PTA Slams TV Content Circa 1958

[landtuna]

While browsing through some old online newspapers recently I came across an article criticizing children's programming. Westerns, very popular at that time, were generally panned for their violence (even on behalf of the "good guys") and unrealistic depiction of life in the Old West. Cartoons also didn't receive passing marks. Here are some of the programs listed:

Excellent/good:
I Love Lucy
See It Now
Danny Thomas
Ed Sullivan
Disneyland (I think they mean Wonderful World of Disney)
The Chevy Show (Dinah Shore?)
Fury
Lassie
Mickey Mouse Club
Mr. Wizard
Zoo Parade

Good:
Circus Boy
Corliss Archer
Bugs Bunny
Heckle and Jeckle
Mighty Mouse
Flicka
Sir Lancelot

Fair:
Chuck Waggin (never heard of this one)
Marshall Kay Gun (local KGUN Tucson kid's show that I was on a couple of times)
Perry Como (this was a kids show?)
Cartoon Corral (not familiar with this one either)
Popeye
Fury

Very Poor:
Boston Blackie
Doodles Clubhouse

Objectionable:
Annie Oakley
Range Rider
The Lone Ranger
Robin Hood
Sgt. Preston
Wild Bill Hickok

Most Objectionable:
Superman
Tales of the Texas Rangers
Long John Silver

 

[frankberry]

Just a bit-o-information from the (sometimes) reliable Wikipedia.
The Disney TV shows:


Disneyland (1954–1959)
Walt Disney Presents (1959–1961)
Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (1961–1969)
The Wonderful World of Disney (first era; 1969–1979)
Disney's Wonderful World (1979–1981)
Walt Disney (1981–1983)
The Wonderful World of Disney (second era; 1983–1988)
The Disney Sunday Movie (1986–1988; titled Disney Summer Classics during the summer months)
The Wonderful World of Disney (third era; 1991–present)
The Magical World of Disney (1988–2002)
The Magical World of Disney Junior (2012–present)

 

[K.M. Richards]

Apparently the PTA of that day didn't buy Superman's claim to be fighting for "truth, justice, and the American way". Either that or they had been infiltrated by Communists and Joe McCarthy hadn't found them yet.

If I were a parent of that era and told by my PTA that The Lone Ranger was "objectionable" I would have had a similar reaction to that of the heroine in Jeannie C. Riley's "Harper Valley P.T.A." ... I bet the hypocrites who made this list up had all grown up with the adventures of John Reid.

And Frank's right ... when Walt's weekly hour was on ABC it was titled "Disneyland" because part of the deal was that ABC helped finance the construction of same and each week's show included a brief film piece showing the progress of same. After the park opened, NBC stole Disney away with their network color ability (ABC didn't get there for almost another ten years).

 

[FreddyE1977]

Good:
Circus Boy

That Mickey Dolenz....what a good boy!

One PTA controversy I recall over children's television involved The Three Stooges in the late 60's.
A lot of moms were apparently concerned that their children were going to injure one another
while mimicking the Stooges' cartoon violence (hitting each other with hammers, poking their eyes out, etc.)
WTAE in Pittsburgh was actually convinced to pull them from the lineup I believe.

 

[landtuna]

One PTA controversy I recall over children's television involved The Three Stooges in the late 60's.
A lot of moms were apparently concerned that their children were going to injure one another
while mimicking the Stooges' cartoon violence (hitting each other with hammers, poking their eyes out, etc.)
WTAE in Pittsburgh was actually convinced to pull them from the lineup I believe.

I remember the big flap over the Stooges but I think it was several years after this article. They were not on TV in the 50's in Tucson. I saw them for the first time on KTVU in 1960 (the Mr. Bob show).

 

[landtuna]

Just a bit-o-information from the (sometimes) reliable Wikipedia.
The Disney TV shows:


Disneyland (1954–1959)
Walt Disney Presents (1959–1961)
Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (1961–1969)
The Wonderful World of Disney (first era; 1969–1979)
Disney's Wonderful World (1979–1981)
Walt Disney (1981–1983)
The Wonderful World of Disney (second era; 1983–1988)
The Disney Sunday Movie (1986–1988; titled Disney Summer Classics during the summer months)
The Wonderful World of Disney (third era; 1991–present)
The Magical World of Disney (1988–2002)
The Magical World of Disney Junior (2012–present)

I didn't realize there were so many editions of "Disney". The only ones I actually watched as a young teen were in the late 50's.

 

[landtuna]

And I couldn't believe shows like Lone Ranger and Range Rider were panned (unless it was because they were both Westerns). Both were morals-based characters and there was always a good outcome to each show. Range Rider was produced by Flying A which was Gene Autry's production company and featured two very athletic characters (Range Rider was played by long time stuntman Jock Mahoney and Dick West by junior stunt guy Dick Jones).

Lone Ranger was moral to the point of being preachy. Although it wasn't listed, Hopalong Cassidy (which can still be seen on Retro TV) usually followed each episode where William Boyd talked to the kid viewers about proper behavior etc.

 

[frankberry]

Surprising that they didn't even mention Roy Rogers, Sky King or Howdy Doody.
I'm sure that there are many more that they missed.

 

[LKellerIII]

It would be amusing to watch those 1958 PTA folks time-travel to 2016 to watch current police procedurals with eviscerated dead bodies, and body parts on medical examiners' tables, not to mention the high-intensity and explicit violence of cable series like Breaking Bad.

 

[K.M. Richards]

It would be amusing to watch those 1958 PTA folks time-travel to 2016 to watch current police procedurals with eviscerated dead bodies, and body parts on medical examiners' tables, not to mention the high-intensity and explicit violence of cable series like Breaking Bad.

PTA 2016 list:
Fair: The Weather Channel (does not rank higher because of violent weather being reported sometimes)

Objectionable: Every other channel and program.

 

[CTListener]

I didn't realize there were so many editions of "Disney". The only ones I actually watched as a young teen were in the late 50's.

"Wonderful World of Color" was my childhood memory, but I only watched it in black & white; my family didn't get a color TV until the mid-'70s.

 

[landtuna]

"Wonderful World of Color" was my childhood memory, but I only watched it in black & white; my family didn't get a color TV until the mid-'70s.

I didn't get a color TV until just before the 72 Olympics. Bought it for that express purpose. It was an RCA XL100 (24" I think) console. Beautiful piece of furniture but it had to have one specific card replaced every single year for about $100 a pop.

 

[LKellerIII]

"Wonderful World of Color" was my childhood memory, but I only watched it in black & white; my family didn't get a color TV until the mid-'70s.

We didn't get a color TV until 69. It was a tiny 10" portable, but it had a great sharp picture, for that time. My father won it in a contest at work.

Somebody will correct me if I'm wrong, but I assume that the name change from "Walt Disney Presents" to "Wonderful World of Color" was when the show moved from ABC to NBC, which was years ahead of ABC and CBS in adopting color for some broadcasts. So at the time, they were hyping something the other networks didn't have. By the time color TV was becoming more ubiquitous, it made sense to change the title again to "WW of Disney."

 

[K.M. Richards]

Somebody will correct me if I'm wrong, but I assume that the name change from "Walt Disney Presents" to "Wonderful World of Color" was when the show moved from ABC to NBC, which was years ahead of ABC and CBS in adopting color for some broadcasts.

Answered before you asked, Llew ... post #3 in this thread.

 

[JeeperOne]

It would be amusing to watch those 1958 PTA folks time-travel to 2016 to watch current police procedurals with eviscerated dead bodies, and body parts on medical examiners' tables, not to mention the high-intensity and explicit violence of cable series like Breaking Bad.

Or just travel to the most recent past to see A&E's Beyond Scared Straight

My bet is that THEY would be "Scared Straight" about the EDUCATIONAL value of TV lol

Cheers & 73

 

[ixnay]

Apparently the PTA of that day didn't buy Superman's claim to be fighting for "truth, justice, and the American way". Either that or they had been infiltrated by Communists and Joe McCarthy hadn't found them yet.

If I were a parent of that era and told by my PTA that The Lone Ranger was "objectionable" I would have had a similar reaction to that of the heroine in Jeannie C. Riley's "Harper Valley P.T.A." ... I bet the hypocrites who made this list up had all grown up with the adventures of John Reid.

And Frank's right ... when Walt's weekly hour was on ABC it was titled "Disneyland" because part of the deal was that ABC helped finance the construction of same and each week's show included a brief film piece showing the progress of same. After the park opened, NBC stole Disney away with their network color ability (ABC didn't get there for almost another ten years).

Six years after the park's 1955 opening in fact, per Brooks and Marsh.

ixnay

 

[KeithE4]

I remember the big flap over the Stooges but I think it was several years after this article. They were not on TV in the 50's in Tucson. I saw them for the first time on KTVU in 1960 (the Mr. Bob show).

Columbia Pictures released the Stooges' films to TV in 1958 -- right after they'd fired Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Joe Besser at the end of '57.

 

[landtuna]

Columbia Pictures released the Stooges' films to TV in 1958 -- right after they'd fired Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Joe Besser at the end of '57.

Several other sources say the Stooges were never fired but that Columbia shut down its "shorts" production. I believe it is in Moe Howard's autobiography in which he says he always had a handshake deal with Harry Cohn the head of Columbia.

 

[KeithE4]

Several other sources say the Stooges were never fired but that Columbia shut down its "shorts" production.

"Decided not to renew their contract," because the shorts department was shut down, is probably more accurate. Either way, they lost their jobs. Columbia had a backlog of Stooges shorts to last into 1959. By that time, Besser had left the act due to his wife's illness, and Curly Joe DeRita had taken his place.

I believe it is in Moe Howard's autobiography in which he says he always had a handshake deal with Harry Cohn the head of Columbia.

"Handshake deal" was probably a real stretch. The mobbed-up Cohn more likely made Howard an offer he couldn't refuse every year. They never received a raise for the entire time they were with Columbia (1934-57). They made much of their money doing live performances during their time off from the studio.

 

[landtuna]

"Handshake deal" was probably a real stretch. The mobbed-up Cohn more likely made Howard an offer he couldn't refuse every year. They never received a raise for the entire time they were with Columbia (1934-57). They made much of their money doing live performances during their time off from the studio.

Whatever they made while with Columbia it was apparently enough for them to live the good life (although Larry seems to have spent most of his at the horse track). Curly liked to party but Moe was more frugal. They began their vaudeville act with Ted Healy who wasn't known as a very generous sort so perhaps they weren't accustomed to the big bucks once on their own. Whatever, it seems to have worked for them as they were very popular both in their shorts movies and on stage.

I had Easter breakfast with some friends of mine who didn't really know who they were until I played "Disorder In The Court" for them on my phone. They laughed so hard I thought once or twice they'd quit breathing.