Wow things have changed on TV

[DARTHTYRANUS]

I love SAN FORD AND SON to me it was and still is one of the best written sitcoms out their. As i was rewatching season 1 ep "Here cmes the bride"
wow was i knocked back by the language he used,now he refers to chinese in a cdertain way he refers to black people a certain way and others . So what im asking is why n the seventies could tv and get away with it but if you did it today well it would be off the air next day no one wants to disrespect other people wit bad words but how then could they say these words?????
Still love this show YOU BIG DUMMIES opps imean you large fools (better )

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

True; but in the 90's you could have done worse, since swearing (and nudity) were allowed on network tv. Until we almost saw Janet Jackson's pastie during Circus Maximus.... then they were evil again.

Like most things it cycles back and forth; and the 90's WERE the 70's again....

Don C.

[generic]

...So what im asking is why n the seventies could tv and get away with it but if you did it today well it would be off the air next day no one wants to disrespect other people wit bad words but how then could they say these words?????

The United Stated of America has been sanitized for your protection. Your Welcome.

Political Correctness has gotten out of control. Everyone is so afraid of lawsuits and just generally offending someone else that the country has gone nuts.

Exhibit A: The DVDs for Seasons One and Two of Sesame Street have an Adults Only warning label.

F'n Sesame Street? Are you kidding me? I realize that times have changed, but damn, let Cookie Monster eat cookies and let Oscar the Grouch be grouchy and YOU be the parent to your kids instead of expecting television to teach them everything they need to know. YOU are your kid's best chance at being be OK as an adult.

[Hector]

Sanford and Son rules...so does All in the Family.

[huedell]

In many instances I don't mind PC... but it doesn't make sense to me
to be PC in a sitcom...ignorant sitcom characters that use non-PC slurs can
be funny and they can also be unlikable... but either way they can work to
enhance a character or a "bit" in a show... too much PC and that means lees
potential for good scripts. Shame.

[HardyGirl]

Exhibit A: The DVDs for Seasons One and Two of Sesame Street have an Adults Only warning label.

F'n Sesame Street? Are you kidding me? I realize that times have changed, but damn, let Cookie Monster eat cookies and let Oscar the Grouch be grouchy and YOU be the parent to your kids instead of expecting television to teach them everything they need to know. YOU are your kid's best chance at being be OK as an adult.

Seriously? Adults only? That's just crazy! That show came out when I was 3 and I loved it and learned a lot from it, and I would have no qualms about my pre-schoolers watching it.

[kingdom warrior]

Sanford and Son rules...so does All in the Family.

Damn Skippy it does!

[generic]

In many instances I don't mind PC.

This isn’t really directed specifically at your comment, but I think my biggest problem with PC is that it’s an attempt to force people to be nice and sterilize our environment. I'm all for people being nice to each other, but I'm also all for common sense.

When an institution has a fit over the term "Handicap Office" and makes a big deal of changing the name "Handicap Office" to "Special Needs" office, yet leaves the office on the 3rd floor of a building with no elevator, the political correctness of the name change seems overshadowed by the stupidity of the physical location of the office.

"Mr. Smith, we've read your complaints about not being able to get your wheelchair up to the "Handicap Office" on the third floor and we sincerely apologize. We're in the process of changing the name to "Special Needs" office as we speak. We hope this will resolve your issues."

Seriously? Adults only? That's just crazy! That show came out when I was 3 and I loved it and learned a lot from it, and I would have no qualms about my pre-schoolers watching it.

Yep, seriously. That is crazy, isn't it?!

[Mikey]

Back in the 70's in school I was told I used to do a great Grady impression

[Brazoo]

"Sandford and Son" was great. Gary Shandling (I'm a HUGE fan) was a writer on that show.

You raise in interesting question. I think that show and "All In The Family" are good examples of how comedy could actually deal with issues - unlike the PC shows that followed, which just glossed over issues or covered them up.

[mego73]

"Sandford and Son" was great. Gary Shandling (I'm a HUGE fan) was a writer on that show.

You raise in interesting question. I think that show and "All In The Family" are good examples of how comedy could actually deal with issues - unlike the PC shows that followed, which just glossed over issues or covered them up.

They dealt with them with some complexity too. It would be easier to make Archie Bunker a dyed in the wool racist with no redeeming qualities. It's harder to make Archie Bunker an overall okay person with flaws, including bigotry which springs from ignorance more than malice.

[huedell]

This isn’t really directed specifically at your comment, but I think my biggest problem with PC is that it’s an attempt to force people to be nice and sterilize our environment. I'm all for people being nice to each other, but I'm also all for common sense.

When an institution has a fit over the term "Handicap Office" and makes a big deal of changing the name "Handicap Office" to "Special Needs" office, yet leaves the office on the 3rd floor of a building with no elevator, the political correctness of the name change seems overshadowed by the stupidity of the physical location of the office.

"Mr. Smith, we've read your complaints about not being able to get your wheelchair up to the "Handicap Office" on the third floor and we sincerely apologize. We're in the process of changing the name to "Special Needs" office as we speak. We hope this will resolve your issues."


Yep, seriously. That is crazy, isn't it?!

Yes. Being stupid as a solution for a problem that isn't really a problem
would be the definition of crazy, I suppose.

[mego73]

Seriously? Adults only? That's just crazy! That show came out when I was 3 and I loved it and learned a lot from it, and I would have no qualms about my pre-schoolers watching it.

It's not only Sesame Street, but sets of old cartoons like Tom And Jerry and Looney Tunes. The serious compilations have the disclaimer "meant for the adult collector" due to the slapstick violence and the occasional racial based humor.

Tom and Jerry fans had to contend with the first and second volumes of Tom and Jerry cartoons having edited shorts on them when they were promised unedited. Warner did an exchange program to get the properly unedited shorts but you had to know about it to take part. The editing on the shorts were stuff like taking out a character in blackface after they were dipped into a bottle of ink and the redubbing of the Mammy character to sound less like what you heard in Gone With The Wind.

DVD compilations aimed at kids will still contain edited episodes, like this one:

Amazon.com: Tom and Jerry TV

Which, I guess I am okay with but I am not so sure how a brief blackface gag and Mammy sounding like Hattie McDanial would turn kids into little klanners.

[Cmonster]

The United Stated of America has been sanitized for your protection. Your Welcome.

Political Correctness has gotten out of control. Everyone is so afraid of lawsuits and just generally offending someone else that the country has gone nuts.

[kennermike]

PC sucks DBalls bring back the old days 70's and 80's when people told it like it is without being afraid thats why all those tv shows from those 2 decades are the best