The Paulsens

The Paulsens is an American television sitcom created and produced by Frank Goddard for. The series premiered on May 22, 1974, and ended on September 2, 1975, after three seasons and 65 episodes. It depicts the simple, everyday life of Jessica Paulsen, a young girl everyone calls Jessie, and her family in suburban United States. Jessie is sometimes a troublemaker, and most of the episodes recount Jessie's trouble and how she and her friends succeed in solving the situation.

The Paulsens was developed and executive produced by Ryan Paulsen for and. The series received widespread praise from critics and proved an extremely popular draw for the network. In 1986, took inspiration from the show to write and illustrate.

Premise
Jessica Paulsen is an elementary school student who likes, and comic books. She is often called Jessie due to her young age and small size. She lives together with her parents, her grandparents and her elder sister in a little town. In school, she has many friends with whom she studies and plays together everyday, including her close pal, Tama-chan; the student committee members, Maruo-kun and Migiwa-san; and the B-class trio: 'little master' Hanawa-kun, Hamaji-Bu Taro and Sekiguchi-kun.

Characters

 * Jessica "Jessie" Paulsen ; The titular character, Jessie is a seven-year-old third-grade student raised in a modest family of six. She often carries a pleasant and co-coperative personality when in a good mood or amongst friends. She does also however possess a heavy tendency to become lazy or moody, especially whilst at home by sometimes back-talking to her parents or disobeying their orders - most often with her mother. She has a strong bond with her grandfather Christopher, but is able to easily quarrel with her older sister Nancy.
 * Nancy Paulsen ; Jessie's older sister. She is well-behaved for her age, and often gives words of advice to her younger sister Jessie. She sometimes ends up in a foul temper after arguing with Jessie over unimportant matters, although she is never the one to initiate the quarrels.
 * Thomas Paulsen ; Jessie's father. He was introduced to Jessie's mother by her friend. Thomas has a rather lax and free personality, doing whatever he wishes to do whilst at home, which are often 'lazy' activities such as reading the newspaper or watching television. He seems to get on fine with everyone, but does show instances of mocking or making fun of others who state opinions contradicting his own. He can tend to laugh excessively upon hearing a funny story told by someone, most often from Thomas.
 * Sandra Paulsen ; Jessie's mother. She carries a very tender and motherly personality, but constantly finds herself in a bad temper after having to scold Jessie on a near-constant basis due to the latter's frequent misadventures. She will always discourage her from engaging in anything she finds dodgy or dangerous, but oftentimes to no avail.
 * Christopher Paulsen (Glenn Stanton); Jessie's kind but absent-minded paternal grandfather, Thomas' father and Sandra's father-in-law. He has a rather approachable demeanor, and contributes often to family discussions, sometimes drawing upon his own past experiences as a child. He is also prone to causing embarrassment for the family in moments where he makes awkward statements or actions, sometimes to further embarrassment from non-family members or strangers.
 * Elena Paulsen (Charlotte Kennedy); Jessie's paternal grandmother, Thomas' mother, and Sandra's mother-in-law. Although Elena appears to not stand out as much amongst the rest of the family members, she is seen to be very kind and warm in nature in instances where she does interact. She is particularly good at giving advice to others regarding health tips and foods to eat in times of illness.