"Parental (or Viewer) Discretion Advised" when networks first used this prhase?

[spencerkarter85]

"Parental (or Viewer) Discretion Advised" when networks first used this prhase?

When did networks (ota and cable) used the prhase Parental Discretion Advised or Viewer Discretion Advised at the beginning of TV shows/movies?

 

[Mike Stroud]

Re: "Parental (or Viewer) Discretion Advised" when networks first used this prhase?

Oooh, that's a good one. Methinks perhaps the late Sixties, when sex and violence first became big on the tube?

 

[Markieo]

Re: "Parental (or Viewer) Discretion Advised" when networks first used this prhase?

The first TV series that used this on a regular basis (that I can remember) was Hot L Baltimore in 1975.

 

[Braves2005]

Re: "Parental (or Viewer) Discretion Advised" when networks first used this prhase?

Didn't "Maude"'s abortion episode from 1972 have a parental discretion advised warning when it first aired originally?

I'm also thinking that there were some theatrical and TV movies that did this earlier than the early 1970's. "Rosemary's Baby" is probably one movie that had that when it first aired.

 

[radiorob2.0]

Re: "Parental (or Viewer) Discretion Advised" when networks first used this prhase?

The first TV series that used this on a regular basis (that I can remember) was Hot L Baltimore in 1975.

Wikipedia has the same opinion.

Because of the story lines the show was the first network television show to have a warning at its opening, cautioning viewers about mature themes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_l_Baltimore

 

[newsmark]

Re: "Parental (or Viewer) Discretion Advised" when networks first used this prhase?

I remember hearing it on Love, American Style as early as 1971. But I'm pretty sure the local station (WFAA Dallas) did the announcement and not ABC.

 

[FreddyE1977]

Re: "Parental (or Viewer) Discretion Advised" when networks first used this prhase?

The earliest ones I remember are:

-the aforementioned "Maude" episode dealing with abortion
-the CBS Movie of the Week showing of "The Graduate"
- an episode of the original Hawaii Five-O where the plotline involved a
health department VD investigator who is murdered when his efforts
expose a tryst between a young girl and a politician

All of those would have been from the early 70's.

 

[therealjm12]

Re: "Parental (or Viewer) Discretion Advised" when networks first used this prhase?

I remember an episode of The Defenders in the early -mid 60's that delt with an illegal abortion. I believe there was announcement about the content before the show. The announcement probably came from the local station WHEN Syracuse, now WTVH, not CBS.

 

[Ultimajock]

Re: "Parental (or Viewer) Discretion Advised" when networks first used this prhase?

...I distinctly recall the first three or four episodes of All in the Family had such a disclaimer. That would date to January 1971. However, as the CBS affiliate I saw it on, WBAY-TV/2 Green Bay, tape-delayed it from its original network pattern of 8:30 Central on Tuesdays to (IIRC) Sunday night at 10:30 Central (after that night's late news), it's possible that WBAY-TV added that disclaimer itself. It's also worth noting that WBAY-TV was owned at the time by the Norbertine Order of Priests...

 

[azumanga]

Re: "Parental (or Viewer) Discretion Advised" when networks first used this prhase?

Of course, before the first episode, the show had this disclaimer:

"The program you are about to see is All in the Family. It seeks to throw a humorous spotlight on our frailties, prejudices, and concerns. By making them a source of laughter we hope to show, in a mature fashion, just how absurd they are."

This was followed, of course, by a sound of a toilet flushing.