Connor Vee Huxtable

As iconic families go, it's hard to get past these two 80's classics as examples. Is there something representing each family that divides personalities as easily as astrological signs? As earth elements? As political parties? Must one belong to either a Conner or a Huxtable upbringing?

I hesitate to say that one family is better than the other. My first instinct is to go with the Huxtable class and money. But when you look at fictional themes in raising families, the Conners push just as hard as the Huxtables when it comes to family dinners, having pride in your background and upbringing, school and grades, and spending time together as a family. I think that Dan and Roseanne had a little sharper edge to their parenting style, a little more push and a little more crass that wasted no breath in attempting to lure children into good behavior, and instead, just demanding that it be so. Cliff and Claire also kept short leashes -- only it seemed, at times, that their darling children responded to witty and loving prompts, instead of Roseanne's sharp voice screaming across the afghan-ed Connor living room.

I'm not sure I am willing to take sides in this potential debate. One pretend family boasted style and class; the other thrived on cheap beer and flying by the seat of their pants. It's no secret that each lead borrowed heavily from their own lives for material for each sitcom. If Bill Cosby and Roseanne Barr were in the same room, would they even talk to one another?

One thing that would unite Cliff, Clair, Dan and Roseanne in conversation (if they were to somehow find themselves at the Lanford Jazz Club and Bar) would surely be the state of parenting these days. The Huxtables and the Conners both exhibited tough love, wherein a parent knows they are doing the right thing by monitoring the over-dramatic reaction of a child that will then pout and hate them for the rest of the episode (until said child learns their 30 minute lesson). In the recent state of "My super duper super spoiled sweet 16" and "My parents love me so they bought me a pony and a cell phone and I'm quitting school so I can discover myself", tough love might be hard to come by.

So are the Conners and Huxtables still out there in the real world? Are their families like this that still thrive on hard knocks and sticking together? What about you? Are you a Conner or a Huxtable? Did you grow up one only to raise your family as another? Would the Conners and Huxtables be able to be next door neighbors? The world may never know.