TV shows that were a no-no for some children to watch...

[mleach]

In the books commemorating the 30th and 40th anniversaries (the 30th was "Sesame Street: Unpaved"; don't know the 40th anniversary title), both mentioned that Calloway died in 1989 of stomach cancer, though his actual 1990 death, and the circumstances leading to it, was revealed in "Street Gang", which was published before the 40th anniversary book.

Even today, was Sesame Workshop still worried over the actual circumstances over Calloway's death?

I doubt Sesame is still worried over the cicumstances surrounding the death of Calloway since it could very well be the family themselves who had wanted to keep that bit of info a secret even if it is available online, in books like 'Street Gang" and not too mention at the time of his death it had made news on Entertainment Tonight.

Northern Calloway sufffered from bipolar disorder and like family members who have/had loved ones with bipolar and/or other types of mental illness ( one can even say the same thing about those with cancer and HIV/AIDS ) sometimes they feel its something to be ashamed of and feel its best to hide the truth, like when someone commits suicide, for the fear of what someone else thinks. Last week a group of us were having dinner at an Applebees only to witness another customer screaming at a manager of the restaurant over his order. Meanwhile behind our table was a woman and a child. She tells the child to keep quiet because "..the man over there has bipolar disease, better be quiet now baby or he will grab you and slit your throat. Those kind of people can't get into Heaven.."

 

[firepoint525]

This was somewhat ironic, but WBBJ-TV in Jackson, TN, used to pre-empt Soap by showing The Gong Show, which itself often contained some rather risque moments. But I was about 13 or 14 at the time, so I preferred The Gong Show anyway, especially since I couldn't get home from school in time to see the daytime version.

Channel 7 also occasionally aired Solid Gold in prime time, too.

 

[Hal Erickson]

In Milwaukee, ALL IN THE FAMILY was originally time-shifted to a Saturday-afternoon and then a late-night slot. The local CBS affiliate didn't run it in its proper place until the first 13 weeks were over, citing the possibility of complaints from family groups (then why did they first choose Saturday afternoon?)
Milwaukee's WITI Channel 6 ran "The Untouchables" on a one-week delay during the 1961-62 season, presumably to avoid showing any objectionable episodes by first allowing station management to screen each one for content. Similarly, the rerun of ABC-TV's prime time telecast of INHERIT THE WIND in 1963 was shown by Channel 6 in a "dead" weekend-afternoon slot, for fear that some Creationist or other would complain.
WITI was owned by Storer Communications, which had a flat-out policy against showing any movies or TV shows about skyjacking. When Channel 6 picked up a package of off-net Universal TV movies, "The Doomsday Flight" was immediately shelved.
The onetime CBS affilate in Milwaukee, WISN-TV, refused to run a 1962 episode of "The Defenders" about an abortionist. The episode was shown four weeks later on a low-rated UHF independent station. This same indie picked up the controversial satire weekly "That Was the Week That Was" when the NBC affiliate turned it down.
WTMJ, Channel 4 in Milwaukee, passed on the first NBC network showing of "Never on Sunday", though viewers with good antennas could pick up the telecast from Grands Rapids Michigan (channel 8 ) or South Bend Indiana (channel 16). The same station refused to pick up Screen Gems' "Three Stooges" package in 1959, citing the violent content--to their everlasting regret when rival WISN bought the package and cleaned up with local advertisers.
These are examples of local standard-and-practices censorship, not necessarily related to what kids were allowed to see.

 

[Scott2011]

In my hometown some years back some county school buses had AM/FM radios until a number of parents complained about it since they didn't want their kids to hear "Howard Stern and Don & Mike trash", commercials, questionable music..today those radios are gone.

In 2004, a company called BusRadio took advantage of the radio-on-the-bus concept and established a special radio service for students as they ride the bus. Nevertheless, parents still complained over the quality of music and the overcommercialisation. The company folded in 2009.

More here:

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

You can thank Obligation Inc. from Birmingham, Alabama for influencing that decision. This is the same group that has been pushing for schools across the country to drop Channel One News (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_One_News), and sadly, throughout the 17 years Obligation has been around, they have succeeded in getting thousands of schools to get rid of Channel One. Fortunately, even so, many schools still carry Channel One News and broadcast it during homeroom.

On the topic of BusRadio, Obligation was apparently upset because of the fact that the network was playing songs by artists that are known for explicit lyrics in their music, even though the network used proper censorship to comply with FCC regulations, which, in my personal opinion, is a bit ridiculous. The songs are no different than what is commonly played at school dances and, at least at my alma mater, only edited versions of the songs were played at the dances.

And on the topic of AM/FM radios in school buses, at my hometown school district, we actually did have those, and as far as I know, still do. Sometimes the bus drivers had them on top 40 or rock and roll stations that the kids wanted to hear, and other times they had them on country music or oldies stations that the drivers themselves wanted to listen to.

 

[visaman]

We've all heard by now about Bert & Ernie of Sesame Street and the supposedly "gay angle". I just love how nothing can be innocent anymore.

I like the CTW staffer who dismissed the "gay" claims by pointing out that "these people are debating the sexual orientation of foam." ;D

Well, to be fair, in the 1970's there was a porno staring Muppet like characters.

 

[visaman]

But ( to those who didn't allow their kids to watch MTV )..not only did you not allow your kids to watch MTV but also expanded the ban to radio too?

Usually parents who did not allow their kids to watch MTV say in 1984 did NOT allow their kids to listen to radio who had played the exact same kind of music as MTV did or, OK shown.

R...I did have a rule about no rap in the house or car and that rule still exists. Two things make me hit the channel button immediately: rap and opera.

Fortunately they both like techno so no rules were broken. ;D

It was my understanding that MTV didn't play rap or any "Black" videos until the 90's. You do know that techno and house music is played in Gay Bathhouses right? ???

 

[Scott2011]

But ( to those who didn't allow their kids to watch MTV )..not only did you not allow your kids to watch MTV but also expanded the ban to radio too?

Usually parents who did not allow their kids to watch MTV say in 1984 did NOT allow their kids to listen to radio who had played the exact same kind of music as MTV did or, OK shown.

Radio, in those days, was not near as nasty as is is now (and I don't remember it being as bad as was on MTV then either) so I didn't have a rule about listening to the radio....but....I did have a rule about no rap in the house or car and that rule still exists. Two things make me hit the channel button immediately: rap and opera.

As it turned out, none of my kids except the two younger girls listened to the radio then, and still don't except in the car. Fortunately they both like techno so no rules were broken. ;D

Not allowed to listen to rap? Am I the only one who thinks that's kind of racist?

 

[bpatrick]

I guess I'm fortunate that I was in my teens or twenties when most
of the shows we're talking about here debuted (I was 16 when "All In
The Family" debuted, we got it on Saturdays at 7 (CT) in Alabama, and
my parents had no objection to my watching it or any of the rest of
the CBS Saturday-night block (Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart, and Carol
Burnett never did anything we found offensive; likewise, "Maude" was not
a problem; I iust finally got tired of her constant preaching her point of view).
(In fact, my parents welcomed these shows after a decade's worth of rural
and fantasy sitcoms, primarily on their favorite network--CBS (I leaned toward
ABC but that's another story).)

As for "The Odd Couple," check out the movie the next time it's on Turner Classic
Movies. You'll find that Felix and Oscar live together for only about two or three
weeks; there's no hint of any gay relationship. And they had to stay together for
five years on television because ABC kept renewing the show, but it was always
clear that the guys had girlfriends, and on the last episode Felix and Gloria remarried.
If you wanted to carry the logic to an extreme, referring back to Lucy and Ethel or
Fred and Barney, you might say Andy Taylor and Barney Fife spent an inordinate amount
of time together away from the job (whether or not they were cousins, as was indicated
on some early episodes). Don't forget that Barney had two girlfriends--Thelma Lou and
the unseen Juanita; Andy had a succession of girlfriends (Ellie, Peggy, and--finally--Helen).

Back on topic: one show not intended for kids that I was allowed to watch when I was
about 11 was Peter Falk's "Trials Of O'Brien." My dad and I used to watch that on Friday
nights in 1966; it seemed to have everything a parent in those days would want to keep
their kids away from: O'Brien was divorced and always behind in his alimony payments because
he gambled his money away at the race tracks. But I couldn't help it: Peter Falk was really
pretty funny (and I preferred O'Brien to Columbo), and I developed a crush on Joanna Barnes,
who played his ex-wife. I'd still like to see this one again on DVD.

And as for the late-night talk shows of the '60s and '70s: while I always tried to catch
Carson when he was hosting "Who Do You Trust?" I was a Cavett fan. (I do think, now
that I think about it, that only Marty Starger would have put Cavett against Carson, his
tastes being somewhat more highbrow than many programmers.)

 

[Scott2011]

But ( to those who didn't allow their kids to watch MTV )..not only did you not allow your kids to watch MTV but also expanded the ban to radio too?

Usually parents who did not allow their kids to watch MTV say in 1984 did NOT allow their kids to listen to radio who had played the exact same kind of music as MTV did or, OK shown.

Radio, in those days, was not near as nasty as is is now (and I don't remember it being as bad as was on MTV then either) so I didn't have a rule about listening to the radio....but....I did have a rule about no rap in the house or car and that rule still exists. Two things make me hit the channel button immediately: rap and opera.

As it turned out, none of my kids except the two younger girls listened to the radio then, and still don't except in the car. Fortunately they both like techno so no rules were broken. ;D

Not allowed to listen to rap? Am I the only one who thinks that's kind of racist?

Sorry about that comment. It was supposed to be a joke, but it was a little out of line. Sorry if it offended anyone.

 

[MCarney]

My father banned "Three's Company". Between the idea of 2 girls living with a guy, Jack passing himself off as gay to live there and no bras on the women he had plenty of ammunition to work with. He wasn't pleased with "Love Boat" either, despite my grandmother (on my mother's side) telling him it was "good fun". He also resisted getting cable until I was in college because of MTV. He would also check out any records we bought - I remember one time we were at the store and he said no to a Blondie album but Michael Jackson's "Off the Wall" was allowed. All in all I'm still glad I had parents looking out for me, even if I didn't agree or understand at the time.

 

[mjlarochelle]

There was a news story back in the early 80s about a father in Canada who wouldn't let his kids watch the Detroit network affiliates that had recently been added on local cable. The reason was the amount of "violent crime" that those stations showed on their local news.

The same stations were controversial in Winnipeg, where there was speculation that the addition of Detroit stations led to an increase in that city's homicide rate.

 

[visaman]

Don't forget that Barney had two girlfriends--Thelma Lou and
the unseen Juanita...

Juanita was everybody's girl

 

[rnigma1]

My late uncle was a Baptist preacher. He forbade his kids from buying 3 Musketeers bars in the early 70s because they had a commercial depicting angels in heaven eating the bars. Anyway, I stayed with him for a while in the spring of '77 when he lived near Jacksonville. He would not let me or my cousins listen to rock, but we had a little AM radio we used to secretly catch the Greaseman on WAPE while waiting for the school bus.
One of my cousins and I had to spend a couple of nights with my cousin's friend, because my uncle was having his house (yup, a trailer) moved. We wanted to see a TV movie, but the friend had no TV in his house because his father was part of a super strict apostolic "holy roller" church (even more strict than my uncle). So we got the TV from my uncle's house (the electricity wasn't connected yet) and moved it to the friend's house. Sure enough, the friend's dad comes home and is outraged to find a TV there; he started screaming "Get that one-eyed monster out of here!" Pleading came to naught and we returned the TV to my uncle's house.
I don't recall my parents forbidding me from watching anything, though. I watched the Three Stooges, All in the Family, and Monty Python in my youth.

 

[Tom Wells]

My late uncle was a Baptist preacher. He forbade his kids from buying 3 Musketeers bars in the early 70s because they had a commercial depicting angels in heaven eating the bars. Anyway, I stayed with him for a while in the spring of '77 when he lived near Jacksonville. He would not let me or my cousins listen to rock, but we had a little AM radio we used to secretly catch the Greaseman on WAPE while waiting for the school bus.
One of my cousins and I had to spend a couple of nights with my cousin's friend, because my uncle was having his house (yup, a trailer) moved. We wanted to see a TV movie, but the friend had no TV in his house because his father was part of a super strict apostolic "holy roller" church (even more strict than my uncle). So we got the TV from my uncle's house (the electricity wasn't connected yet) and moved it to the friend's house. Sure enough, the friend's dad comes home and is outraged to find a TV there; he started screaming "Get that one-eyed monster out of here!" Pleading came to naught and we returned the TV to my uncle's house.
I don't recall my parents forbidding me from watching anything, though. I watched the Three Stooges, All in the Family, and Monty Python in my youth.

Ahhh, reality. Those certainly were some interesting times! I knew several people in the late 70s with the exact same situation.
Some of them left the sinful "near suburban" Chicago area to move 50 miles out into the corn to avoid the bad influences.

One good friend of mine, who got moved out to the corn had his arm twisted enough by nervous parents to agree to go the Bob Jones University in SC.

The aftermath was that he became an Army MP.
This was enough to "modify" his entire outlook on extreme evangelism and not quite reject it, but become one the most well balanced
people I know.

There were also some families who refused to buy newer TVs with UHF, as that was where all the bullfights, wrestling, boxing matches, roller derby and B grade movies were.

Then in 1981 there was WSNS (?) Ch 44 in Chicago with "ON TV" the scrambled video pay TV service with soft porn after 10 PM!
Must have given the extreme right heart palpitations to know PORN was on broadcast TV.
With enough fiddling on old analog sets, ANYone could see enough of the picture to figure out what was going on.

I even kenw a few kids that were not permitted to have their own radios, to ensure they did not listen to the sinful WLS and WCFL.

 

[EddieTheRapFan]

I don't remember being forbidden to watch any TV show as a kid, although my parents worked most of the time and they didn't spend much time at home anyways. Strangely, I spent most of the time as a kid watching educational documentaries and mild European cartoons by own choice, and the most mature content I remember watching was the Saturday afternoon movie matinée on channel 9, comprised almost entirely of old Spanish-dubbed Lifetime TV movies. Also, since I didn't have my own radio, I only listened to our (extremely powerful, to the point I had to keep the volume WAY down) Aiwa stereo in the living room, and I mostly listened to Federal FM, the only public radio station that plays English music over here.

 

[landtuna]

But ( to those who didn't allow their kids to watch MTV )..not only did you not allow your kids to watch MTV but also expanded the ban to radio too?

No. Radio/CD's/music of any kind was not banned but they had to wear earphones if they wanted to listen to the junk found on MTV.

And, I did not ban MTV. I merely did not allow it in our house. The kids were free to watch it elsewhere if they wanted.

Even though the only "kid" still living with us is an adult the same rule applies.

 

[compubit]

The only time I was forbidden from watching TV growing up in the 70s was when certain comedians were on the Tonight Show - Gabe Kaplan and Don Rickles especially. As a kid, I couldn't understand since these folks who were on prime time TV...

J

 

[johnnya2k6]

Then in 1981 there was WSNS (?) Ch 44 in Chicago with "ON TV" the scrambled video pay TV service with soft porn after 10 PM!
Must have given the extreme right heart palpitations to know PORN was on broadcast TV.
With enough fiddling on old analog sets, ANYone could see enough of the picture to figure out what was going on.

That was pretty much that way until 1984 (when softcore porn migrated to cable with the creation of Cinemax's popular "After Dark" block)

 

[FreddyE1977]

My father banned "Three's Company". Between the idea of 2 girls living with a guy, Jack passing himself off as gay to live there and no bras on the women he had plenty of ammunition to work with. He wasn't pleased with "Love Boat" either, despite my grandmother (on my mother's side) telling him it was "good fun". He also resisted getting cable until I was in college because of MTV. He would also check out any records we bought - I remember one time we were at the store and he said no to a Blondie album but Michael Jackson's "Off the Wall" was allowed. All in all I'm still glad I had parents looking out for me, even if I didn't agree or understand at the time.

Three's Company and The Love Boat were two of my grandmother's all-time favorites
(which we all thought was quite strange for a lady on the high side of 80)

 

[rnigma1]

The powers-that-be in Bainbridge, GA kept MTV off local cable for decades. While working at WJAD back in the '80s I would get requests for songs we didn't yet have and I would ask where the caller heard it; they would often reply, "on MTV." If I noticed that they called on the Bainbridge line, I would ask how they could see MTV, and they would say that either they or a friend had a satellite dish (the old 8-foot birdbaths).