So while we were taking care of some boring chores, we also caught up on the recorded TV shows that I had missed during the week.

I am amazed at how good American Dreams is, and baffled when I see the ratings. Someone at NBC is not doing their job of promoting this show well enough. It has rich writing, good acting and the setting is perfect for a comparison with what is going on in the US today. The backdrop in the show is Vietnam, and we have Iraq right now.

The issues are similar too - like stopping war being considered ‘commie’, soldiers getting a ‘killer’ mentality and not feeling well doing ‘normal’ stuff, etc.

It is a great show, and if you read this and are not watching it, please watch it and pass this message along to anyone else you know. It is on at 8pm every Sunday night.

The family, just in case you want a quick intro:

Jack Pryor and Helen Pryor - parents of JJ, Meg, Patty and Will.

Jack owns a Radio/TV store and is going to run for City Council in Philly.

Helen works at a travel agency - there was quite a stir in the family that they showed in the previous season, when Helen decides to start working. It was considered almost like an insult to Jack, but he understood and let her work.

Patty is the chirpy younger daughter, who is shown to be oversmart and over achieving.

Meg is the so-called feature of the show (it was going to be called Miss American Pie), and is in the junior year of high school and is against the war and has her own thoughts which almost always collide with her dad’s. Last season she went out with a guy from U. Penn., and was heart-broken. Now, she is campaigning to end the war.

Will is the youngest kid, and has polio. Last season, they had an operation done on his leg which apparently will let him walk without crutches. He is the innocent one in the family, and is in total awe of his brother JJ.

JJ, the eldest kid, worked hard, but after getting rejected from Notre Dame on a football scholarship for lying about a previous injury, he decided to quit college and join the Marines. He was then shipped to Vietnam and is shown there since the last season.

Roxanne, Meg’s rebellious best friend is a great character shown as a carefree kid with divorced parents who spends more time at the Pryors' than her own family. She gives ‘boy advice’ to everyone and is even shown smoking in the rest rooms in the Catholic school that they are shown going to.

Beth is JJ’s ex-girlfriend and they have had their breakups and reunions, but currently they are broken up. But the twist is that she is having his baby and that is another big thing in that era. To be having a baby without marrying the guy. She split with JJ because JJ did not want to come back when he could have, at the end of his tour of duty.

There is also Henry, who works with Jack Pryor in the store and is now a partner (another set of issues - race and the glass ceiling issue). Henry’s son Sam is a smart kid with athletic abilities and is Meg’s good friend. They almost showed a romance between them, but stopped short of it. But he believes in similar principles as Meg, and as a result they end up spending a lot of time together for similar interests like listening to records at the booth in the record store.

Henry’s wife died of cancer last season, and now he is shown supporting his two kids - Sam and Angela.

I hope you read all the way up to here, and I also hope that this gives you enough of a background to start seeing the show. Please pass this message along to as many people as you know.

Also check out http://www.nbc.com/American_Dreams