So when "Hogan Knows Best" came on the air, I think it was my first chance to find out what it's like to live with a real family. By watching I found out what it's like to have parents that are generally interested in you and your life and support your dreams while still enforcing rules that protect you while you pursue them. By watching that show I found out what it's like to do things with your family like go on a vacation or a cruise or fun trip together. By watching that family on tv I found out what it's like to share meals with a family and be missed by them when you're away and worried about when you're off trying new things in life.
Oh sure there are other reality shows following famous families. But every one of them centers around dysfunctional families (like the Osbournes). This is the first reality show that follows a healthy, loving, communicative, mutually supportive and respectful family. I rely on that show to let me find out what it's like to have those kinds of parents, a sibling and a life that centers around and is supported by family. And now I find out that family is about to be torn apart by divorce. I feel the loss of this and I'm very sad. These people let me find out what love and support and closeness on daily basis by parents and siblings looks like. And there was something special about knowing that while I may never experience it in real life, it lives on for a lifetime in their family. But not anymore.
