From the Old to the New

As we all know, television has changed over the years. I'm not talking about the hardware (although that has changed from a box to a board). I'm talking about content. I'm talking about the shows.

In the '50s and '60s, television shows were quite mild. Whoever lived during those years must certainly remember waiting for their favorite shows to come on: The Lone Ranger, Gunsmoke, Batman, and Get Smart are a few examples.

When we were little, my friend John and I would wait in anticipation for Batman to be aired on ABC (this was during the late '80s and early '90s. ABC was airing reruns of the Batman series starring Adam West and Burt Ward). We'd see Adam and Burt, as Batman and Robin, outwit the Riddler, de-claw Catwoman, face off against Shame, put the heat on Mr. Freeze, dethrone King Tut, stifle the Joker's last laugh, and defeat the Penguin's fishy schemes. We'd even play the parts. I was Batman and John was Robin. Sometimes, our mutual friend Angela was Batgirl.

I have four of the five seasons of Get Smart on DVD and I find them enjoyable. Agent 86 knew how to mess up with style. His beautiful partner against the chaos of KAOS, known only as "99," was the perfect mate for Maxwell Smart, our lovable, laughable secret agent man. Their relationship is kept discreet, even after they're married. You don't see that discretion on television anymore. What the public wants to see is what the stations will show, and, with the exception of kids' shows, what is being shown is violence and sex. The marriage bed is no longer sacred. People can't seem to get enough inuendo and destruction.

Are sexuality and violence really fun to watch? Not if you've got a strong sense of morality. Don't we hear of enough violence in the news? We don't need this stuff in the shows we watch.