In many fairy tales, the central character has a stepmother and the step-siblings serve as an extension of their mother.
Cinderella and
Mother Hulda features wicked stepsisters who take after their parents. The story
Kate Crackernuts serves as a counterexample where the daughter of the evil stepparent is a loving stepsister. Many
romance novels feature heroes who are the stepbrother of the heroine. The step-relationship generally stems from a marriage when the hero and heroine are at least in their adolescence. Some family
films and television
sitcoms feature a blended nuclear family including siblings as the center premise. In many cases, the step-family is large and full of children causing situations such as sibling rivalry, rooming, falling in love, and getting along amongst the children as popular plot-lines. This premise gained traction with the 1968 films
Yours, Mine and Ours and
With Six You Get Eggroll and the 1969 launch of the television sitcom
The Brady Bunch. Some contemporary family sitcoms have made the blended family sitcom more popular with the
TGIF show
Step by Step bringing about other shows such as
Aliens in the Family,
Life with Derek,
Drake & Josh, and the short-lived
NBC family sitcom
Something So Right. The
Disney Channel animated series
Phineas and Ferb also prominently features a blended family, chosen by co-creator
Jeff "Swampy" Marsh in part due to its under-use in children's programming, and his personal experiences growing up in such a family. ==References==