The research presented here is a descriptive account, consonant with ethnographic methods, of interactions between and among family members in selected segments of documentary, prime time and soap opera television programming. The analysis of each program format was based on kinship relationships of participants, topics of conversation involving interpersonal or non-interpersonal relations, and styles of conversation (casual, personal, intimate, or ritual). The investigation concluded that: (1) kinship complexity of generational levels was greatest in documentary programming and least in prime time television, with a prime time concentration on immediate family interaction; soap operas portrayed extended in-law relationships more than the other formats; (2) marriage relations was the most frequent interpersonal topic in all formats; (3) interpersonal relationship topics and combinations of these topics were most prevalent in soap opera; (4) all formats had a similar distribution of non-interpersonal topics; (5) the intimate and personal styles were most frequent in the scripted dramas of soap opera and prime time, while documentaries primarily depicted a casual style; and (6) all formats primarily utilized dyadic interaction when the style was intimate. The research concludes that the images of the family emanating from language interaction differ considerably according to the nature of the television format which creates them. (Author/AMH)