Of course, I'd heard the music of the '60s, and I'd read about Vietnam, the peace protests and the Civil Rights movement. But I wanted more. I wanted to feel what it was like to live in that paradoxical era: "the turbulent '60s" and the "more innocent time" I'm too young to have experienced firsthand.

The show takes place in Philadelphia in 1963. John F. Kennedy has been assassinated, and people are beginning to be apprehensive about the Vietnam "police action."

The plot revolves around a traditional nuclear, middle-class family. There's patriarch Jack Pryor, a World War II veteran who owns an electronics store, his (house)wife, Helen, and their four children, JJ, Meg, Patty and Will.

Meg realizes the dream of most teen-age girls of the era, landing the chance to be a dancer on "American Bandstand." Meanwhile, JJ, a high school senior, struggles with his desire to forge his own path, or fulfill his father's dream by playing football at the University of Notre Dame, and Helen decides to go on the Pill — despite Jack's objections.

Some things transcend generations: a teen-age girl anticipating her first kiss; a kid sister being a pest; a family getting into an impromptu snowball fight on the way to Christmas Eve Mass.

But the differences are painfully obvious. In one episode, Meg's best friend, Roxanne, is upset because her mom wants her to spend time with her and her boyfriend, who is alone for the holidays because "his kids are with his ex-wife."

It strikes me as ironic that Roxanne's situation seems more "normal" now than the image of the Pryor clan seated around the dinner table.

There are other ironies. In four decades, we've gone from fighting communists and the "Evil Empire" to battling terrorists and the "Axis of Evil." And in the process, we've compromised some of the very civil liberties we won so dearly 40 years ago.

Perhaps my fascination with the '60s lies in my desire to learn something from the past — though it seems silly to have hoped these fictitious characters could teach me what to do or show me how to cope with uncertainty.

I realize, too, that the show does not present a true picture of the '60s. Its producers rewrite history to suit their needs. In fact, according to the NBC website, The Beatles will perform on "Bandstand" in Sunday's episode — even though the real Fab Four never did.

Instead of answering my questions, the show has made me wonder more. What must it have been like, living through the anxiety of the Cuban Missile Crisis, finding out the president has been killed, sending son after son off to fight a hopeless war? Did people have any inkling of what was coming? Could they imagine how much would change?

In 1963, women like Helen Pryor wanted more: more college and career opportunities, more freedom to choose their own paths and, perhaps most importantly, more respect for their choices.

Forty years later, that is still the American Dream for many women — although they may take it for granted.

But it is also the opposite of what many women want. In 2003, some women want less. They have had it all and decided the job of superwoman wasn't as great as their mothers and grandmothers had envisioned. Some grew up in families where both parents had demanding careers — and decided they did not want that life for their own children.

There's no question the American culture still revolves around money. But after the wake-up call of 9/11, the ongoing news of corporate corruption and now, the specter of war with Iraq, more people seem to be seeking the intangibles: quality time with their kids, security, peace of mind.

If Madonna's "Material Girl" is a soundtrack for women of the '80s, then perhaps Sheryl Crow's "Soak Up The Sun" is an appropriate anthem for 2003, with its message that "it's not having what you want, it's wanting what you've got" that matters.

So many things have changed over the last four decades: in technology and politics, in our cultural values and our daily routines.

Yet people, I think, are basically the same. They still have the same fears, needs, hopes and dreams.

In the past 40 — or 227 — years, the American Dream of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness hasn't changed.

Lisa Miller is The Daily Star's community editor. She can be reached at (607) 441-7216 or lmiller@thedailystar.com.