All the time and from what I've observed, there was no cursing in those old shows like there is now.

Actually, I think it often shows to what extent we've *regressed* as a society. Check out the two Brady Bunch movies to see what I mean...;-D... . . .

Yeah, I think about how far we've come in the wrong direction. Most of what I've seen on TV in the last few years has been hard-hearted, cruel, angry, foul-mouthed, taunting, loveless and joyless. Its so bad that I frequently don't turn the TV on for days or even weeks, at least not to grown-up TV. I'd much rather watch my child's shows on PBS anyway. At least they still have some joy of life. At least those old shows had friendship, self-sacrifice, love, joy, moral behavior, light hearted laughter and fun.

All the time. Shows like "Desperate Housewives" and "Will and Grace" wouldn't even have been allowed on the air back then. And shows like "My Three Sons" and "Leave It to Beaver" would probably seem boring and inane by today's standards. When the show "Peyton Place" debuted in the 1960's, there was a large public outcry that it was shocking and pushing the envelope. Some even campaigned to have it taken off the air. Now it wouldn't even raise an eyebrow. Societal values have changed.

"one of these days lucy, POW! right in the kisser!" "ill give you a one way trip to the moon" beating your wife used to be funny, now if you make a rude comment your considered a dickhead.

Technologically yes, we have come far. As a society, well, I think you need to go back and see that all the story lines and troubles we had then are still prevalent today. We haven't really come far in storyline imagination that's for sure. Yeah, we are more risque (HA,that's a laugh) but it's still the same recycled crap. Except for LOST and some other ones, it's not really changed.

yes we've come a long way baby! I think it's funny that couples had twin beds!

Oh, yes. Alas, I also think about how far comedy has fallen.

Have you guys ever seen a show called All In The Family? It was the most popular sitcom of the 1970's. It centered around a workingclass, bigoted right-wingfather and the generation gap between his daughter and her hippie husband. In its day, it was considered edgy amd controversial with its interpolation of the social and political commentary of the day. Archie Bunker (the right-wing bigot)was fond of dropping racial slurs like Bill Hicks would drop F bombs. Any time I watch All In The Family these days, I think there's no way that this show which 1.) ran for 8 or 9 seasons, 2.) was number 1 in the ratings in an era where there were only 3 networks, maybe 4 or 5 channels period and NO cable TV and 3. won several Emmys would not eveen make it past the pilot stage today. Not because these audiences wouldnfind it "tame" but because both the audiences and the networks would be incredibly uncomfortable by how politically incorrect it was. I think there is a tendency to want to look at the pop culture of the past with rose-colored glasses and bemoan what's currently popular and dismiss that as smut. This isn't a blanket defense of the current crop of sitcoms (I admit to being a huge Family Guy, Simpsons and South Park fan) but I thought it was imprtant to note that not everything from the past was as squeaky clean as Andy Griffith and the Brady Bunch.

I think about haw far we've gone down hill. For some time now I've believed that much of todays programming is nothing more than something to fill in between the commercials.

there's definitely a before- and after-All in the Family era. Norman Lear was brilliant. they don't seem to make as MANY well-rounded situation comedies as they used to; with the exception maybe of Home Improvement, we were subject to a pointless chain of family comedies, and nothing to compare to Barney Miller, MASH etc. HOWEVER, sometimes you watch a great show like Andy Griffith--I once thought old-fashioned--and see how similar & down-to-earth it still feels to today's problems. through a filter.

I actually like a lot of the old shows better. It just seems like there was more variety. Nowadays you can't swing a dead cat without hitting an endless parade of boring cop shows or yet another pointless reality show.

I grew up watching T.V. in the 50's,60's and 70's and even then you could see the changes between the decades . Compared to todays shit they are classic T.V. ... after the 70's and early 80's Political correctness has taken over and made everything the same , everyone the same .. same ...same ...same ... bullshit!. Todays T.V. is so plastic its not funny in fact you could compare it to the 1950's as it was politically correct in its own way with its false out look and image

I'm sorry I think we have gone down hill since then.

ME TOO