The nation’s headlines in the early months of 1973 told of Roe v. Wade, the occupation of Wounded Knee, a growing Watergate scandal, George Steinbrenner buying the Yankees, the official opening of the World Trade Center, POWs released from Vietnam and a growing fear of a gas shortage in the United States.
But the biggest story was about something that was happening on TV.
Two years after more than 300 hours of footage were shot over the course of seven months inside the Santa Barbara home of the Pat and William C. Loud and their five kids, an experimental documentary chronicling their daily lives unfolded over the course of 12 weeks on PBS. By time it was over, “An American Family” had captivated the country as it had divided it, the Louds were divorced and TV had changed forever.
It’s difficult to explain – and impossible to overstate — how daring the proposal...
But the biggest story was about something that was happening on TV.
Two years after more than 300 hours of footage were shot over the course of seven months inside the Santa Barbara home of the Pat and William C. Loud and their five kids, an experimental documentary chronicling their daily lives unfolded over the course of 12 weeks on PBS. By time it was over, “An American Family” had captivated the country as it had divided it, the Louds were divorced and TV had changed forever.
It’s difficult to explain – and impossible to overstate — how daring the proposal...
- 1/2/2023
- by Jim McKairnes
- The Wrap
When "Little Miss Sunshine" arrived on the scene in 2006, nabbing both Academy Awards and the hearts of American audiences, it captured an era of mid-aughts indie filmmaking that was defined by quirky comedic dysfunction. From "Garden State" and "Napoleon Dynamite" before it, to "Juno" and "500 Days of Summer" after, the road trip movie seems like the center point of a very specific movie trend.
Surprisingly, though, "Little Miss Sunshine" didn't mean to follow in the footsteps of the offbeat 2000s dramedy, but wanted to captured the essence of a different type of film that came decades earlier. In an interview with the Orlando Sentinel around the time of the movie's release, co-director Jonathan Dayton says he and his wife Valerie Faris took inspiration from "An American Family," a 1973 PBS docuseries directed by Craig Gilbert that's widely credited with ushering in the advent of reality television. It's an odd comparison,...
Surprisingly, though, "Little Miss Sunshine" didn't mean to follow in the footsteps of the offbeat 2000s dramedy, but wanted to captured the essence of a different type of film that came decades earlier. In an interview with the Orlando Sentinel around the time of the movie's release, co-director Jonathan Dayton says he and his wife Valerie Faris took inspiration from "An American Family," a 1973 PBS docuseries directed by Craig Gilbert that's widely credited with ushering in the advent of reality television. It's an odd comparison,...
- 8/14/2022
- by Valerie Ettenhofer
- Slash Film
Pat Loud, America’s first reality TV star, passed away on January 10 at her home in Los Angeles at age 94. I knew Pat through her oldest son, Lance, and it was clear to me from the beginning of our decades-long friendship that she never fully recovered from the negative reaction to that first reality TV show, “An American Family,” which aired on public television in 1973.
Pat and her husband, Bill, gave permission to filmmaker Craig Gilbert to document their family of five children over several months at their Santa Barbara home. He filmed 300 hours, and cut it down to 12 episodes of one hour each.
When the series aired, it shocked for two reasons: Pat asked her husband for a divorce on grounds of infidelity, and their 20-year-old son Lance, living in Manhattan’s Chelsea Hotel, made no effort to hide his homosexuality. It was the latter controversy that most rocked the family.
Pat and her husband, Bill, gave permission to filmmaker Craig Gilbert to document their family of five children over several months at their Santa Barbara home. He filmed 300 hours, and cut it down to 12 episodes of one hour each.
When the series aired, it shocked for two reasons: Pat asked her husband for a divorce on grounds of infidelity, and their 20-year-old son Lance, living in Manhattan’s Chelsea Hotel, made no effort to hide his homosexuality. It was the latter controversy that most rocked the family.
- 1/12/2021
- by Robert Hofler
- The Wrap
Patricia Loud, the matriarch of the Loud family in the TV documentary An American Family died on Sunday from natural causes. She was 94.
The news of Loud’s death was confirmed on the official Loud Facebook page. “With inconsolable sorrow, we are sad to share the news with friends and family that on Sunday January 10 at 1:55pm Pt, Pat Loud passed away peacefully in her sleep of natural causes. She was snuggled up safe in her comfy home, attended by loving children Michele, Delilah, Kevin and Grant.”
Loud was born on October 4, 1926 in Eugene, Oregon. She graduated from Stanford University in 1948 where she studied World History and English Literature. Upon returning to her hometown she met William Loud and they would go on marry in Mexico City. Their first son, Alanson “Lance” Russell Loud was born in June 1951.
She and her family entered the spotlight as the subjects of...
The news of Loud’s death was confirmed on the official Loud Facebook page. “With inconsolable sorrow, we are sad to share the news with friends and family that on Sunday January 10 at 1:55pm Pt, Pat Loud passed away peacefully in her sleep of natural causes. She was snuggled up safe in her comfy home, attended by loving children Michele, Delilah, Kevin and Grant.”
Loud was born on October 4, 1926 in Eugene, Oregon. She graduated from Stanford University in 1948 where she studied World History and English Literature. Upon returning to her hometown she met William Loud and they would go on marry in Mexico City. Their first son, Alanson “Lance” Russell Loud was born in June 1951.
She and her family entered the spotlight as the subjects of...
- 1/11/2021
- by Erik Pedersen and Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Jeff Probst is trolling us again. For "Survivor"'s 29th season, CBS and Probst--who's the show's executive producer, showrunner, and host--have cast John Rocker. Yes, that's the former baseball player who said all those awful things in Sports Illustrated back in the 1990s, and who has continued to say awful things, from using anti-gay slurs in a restaurant in the early 2000s to arguing last year that the Holocaust would never have occurred if Jewish people had and used guns. Probst defended Rocker's casting by calling him "a perfect fit for this show because of all the baggage he brings in" and arguing that because Rocker "made some very controversial, polarizing comments about how he views the world. That is in its core, when you take away all the strategy and all the challenges — that is what Survivor is about." I hate to take the bait here and react to such obvious trifle,...
- 9/17/2014
- by Andy Dehnart
- Hitfix
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: April 24, 2012
Price: DVD $19.97, Blu-ray $24.99
Studio: HBO/Warner Home Video
Tim Robbins and Diane Lane live their lives on camera in Cinema Verite.
Starring Tim Robbins (Green Lantern), James Gandolfini (Welcome to the Rileys) and Diane Lane (Secretariat), the 2011 HBO Original Film Cinema Verite is a fictionalized account of the production of the 1973 PBS documentary series An American Family.
A revolutionary piece of television programming for it’s time, An American Family catapulted a seemingly ordinary family to notoriety and captivated audiences with their first taste of reality TV.
Believing that the lives of an everyday family would be relatable to Americans in a way that existing TV shows were not, a filmmaker (played by Gandolfini in the movie) sets out to chronicle the life of the Louds, a seemingly “perfect family” in Santa Barbara, Calif. Once filming begins though, the strain in Pat and Bill Loud’s (Lane and Robbins) marriage,...
Price: DVD $19.97, Blu-ray $24.99
Studio: HBO/Warner Home Video
Tim Robbins and Diane Lane live their lives on camera in Cinema Verite.
Starring Tim Robbins (Green Lantern), James Gandolfini (Welcome to the Rileys) and Diane Lane (Secretariat), the 2011 HBO Original Film Cinema Verite is a fictionalized account of the production of the 1973 PBS documentary series An American Family.
A revolutionary piece of television programming for it’s time, An American Family catapulted a seemingly ordinary family to notoriety and captivated audiences with their first taste of reality TV.
Believing that the lives of an everyday family would be relatable to Americans in a way that existing TV shows were not, a filmmaker (played by Gandolfini in the movie) sets out to chronicle the life of the Louds, a seemingly “perfect family” in Santa Barbara, Calif. Once filming begins though, the strain in Pat and Bill Loud’s (Lane and Robbins) marriage,...
- 1/24/2012
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Whenever I Ta for the History of American Television course, we always screen episodes of producer Craig Gilbert's pathfinding series "An American Family" (1973). "An American Family" is notable for a barrage of reasons. First, it essentially gave birth to reality television programming. Gilbert's program focuses on the upper-middle class, Santa Barbara based Loud family and took a rumored 300 hours of footage that was cut down to 13 hours. The camera and sound technicians, Alan and Susan Raymond, lived with the family for months. Yet, "An American Family" is more than a beginning exercise in documentary meets reality television. The show focused on what was supposed to be a typical family and through Gilbert's editorial hand, slowly deconstructed the myth of the nuclear family. Through the show's 13 hours, we are witnesses to the slow and painful separation of the Loud parental unit, embodied by adulterous business man Bill and his repressed housewife Pat.
- 4/27/2011
- by Drew Morton
Cinema Verite is the true story of the Loud family, America’s first reality TV family. In the 70s, documentary filmmaker Craig Gilbert (James Gandolfini) and PBS embarked on the groundbreaking task of creating An American Family, a series that helped change the way Americans looked at themselves and their ideals. Pat Loud (Diane Lane) and Bill Loud (Tim Robbins) agreed to let Gilbert’s camera crew shoot their family and see hopefully show the world how a true family unit lives. Sadly, the “experiment” backfired on the Louds, showing off only the negative aspects of their relationships. The series was tragic in its innovation, drawing 10 million viewers to watch the series on PBS. Yet, it served as the basis for warped reality TV shows today like Jersey Shore and The Real World.
Cinema Verite brings to life what happened behind the camera. Off camera moments are mixed in with...
Cinema Verite brings to life what happened behind the camera. Off camera moments are mixed in with...
- 4/25/2011
- by Bags
- BuzzFocus.com
Chicago – How did we get here? How did the reality TV craze start? Some would have you believe that it is a modern trend and its popularity in the ’00s and ’10s has certainly been striking, but it’s much older than that. In 1973, when a film crew showed up at the Loud family household to shoot the 12-part series “An American Family,” which has been credited as being the start of the trend, do you think they envisioned a future that contained “Real Housewives of Orange County”?
TV Rating: 3.5/5.0
HBO’s “Cinema Verite” chronicles the making of the PBS documentary series and the impact it had on the Loud family. It’s led by Pat (Diane Lane) and Bill Loud (Tim Robbins), who struggled with marital issues including the specter of a looming divorce while the cameras rolled. Bill obnoxiously acted up in front of the camera and baited...
TV Rating: 3.5/5.0
HBO’s “Cinema Verite” chronicles the making of the PBS documentary series and the impact it had on the Loud family. It’s led by Pat (Diane Lane) and Bill Loud (Tim Robbins), who struggled with marital issues including the specter of a looming divorce while the cameras rolled. Bill obnoxiously acted up in front of the camera and baited...
- 4/23/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
James Gandolfini, Diane Lane, and Tim Robbins
Psychologists have long known that the mere act of observing someone changes that person's behavior. They call it the Hawthorne Effect.
In 1971, a visionary documentarian named Craig Gilbert had the crazy idea to film an actual family in their home over many days and turn the resulting "story" into a TV series, An American Family, that aired in twelve parts on PBS in 1973.
It was the invention of "reality" television, and it was a sensation at the time, and a huge controversy, in part because the family's oldest son Lance was gay (but also because the marriage between Pat and Bill Loud slowly, but dramatically unraveled on screen).
The documentary about this one particular family turned out to be a nexus of a number of important social forces all simmering just under the surface of the time: the rise of feminism and gay liberation,...
Psychologists have long known that the mere act of observing someone changes that person's behavior. They call it the Hawthorne Effect.
In 1971, a visionary documentarian named Craig Gilbert had the crazy idea to film an actual family in their home over many days and turn the resulting "story" into a TV series, An American Family, that aired in twelve parts on PBS in 1973.
It was the invention of "reality" television, and it was a sensation at the time, and a huge controversy, in part because the family's oldest son Lance was gay (but also because the marriage between Pat and Bill Loud slowly, but dramatically unraveled on screen).
The documentary about this one particular family turned out to be a nexus of a number of important social forces all simmering just under the surface of the time: the rise of feminism and gay liberation,...
- 4/19/2011
- by Brent Hartinger
- The Backlot
Diane Lane has played all sorts of roles over a career of three decades plus, but a superhero's mother is a new one for her.
And not just any superhero, but the one in the eyes of many. The star of such films as "Unfaithful," "Under the Tuscan Sun" and "Secretariat" is revving up to play Martha Kent in "Watchmen" director Zack Snyder's movie reboot of the Superman saga, soon to go into production for a projected late-2012 release with Henry Cavill in the central role.
"It's daunting, but in a very healthy way," Lane tells Zap2it of tackling the iconic part played most recently on the CW series "Smallville" by Annette O'Toole. "It's like a dare. I have heard and read many people say, 'Do what scares you. Don't run from it, run toward it.' I am delighted to be challenged with the opportunity.
"Zack Snyder...
And not just any superhero, but the one in the eyes of many. The star of such films as "Unfaithful," "Under the Tuscan Sun" and "Secretariat" is revving up to play Martha Kent in "Watchmen" director Zack Snyder's movie reboot of the Superman saga, soon to go into production for a projected late-2012 release with Henry Cavill in the central role.
"It's daunting, but in a very healthy way," Lane tells Zap2it of tackling the iconic part played most recently on the CW series "Smallville" by Annette O'Toole. "It's like a dare. I have heard and read many people say, 'Do what scares you. Don't run from it, run toward it.' I am delighted to be challenged with the opportunity.
"Zack Snyder...
- 3/16/2011
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
HBO has released the first trailer for its upcoming original movie Cinema Verite, and to describe it requires some thorny meta untangling: It’s a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the groundbreaking 1973 PBS documentary series An American Family, which chronicled the painful dissolution of a family in Santa Barbara, California. The series by Oscar-winning doc filmmakers Alan and Susan Raymond centered on couple Pat Loud (Diane Lane) and Bill Loud (Tim Robbins), who split up during the filming, and their children, the eldest of whom, son Lance, became TV’s first openly gay character.
Cinema Verite stars Diane Lane and Tim Robbins as Pat and Bill, Thomas Dekker as son Lance, and James Gandolfini as producer Craig Gilbert. It was directed by husband and wife team Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini (American Splendor, Wanderlust), and written by David Seltzer (1976′s The Omen).
Official synopsis:
An American Family was...
Cinema Verite stars Diane Lane and Tim Robbins as Pat and Bill, Thomas Dekker as son Lance, and James Gandolfini as producer Craig Gilbert. It was directed by husband and wife team Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini (American Splendor, Wanderlust), and written by David Seltzer (1976′s The Omen).
Official synopsis:
An American Family was...
- 2/16/2011
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
In a few months, HBO will once again fictionalize the creation of a famous work of nonfiction, although this time it's the reality series that started it all: An American Family. The Sopranos' James Gandolfini stars as Craig Gilbert, the producer who followed the Loud family for the 1973 PBS series, while Pat and Bill Loud are played by Diane Lane and Tim Robbins, while Thomas Dekker plays their gay son Lance Loud. Robbins and...
- 1/9/2011
- by Andy Dehnart
- Reality Blurred
At the Television Critics press tour in Pasadena, HBO screened footage from Cinema Verite, a new look at reality TV pioneers the Loud family, reports Amy Dawes: First-look footage from HBO’s Cinema Verite unveiled Friday in L.A. at the television press tour played as a punchy, potent and emotionally explosive look at what went on behind the scenes during the creation of a landmark television experience. Based on the PBS documentary An American Family, which aired in 1973, this feature film version stars Diane Lane and Tim Robbins as Pat and Bill Loud, the Santa Barbara couple who allowed filmmakers to spend seven months recording them and their five children in what HBO is positioning as a precursor of today’s reality television phenomenon. In the ...
- 1/9/2011
- Thompson on Hollywood
James Gandolfini, who's developing a series project at HBO, is also starring in a movie for the cable channel.
The "Sopranos" star and Oscar winner Tim Robbins have joined Diane Lane in the cast of "Cinema Verite," and HBO Films production about the making of the PBS series "An American Family" in 1973.
Gandolfini will play Craig Gilbert, "An American Family's" producer, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Lane and Robbins are set to play Pat and Bill Loud, the parents of the family who were the subjects of the landmark series, which set the template for much of the current era's reality TV.
Gandolfini is also executive producing an adaptation of the French-Canadian series "Taxi-022" for HBO and considering starring in it.
- NBC is still the leader in network evening news, but ABC and Diane Sawyer made it a pretty close race last week.
ABC's "World News" averaged 7 million viewers per night last week,...
The "Sopranos" star and Oscar winner Tim Robbins have joined Diane Lane in the cast of "Cinema Verite," and HBO Films production about the making of the PBS series "An American Family" in 1973.
Gandolfini will play Craig Gilbert, "An American Family's" producer, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Lane and Robbins are set to play Pat and Bill Loud, the parents of the family who were the subjects of the landmark series, which set the template for much of the current era's reality TV.
Gandolfini is also executive producing an adaptation of the French-Canadian series "Taxi-022" for HBO and considering starring in it.
- NBC is still the leader in network evening news, but ABC and Diane Sawyer made it a pretty close race last week.
ABC's "World News" averaged 7 million viewers per night last week,...
- 5/13/2010
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
Plus, the Loud family returns to television, Jake's hair was all the rage, Katerine Hepburn's stamp, plus Unix humor.
Many TV series got pickup orders today, and the gay content just hasn’t happened as far as we can see, but I need to research ABC’s pickup of No Ordinary Family. It’s been described as a live action version of The Incredibles, but it comes from out producer Greg Berlanti, who also gave us Kevin and Scotty.
Fox also picked up Chicago police drama Ride Along, a Texas con man drama Midland, a comedy about three dudes called Traffic Light, and Keep Hope Alive, which the network describes as "a 25-year-old single parent raising an infant with the help of his quirky family after the mother of the baby — with whom he had a one-night stand — ends up on death row." Yeah, they put that one together with a grab bag.
Many TV series got pickup orders today, and the gay content just hasn’t happened as far as we can see, but I need to research ABC’s pickup of No Ordinary Family. It’s been described as a live action version of The Incredibles, but it comes from out producer Greg Berlanti, who also gave us Kevin and Scotty.
Fox also picked up Chicago police drama Ride Along, a Texas con man drama Midland, a comedy about three dudes called Traffic Light, and Keep Hope Alive, which the network describes as "a 25-year-old single parent raising an infant with the help of his quirky family after the mother of the baby — with whom he had a one-night stand — ends up on death row." Yeah, they put that one together with a grab bag.
- 5/13/2010
- by lostinmiami
- The Backlot
Tim Robbins and James Gandolfini are set to co-star opposite Diane Lane in HBO Films’ Cinema Verite. The movie, written by David Seltzer, is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the groundbreaking 1973 PBS documentary series An American Family. The series by Oscar-winning doc filmmakers Alan and Susan Raymond centered on Santa Barbara couple Pat Loud (Lane) and Bill Loud (Robbins), who split up during the filming, and their children, the eldest of whom, son Lance, became TV's first openly gay character. In Cinema Verite, which is centered on the Pat Loud character, Gandolfini will play the documentary’s producer, [...]...
- 5/12/2010
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
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