New Issues Run in the Families : Television: Five-part series on KOCE Channel 50, which examines parents’ struggles of the ‘90s, aims to present a snapshot of current realities.

When Dave Iverson and his wife had a daughter in the late 1970s, they thought they could have it all: two brilliant careers and abundant time for family life.

But all too soon, they realized how difficult that would be, and they have juggled and struggled ever since to realize that elusive goal. For instance, Dave Iverson has always done most of the housework, which has had at least one surprising side effect.

“To this day, my daughter will call me ‘Mom,’ ” said Iverson, executive producer of a five-part series about the changing shape of the American family. It airs weekdays at 7 a.m. beginning Monday on Orange County public TV station KOCE Channel 50.

From a single, working mom raising a son, to a lesbian couple raising two kids, from day care to divorce, “Our Families, Our Times” explores realities and pressures of contemporary life that Ozzie and Harriet and their real-life ‘50s counterparts never knew.

“Families are wrestling with a whole lot of new issues and there aren’t a lot of role models” for them to follow, Iverson said in a recent phone interview.

Iverson, who works at Wisconsin Public Television in Madison, produced the series last year because he and co-producers felt its topic was of widespread concern. Sure enough, American family values made the cover of the current Newsweek after Vice President Dan Quayle condemned TV’s Murphy Brown last month for bearing a child out of wedlock. Quayle cited the episode as an example of the sort of moral decay that led to the Los Angeles riots.

“Whatever you think of Quayle’s remark, the subject is really important, and it’s important to try to understand how families work and what we can do to make families work,” Iverson said.

KOCE is running the series, in addition to “In the Life,” a gay and lesbian variety show, to coincide with Gay Pride Week, said program director Roberta Smith.

“Different types of families, including those with gay parents, are certainly part of our society, and we’re committed to doing our best to serve our whole community,” Smith said.

The series’ first 30-minute installment, “The Changing Terrain,” uses statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau to underscore changes since the days when Beaver Cleaver’s mom sent him off to school with his lunch pail: Nowadays, only one-fourth of mothers with school-age children stay at home full time. Additionally, the Census Bureau reports that 1.6 million same-sex couples are now living together in the United States.

In one segment, Madison journalist Dennis Chaptman and his wife, Margaret Collins, also a writer, grapple with a problem similar to Iverson’s--how to spend enough time with their child while sustaining two careers. Chaptman’s solution was to step down as city editor of his newspaper to take a less stressful job as a sports reporter, which gave him more time at home.

In another segment, longtime lesbian companions Martha Pop and Alix Olson, raising Pop’s two children from a previous marriage, face the fear of social stigma as they are granted a family membership in a community-pool facility.

In another, single mother Diana Dupont talks frankly about the rigors of working full time as a traveling sales representative, while raising son Josh. “Sometimes I’m too tired to make Kraft macaroni and cheese,” she says.

Remaining episodes each focus on a single issue for a more in-depth look at divorce, non-traditional families from a child’s point of view, gay-parent households and romance--or the lack of it--between working parents in today’s frenetic world.

Producers didn’t set out to preach acceptance of particular lifestyle choices or value systems, Iverson said. The aim instead was to present a snapshot of current realities.

“We wanted to expose people to a lot of different alternatives . . . and to show that family issues are family issues,” Iverson said. “If two women have a household, they are still fussing about who should make breakfast or pick up the kids.”

The series does not attempt to offer solutions to the problems it addresses, he added, though it includes interviews with various authorities on family matters.

“We just don’t know a lot about how this is all going to turn out,” Iverson said. “But it’s time to at least give people an opportunity to talk about their experiences.”

“Our Families, Our Times , “ a five-part series, will air on KOCE Channel 50 this Monday through Friday at 7 a.m.