“TV Ate my Family”: Lance Loud & America’s First Reality Show
Reality shows today generate tons of controversial moments, but none of them compare to the outrage generated by one of TV’s first reality shows. An American Family aired out the dirty secrets of an unassuming family — and one of the most divisive parts was the gay son Lance. So what was the controversy, and was Lance really as bad as the newspapers said? This is the story of Lance Loud, the unapologetically queer teen who became TV’s first reality star, and set the stage for decades to come.
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@Margie75
June 16, 2026 at 11:34 pm
The first reality show that was unscripted and authentic. Lance Loud was out before celebrities who were closeted did. The family was brave and Lance lived his life with no regrets. Rest in Peace, Lance and Pat. 🙏🏽
@andgee2222
June 16, 2026 at 11:34 pm
When will y’all learn the NYT sucks!
@VonL
June 16, 2026 at 11:34 pm
Returning back home from the NYC demimonde wasn’t as much about failure as having graduated finishing school. ( how’s that for spin) For some reason the only memory I have left of the series was of the brothers playing the Bonzo Dog Band and thinking how cool they were at the time. In retrospect it’s likely evident that Lance crossed paths w Jobriath. Oh yea, that shirt/sweater/whatever that yr wearing serves.
@Kathryn-qs1tb
June 16, 2026 at 11:34 pm
They were good and decent people. They were brave to be filmed
@jillmarsh8256
June 16, 2026 at 11:34 pm
I just found out about this family and show yesterday. I mean literally. To me Pat was so ahead of her time. She treated Lance like he was normal and it’s great. In 1971? Alls she knew was that was her son and she loved him for who he was. It’s a beautiful thing. They were put into each other’s lives for a reason, they needed one another. And the way she acted when she first went to NYC to see him was just so strong of her. I guess I’m more of an emotional person. I would have been yelling and cussing and wondering how he was ever going to make it. But she trusted the process. And as a mother of a very independent child, it is very hard to step back and just let them grow up and bloom on their own.
@garyclarke_au
June 16, 2026 at 11:34 pm
The narrator's shirt is fabulous. Xx
@paulpittsburgh
June 16, 2026 at 11:34 pm
THIS WAS ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING.
@DanielSantos14888
June 16, 2026 at 11:34 pm
1:03/56:02 What on Earth or in Outer Space (STAR TREK'S EDEN EPISODE: ZULU touches this Flower and Gets STUNG BY IT!) Is An EVIL FLOWER OF THE FAMILY?
@2020Bookworm
June 16, 2026 at 11:34 pm
Nowadays,I would be more interested in how they became a wealthy family.
@ptboat67
June 16, 2026 at 11:34 pm
I had no idea that Pat was part of getting Dancer From the Dance. She was so progressive. I read that book, for the first time, in the lare 80s. I just re-read it. Lance was such a trail blazer. I didn't see the original show until many years later because I was a little boy but wow was he a light. It was so sad that he wasnt treated like the hero that he was for so many.
@rjfennessy1727
June 16, 2026 at 11:34 pm
I just found your page not too long ago, and I love it. It’s so good. Every story is like a little mini documentary movie4 and your delivery is perfect . Keep it up.
@JOrjorbanks
June 16, 2026 at 11:34 pm
Another story I'm ashamed to never know. I walk by the Chelsea hotel several times a week.
@a3l1um
June 16, 2026 at 11:34 pm
where can i watch the show??
@Nikki-o5l
June 16, 2026 at 11:34 pm
I remember reading about "The Mumps" in "Hit Parader" or "Circus" magazine or one of those magazines in the mid 1970's. My sister and I were excited a new interesting band was coming around. Then, nothing. So sad. 😢💔
@AM-rl6mq
June 16, 2026 at 11:34 pm
There was a movie about all this called Cinema Verite with Diane Lane and Tim Robbins 2011. Does anyone else remember this?
@ellie_bean_w
June 16, 2026 at 11:34 pm
Sue's Snakes and Rat's speech from survivor is fresh on my mind since I just started binging it lol
@halston19762
June 16, 2026 at 11:34 pm
This came across my feed today and I had to think about one of my favorite quotes from Quentin Crisp in 1975: "Far be it from me to advocate a return to 'family' entertainment. The word 'family' as used in this phrase describes a dream unit presided over by a daughter's idea of a father, kept spic-and-span by a son's idea of a mother, and romped in (innocently) by a parent's idea of children. In fact, if someone were to set up a production in which Miss Bette Davis was directed by Mr. Roman Polanski, it could not express to the full the pent-up violence and depravity of a single day in the life of the average family." (How to Have a Lifestyle, Crisp, 1975)
@Hannah-gz5xy
June 16, 2026 at 11:34 pm
16:44 ough this twist is so good
@Hannah-gz5xy
June 16, 2026 at 11:34 pm
18:53
@sarahspector5294
June 16, 2026 at 11:34 pm
I watched it when it came out – when I was a child – this is my favorite video of yours. Thank you.
@hcombs0104
June 16, 2026 at 11:34 pm
I remember watching the series when it was originally broadcast in 1973, and the rebroadcast in early 1991. The only thing I will say is, we all should have had Pat as a mom. My own mom had more of a Bill Loud mentality.
@marcudemus
June 16, 2026 at 11:34 pm
I feel cheated.
I feel cheated that I shared this world with Lance Loud for 15 years before he passed away and I never knew anything about him until now, almost 2 decades after he passed. 😣😢
@4Mr.Crowley2
June 16, 2026 at 11:34 pm
Matt this is a brilliant video. I highly recommend the 7 Up series, which is still going after decades even though a few originals have passed away, as they approach their 70s. It’s an amazing and sometimes brutal assessment of class, gender, and race in Britain for the Baby Boomers born in the 50s.
@scottmayhew9754
June 16, 2026 at 11:34 pm
Good show! I've requested Hi Honey and Cue the Sun from my local library.
@barbj672000
June 16, 2026 at 11:34 pm
I love your sweater, Matt
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