early '80s.
On the other hand, it may be that other people on the writing and production staff are people Savage knew from way back, and so this whole retro-Chicago-Irish-Catholic thing comes from several points of origin.
That biographical tone probably makes it feel like it has to be the past, a bit like The Wonder Years or The Beautiful People. The slightly uncinematic sitcom look also kind of locates it in the 90s, stylistically.
shareDan Savage was born in 1964 in Chicago, Illinois and The Real O'Neals is, probably, the 1970's. Dan Savage would have 14 years old in 1978.
"The Real O'Neals" is based on Dan Savage's life growing up with his Roman Catholic family who were, very, close.