TV Land Celebrates Family Day in Mayberry!

by Joi on September 19, 2008

For the fourth consecutive year, TV Land joins The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University in celebrating Family Day - A Day to Eat Dinner with Your Children on Monday, September 22nd. This year, TV Land will continue the network tradition of devoting the supper-time slot and air back-to-back episodes of “The Andy Griffith Show,” starting at 6:00pm (ET/PT).

From TV Land:

TV Land dedicates this time to encourage and remind families of the importance of time spent dining together.

“‘The Andy Griffith Show’ is a perfect fit for Family Day,” states Larry W. Jones, president, TV Land. “The show is consistent with the positive messages of Family Day and its importance. ‘The Andy Griffith Show’ is a series the whole family can enjoy, and therefore, an ideal selection for a day meant to promote togetherness.”

“We are fortunate to once again have the support of TV Land for Family Day to remind Americans of the importance of family dinners and to promote parental engagement in children’s lives,” said Joseph A. Califano, Jr., CASA Chairman and President and former U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare. “Based on 16 years of research the most important thing we can do to curb substance abuse in our nation is to make sure children in America have dinner with their parents at least five times a week.”

Participants can register to pledge to have dinner together on September 22nd, Family Day, on TVLand.com. TV Land and CASA are hoping Americans will use Family Day as a catalyst to make family dinners a regular part of their lives. TVLand.com additionally offers fun Family Day suggestions, such as Conversation Starters, a Family Dinner photo gallery of your favorite television families around the dinner table, a blog offering helpful meal-time tips and much more.

TV Land is also supporting Family Day by showcasing specially-created commercials that emphasize the numerous benefits that come from consistent family dining. CASA’s Family Day, was created in 2001, in response to over a decade of research revealing that the more often children eat dinner with their families, the less likely they are to smoke, drink and use drugs.

What a wonderful idea! I love anything that gives me back-to-back Andy Griffith episodes, but as a wife and mother of 3, I love the emphasis on family time even more. I’ll look into it a little further to find out which episodes they’ll be showing. When I find out, I’ll add a p.s. to this post.