Dysfunctionals and the royals

By SHELLEY HOWELLS

Famous or fictional, virtuous or violent, delightful or disturbing, families take up a lot of space online.

All-American family values can be explored on the Family Values network at www.fvn.com which features a prayer chat room and an essay entitled Why I Wouldn't Let My Kids Hang Out With Harry Potter.

The Family is "dedicated to preserving the moral and spiritual foundations of the family by strengthening mothers in the home". This is not to be confused with In the Family, the online home of a magazine that focuses on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families.

The violent face of US family values is available for worship on "the biggest Sopranos fan site on the net". Everything for the obsessive fan, including a shot by shot (literally) body count for each season, Soprano family recipes and glossary of mobspeak.

Or take a look at the dark side of the Bush family, starting with the story about President George W. Bush's grandfather allegedly stealing Geronimo's skull, going downhill from there.

Ozzy Osbourne's family is getting a lot of web space and the pick of sites is the Sims-style Shockwave game in which you get to control their lives. It is a chance to make Ozzy repeatedly struggle with the new remote or get wife Sharon to hurl pork products and foul language over the fence, racking up a great score on the swear-o-meter.

If you prefer your family dysfunction a little better scripted, check out the Fishers on HBO's official Six Feet Under site. Try the trivia test or view those great funeral service commercials from the pilot episode, listening to the theme tune as you do it.

Perhaps you enjoy your family dysfunction encrusted in diamonds? Head for the Windsor clan's official site which even has a children's page to help support new generations of flag-wavers (colour in a corgi! Your cut-out and keep gold state coach).

Speaking of the next generation, Princes William and Harry take up more than their fair share of space. One fan site created by a US Will fan includes a love compatibility calculator that measures how you and Will might get along. And there is a Harry site called Leave Harry Alone! that gets all heated over his press treatment.

Closer to home you can check out the latest on our "royal family" at the Topp Twins site which features a weekly update on their lives and the Topp Shopp supplying Topp Twins postcard sets, blooper videos and CDs.

The most useful local family sites are Family Planning and the Salvation Army's Family Tracing Services that aims to reunite families who have lost touch.

The Family

In the Family

The Sopranos

Bush Family Values

The Osbournes

Six Feet Under

The British Monarchy

Prince William fan site

Leave Harry alone!

Topp Twins

Family Planning

Salvation Army: Family tracing unit