addendum to the last post: there's a bit in one of the Talking Simpsons podcast episode where someone calls the way the simpsons shows the family watching tv together "rockwellian" and i agree.
while the simpsons is trying to be kinda cynical and show america as it actually is (lazy couch potatoes) instead of the idealized way sitcom families are shown on tv, enough time has passed that, whoops, the idea of a family getting together to watch the same tv show is quaint and nostalgic now. now everybody's watching their own screens when they hang out
