Last Tuesday afternoon, I rushed home from class to get to the TV. It was the day I had been waiting for -- Oprah was having a reunion show with the cast of The Cosby Show.

As soon as the show began, I was overwhelmed with nostalgia. Now, this may seem a bit obsessive. But growing up, The Cosby Show had a huge impact on my childhood.

The Cosbys were a family I could relate to, and seeing the "Cosby" kids all grown up really took me back in time.

When the cast reminisced about what a great family-oriented show it was for the American television audience, I thought to myself: 'Why don't we have shows like this on television anymore?'

I mean, honestly, what shows can families actually sit down together and watch and relate to? These days, even the pre-teen television shows are mediocre, especially when the real-life actors who serve as role models to their fans are getting pregnant at age 16.

I was out to dinner with a few of my sorority sisters the other night and we were reminiscing about the good ol' days of TGIF. I know most of you remember TGIF -- the block of "Thank God It's Friday" family programming that began on Friday nights. My family and I used to sit down together at 8 p.m. and watch the likes of Boy Meets World and Family Matters.

Now don't get me wrong. I have a few guilty pleasures in modern day television.

I'll admit I get stuck in a Project Runway marathon from time to time and I am a self-admitted addict to Desperate Housewives (speaking of which, now that the strike is over, the writers need to bring me a new episode). But how many seasons of Flavor of Love or American Idol can society really take before our brains turn to mush?

I miss the Carl Winslows and Michelle Tanners of the television world. And I'll take a clumsy dork in suspenders over a washed-up '80s rapper with a clock around his neck any day.

We need classic, wholesome family programming again. We need a 2008 show that features a happy but not necessarily perfect family that faces some type of dilemma accompanied by dramatic music and a lesson learned at the end of each episode.

We need a return to television before the era of reality TV dating and a fascination with other people's meaningless lives.

Man, those were the days.

Arianna Davis is a junior majoring in journalism and an enterprise reporter for The Daily Collegian. Her e-mail is agd5006@psu.edu.