Thursday, March 28, 2013

Comfort TV and Political Correctness

 
As we advance as a society we like to think we are becoming more enlightened, and perhaps that is the case. There seems to be an expanding movement toward tolerance, and respecting the heritage and lifestyle of others without passing judgment on them. These are all good things.

And yet, in an effort to protect everyone’s feelings, we have inevitably watered-down much of our pop culture entertainment, including television. Subjects that once provided rich source material for humor have become largely taboo. Certain words that were used as punch lines, regardless of how poorly they reflected on the character that says them, can no longer be spoken.

All in the Family is the most obvious example of how times have changed. In its day this was a groundbreaking situation comedy that delivered opposing viewpoints on real world issues, and unfiltered opinions that, while sometimes uninformed, accurately reflected the way millions of Americans thought at that time. Thirty years later, its brand of comedy would seem as alien to a modern audience as a minstrel show.

However, All in the Family was a series that always courted controversy, and debuted with a disclaimer from CBS about the incendiary nature of its content. There are many other, seemingly more innocuous shows that still play every day in syndication, and are viewed as more innocent relics from the classic TV era, that do not pass the political correctness test today.

I Love Lucy
It may be the most iconic situation comedy ever created, but one of its running gags was having Lucy mock Ricky’s Cuban accent. People now lose their jobs for doing that. And yet, Sofia Vergara’s accent on Modern Family is still mined for laughs. Perhaps that show has earned so many brownie points for inclusion in other areas that the arbiters of good taste let it pass. 



The Honeymooners
“One of these days, Alice. POW! Right in the kisser!” Doesn’t matter that Ralph Kramden was a blowhard who loved his wife more than life itself, punch lines about punching women are no longer acceptable. Of course, Alice was no better with all those cracks about Ralph's weight. Poor body image can promote low self esteem, you know. 


 The Andy Griffith Show
Otis the drunk? When alcoholism is such a serious problem? It’s a disease, not a weakness, and they’re making fun of it. If that sounds silly, think of the arguments about violence on television, which draw the same parallels between scripted entertainment and the real world. 



Hogan’s Heroes
Germans are referred to as “krauts” in almost every episode. Okay, they were Nazis, but still.

I Dream of Jeannie
This is a series about a woman of middle-eastern descent who functions as a servant to an American military man, and refers to him as “Master.” Shows like this are to blame for 9/11. 



The Beverly Hillbillies
Look at those ignorant Clampetts, advancing all those negative southern stereotypes with their critters and their ill-fitting clothes and moonshine swilling. And isn’t “hillbilly” a pejorative word?

Underdog
There’s no such thing as a heroic pill-popper. 



Three’s Company
This show was attacked in the 1970s for its “lurid” scenario of a guy moving in with two girls. What passed almost without comment was how Jack Tripper pretended to be gay so landlord Stanley Roper would let him stay. His exaggerated gestures and lisping delivery would have put him on the GLAAD enemies list today.

 I could go on, but you get the point. Finding that line between sensitivity and silliness is harder than it appears. I find some of the things that others view as offensive to be ludicrous – but I don’t share the life experience they bring into the situation. However, while a blanket condemnation of all humor born from gender, heritage, ethnicity, religion, orientation, etc. seems like a noble gesture, in practice it would be not just impractical but impossible.

Censorship is not an answer. Education might be. But in the end I think that while we all have the right to be offended by a piece of entertainment if we so choose, we do not have the right to a life free from such offenses, or to demand that what offends us should be eradicated. Otherwise, there would be nothing left on television.

Monday, March 18, 2013

TV Commercials Then and Now

 
Television commercials are more stressful now than they used to be.

Current TV advertising is dominated by ads for prescription drugs that deliver dire warnings against a smorgasbord of medical conditions, followed by a list of side effects that is almost darkly comic in its length and escalating severity. These spots are frequently interrupted by ads from attorneys inviting you to call them if you’ve been seriously injured in an accident.

In the Comfort TV era, the worst conditions imaginable in a TV commercial were Ring Around the Collar and the heartbreak of psoriasis. Ah, the good old days. 







There’s a strange phenomenon that happens with commercials from a bygone era. They used to be an unwelcome and annoying interruption. Now they deliver a nostalgic rush that can be more potent than what we feel watching the shows they used to follow.

Part of this has to do with the simple novelty of seeing them again. The shows themselves have rarely been out of circulation, from first run to syndication to DVD and online streaming. But there was no perceived home video market for commercials. Seeing them now is like seeing someone you knew as a kid after 20 or 30 years. Even if you didn’t know them well, it’s a treat to be reminded of happier times. 




Some DVDs have picked up on this – there are season sets of The Donna Reed Show and Here’s Lucy that present one episode with the original commercial breaks. Buyers would be outraged if that was tried with a current show. 

Besides the products advertised, commercials have changed in two significant ways since the Comfort TV era. First, there’s a lot more text on the screen during each ad. As advertisers know most viewers mute or fast-forward the fruits of their labor, this is an attempt to get a message through the silence and accelerated image.

For those who leave the sound on, the other current trend in TV advertising is to scream at the viewer, which I guess is deemed necessary to draw their attention away from their cell phone or computer or whatever else may be going on in the room. Next time you watch TV, keep track of how many commercials feature someone yelling.

When you look back at the commercials from the classic TV era, you may notice one other difference – they actually tried to tell you why their product was good. Whether it was a car or a camera or a new type of pain reliever, the objective was to promote the benefits of the brand, and suggest to the viewers that their life might be better if they tried one. 



Selling a product no longer seems the point of most modern advertising campaigns. Instead, the objective is to be funny, or shocking, or titillating, or outrageous enough to get people talking or achieve the ultimate dream of going viral. If that happens, the hope is that brand messaging will take care of itself.

This is especially noticeable during the Super Bowl, the Olympics of television advertising. You can sense the desperation from the modern day Mad Men, aware that their client has just paid $4 million for 30 seconds of TV time that most viewers will likely ignore. They offer us supermodels and pop stars, chimpanzees and slapstick comedy. Whatever product is being sold, the real message is exactly the same; Please, for the love of all that’s holy, notice me.

But does that work? Did laughing at a funny Budweiser commercial make you switch beers if you prefer Coors? Did you buy a website domain because Danica Patrick looked hot in the GoDaddy ad? Probably not.

Which commercial received the most positive feedback from the last Super Bowl? The “God made a farmer” ad from Dodge featuring the vintage narration of radio commentator Paul Harvey. It didn’t yell at you. It didn’t blast out music or feature anyone doing anything remotely silly. By doing what television commercials used to do, it got your attention. 


Monday, March 4, 2013

The Kids Are All Right: Jonny Quest

 
Jonny Quest (1964-1965) was the only Hanna-Barbera cartoon with a body count.

There were no fatalities on The Flintstones, no one drowned at an underwater concert on Jabberjaw, and even Wacky Races got through a full season without any fiery crashes, despite Dick Dastardly’s underhanded schemes.

But in the first episode of Jonny Quest, “Mystery of the Lizard Men,” more than twenty bad guys are wiped out by 11 year-old Jonny and his teacher, Race Bannon.

At a time when violence on film and television is once again being scrutinized, following too many real-world tragedies, that may not be the best way to frame a tribute. But it’s the genuine sense of danger in Jonny’s animated adventures, and his bravery and resourcefulness in fighting back, that cannot be overlooked when asking why the show still holds up so well. Put an 8-12 year old boy in front of this nearly 50 year old show today, and he will be just as captivated as the show’s original fans. 



Jonny Quest doesn’t glorify violence, but it’s honest about the consequences of one’s actions. And ultimately, it’s greatest appeal lies not in brutality, but in wish fulfillment.

Kids back then, like kids today, quickly tired of being told they’re too young for things, whether it’s a motorbike or a video game. What made Dr. Benton Quest such a cool dad was he never said that to Jonny and his friend, Hadji. They accompanied Benton and Race on their dangerous adventures without anyone questioning the wisdom of that decision. Oh, sometimes they were told to stay back at the base camp, but those orders were routinely ignored, as Benton and Race knew they would be as soon as they left. Good thing, too, as these not-quite teenagers saved the lives of their guardians in more than one episode.

Our dads didn’t have island bases of operations, or fly to work in a Dragonfly jet. But we still wanted to go to work with them, or join their one-on-one basketball games. We wanted to know that our fathers thought, “Yeah, my son can handle this.” Too often that wasn’t the answer we received. So to watch Jonny fire a machine gun at cannibals alongside his father, or make a daring escape from a mad scientist’s lair in a jetpack, was to get a glimpse at what it must feel like to be a kid that was treated like an adult.

Like The Flintstones and Top Cat, Jonny Quest debuted in prime time, and would eventually play on syndication on all three major networks. As with so many of Hanna-Barbera’s shows it was gone after just one season, but its 26 episodes remain the gold standard for animated adventure. 



Every aspect of the series was first class; the richly detailed animation by Doug Wildey had far more depth and sophistication than the typical H-B output of that era. Hoyt Curtin’s jazzy theme was not like the syrupy earworms of other animated or live-action series of the day. This was music that could transfer intact into a James Bond movie. Tim Matheson, later of National Lampoon’s Animal House, gave Jonny his voice, and helped make him a regular kid in extraordinary circumstances with whom viewers could still identify.

The only drawback to watching Jonny Quest today is the incessant yapping of Jonny’s dog, Bandit. Doug Wildey objected to the addition of the character, but the boy-and-his-dog cliché was deemed necessary, and now it’s the one element in the series that annoys rather than entertains. 



There were later incarnations, as there were with much of the H-B canon, but they have not been embraced by fans and with good reason. Just the title cards on such original classics as “The Invisible Monster,” “Turu the Terrible” and “The House of Seven Gargoyles” are more stylish and appealing than any of the tired Quest retreads. 



I suppose some mention should also be made of the allegation that Jonny’s dad and Race Bannon were TV’s first gay couple. Like the assertion that Shaggy filled the Mystery Machine with Maui Wowie smoke between episodes, such speculation neither enhances nor distracts from the viewing experience. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.