Plot Synopsis

AN AMERICAN FAMILY stepped into the home of the Loud family of Santa Barbara, California, chronicling the lives of its family members. The series made parents Pat and Bill Loud and their five children -- Lance, Delilah, Grant, Kevin and Michele -- household names. During seven months in 1971, the family lived under the microscope of the camera, and this series documented significant life moments as they unfolded, including Pat asking for a separation from her husband Bill and a glimpse into the New York lifestyle of their gay son Lance. Unlike most documentaries of its day, AN AMERICAN FAMILY had no host, no interviews and almost no voice-over narration, portraying everyday life of the Loud family without embellishment in the style of cinema verite.