I crushed hard on this TV character in the early 2000s. Did you watch this show as well?

I recently watched a film titled Parachute. It follows female teenager Riley and her journey with an eating disorder and body image issues.

I’ve previously written about a best friend of mine who experienced similar challenges, so critiqued the film’s authenticity from beginning to end. 

Parachute stars Aussie youngster Courtney Eaton (Mad Max: Fury Road) as Riley, and Thomas Mann (Me, Earl and the Dying Girl) as Ethan, Riley’s love interest. 

I was really impressed by the film. I thought the writing, direction and performances handled the subject matter with precision and immense dignity. 

Back in the early 2000’s I watched a TV pilot based on an American family of six from Philadelphia. 

I knew I might be onto something I’d like after watching the show's opening titles. The show’s theme song is so catchy, and really filled me with boy-ish optimism. Watch the video of the titles below, and see if you remember watching the show.

This family period drama – as revealed three seconds into the above video – was titled American Dreams. The first season was actually titled Our Generation in Australia, but transitioned back to its original title for Season 2. 

American Dreams centred on the Pryor family during the 1960’s – Dad Jack, mum Helen, and kids JJ, Meg, Patty and Will. 

One of the bigger plot lines centred around teenager Meg, who dances on Dick Clark's American Bandstand, and it was she who I immediately took a liking to.

I thought Meg Pryor was gorgeous, but was just as captivated by her character traits.

She starts out as a dreamer and a romantic, with the internal make up of a thousand layers. She's determined yet self-doubting. Self-centred at times, yet a kind and loyal sister and best friend. Obedient to the morals instilled in her by her Irish Roman Catholic parents, yet unwavering when it comes to her own personal beliefs, even if they contradict her upbringing.

In those early episodes, what was just as gushingly relatable to me was Meg's love for TV. As she says in the video below after her first day on the Bandstand set, "I can't imagine I'll ever do anything that's so important, so exactly what I want to do all the time."

I guess I saw myself as the same. I was still in high school when American Dreams first aired, but – as I've written in other columns – later worked in various forms of TV production, be it live in studio, soap, drama or comedy, and was absolutely obsessed with it.

Unfortunately Meg slowly moves away from some of her appealing qualities as she grows older in season two, and under the bad influence of a boyfriend in season three. 

But my fascination with her never went away, to the extent that I followed the actress who played Meg – Brittany Snow – all the way through to later performances in John Tucker Must Die, Hairspray and Pitch Perfect. 

So what has the film Parachute got to do with all of this?

Well, I didn’t follow Brittany Snow’s career all the way through to 2024, but I was pleasantly surprised to see Parachute’s credits reveal Snow was the film’s director. 

And for the first time in a long time, it made me think about American Dreams and Meg Pryor, and the positive impact movies, TV shows, and art in general, can have on our lives, in particular our emotional reactions and desires. 

I went to Youtube to see if it had any old clips of the show, and was again pleasantly surprised to discover the majority of episodes across the three seasons had been uploaded by a user.

I watched bits and pieces the other night and Snow's portrayal of the complex rollercoaster of emotions Meg experiences after her older brother JJ goes missing in action in the Vietnam War, is award-worthy.

So three seasons of American Dreams are my viewing this weekend, or at least the first few episodes.

I'm eager to rewatch it, and see what I make of it all these years on.