How Television Shows Reflect the State of the National Psyche

In the '30s and '40s, during the heyday of radiowere happening in the world. His perplexity
and long before television, comedy was king.reflected the country's own confusion at the time.
People were sick of the realities of the GreatBut whether he liked it or not, the world was
Depression and wanted to laugh. Jack Benny, Fredchanging.Diversity was becoming a social and
Allen, Burns and Allen, and Amos and Andy wereeconomic force. Happy Days and the Jeffersons
some of the big stars. What Americans wanted inwere joined by Sanford and Son. An interstellar
entertainment was obvious and it didin't take acouple even made an appearance in Mork and
great deal of psychoanalyzing to understandMindy and Three's Company dealt with unmarried
why.Then came the fifties and television becamemen and women living together. Not surprisingly,
the popular media. Fans followed their favoriteGood Times and Luverne and Shirley looked back
comedians to the screen and comedy stars,to the simpler days of the 'fifties and family
especially Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Jack Bennyvalues shone through in the Brady Bunch and the
were the household words. It was a return to thePartridge Family. But in the end, the most
days of Vaudeville. But a new form of comedymemorable series of all would be a reflection on
appeared, the Sitcom. America was blessed with IViet Nam. Though set in the Korean War, M.A.S.H.
Love Lucy, probably the greatest series ever toreflected on the insanity of war and quietly
appear, and the nearly as good, Thereminded us that we had lost for the first time
Honeymooners. Desi and Lucy, the Cramdens andsince 1812.Archie Bunker's confusion carried on
the Norrises were real people. But with comedy,into the 1980s and America seemed to share his
another type of show, the western, began toobsession about crime. Hill Street Blues, was about
dominate air time. Gunsmoke was a popular radiomurders and drug trafficking and the very real
show and moved easily onto camera with Jamespeople who had to deal with it. Americans
Arness replacing William Conrad as Matt Dillon.Soonwatched gritty shows like NYPD Blue and Miami
came Richard Boone as Palladin in Have Gun WillVice and the slightly less violent Cagney and
Travel, Clint Eastwood and Rawhide andLacey and Hunter. With Ronald Reagan president,
numerous other shows set in the old west. Fansfamily values now clearly predominated. Family
clearly liked the genre, but the question is why.Ties had a young neocon as its hero, but
The most common reason given is thatDifferent Strokes, with its mixed race family,
Americans were sick of the restrictions andshowed that blacks were now clearly included in
rationing imposed during the Second World Warthe American consensus. The importantce of
and the storied freedom of the west was thefamily even extended to Aliens, with Alf, and to
type of catharsis they needed. Yes there werethe local bar with the close ties between the
bad guys, just as there were in the real world,characters on Cheers. Reagan's economic bubble
but the cowboy hero would step in to straightenburst in October of 1987 and the Wonder Years
things out, then ride off into the sunset. I believereflected back to the joys of an earlier and
that many people knew America was needed inperhaps simpler age.A subdued America elected
the world, but hoped it could clean up the messthe senior Bush to replace Reagan and sitcoms
and leave.The 'sixties had myriad detective shows.ruled as America entered the 'Nineties. With the
Something clearly was wrong in the world at theelection of Bill Clinton the focus seemed to shift
time. The Soviets were ahead of us in scientificaway from family values, though they were still
technology, launching the first satellites. Ourclearly there in a slightly different format in shows
foreign policy didn't seem to be working.like Rosanne and Friends. The most important
Long-time friendly regimes were beingnew show starred the Jewish comedian Jerry
overthrown, civil wars in Africa, and we hadSeinfeld. The realism of the cop shows of the 80s
communism at our southern border that refusedreappeared in force with Law and Order.
to go away when we tried to force them out.Concerns about the end of Millenium and the
The Bay of Pigs was an enormous blow to ourpossible end of the world came to focus in
national pride. We would take more with the VietMilennium and the cult-favorite, the X-Files.Law and
Nam War, the unrest of the Civil RightsOrder continued into the new milennium and has
Movement, the Kennedy Assassination(s), thespawned two sequels. The most important new
Assassination of Martin Luther King and the Longdevelopment was the rise of the Crime Scene
Hot Summers.Someone or something was toInvestigator shows which began with CSI in 2000.
blame and we needed detectives to figure thingsAfter 9/11, three more CSI shows have come to
out. Nearly everyone who watched TV at thethe small screen. Why? Perhaps people are still
time can remember "Book 'im, Dano," fromwondering about how 9/11 could have happened.
Hawaii-Five-O and Peter Gunn's racy sports car.Just as important, who was behind it and how can
Two of my personal favorites were Mannix andthey be tracked down and brought to justice. The
Mission Impossible. With the bloodshed and thenitty-gritty of Forensics might just be the way
uncovering of clues, Sitcoms carried on thethe case will ultimately be solved.In conclusion, our
tradition of real people with the Andy Griffithentertainment has always reflected the things we
Show and Leave it to Beaver.Sitcoms came onmost needed to deal with. At times, it can provide
even stronger in the 'seventies when the countryan escape. At others, it may even have pointed
reacted to the social activism of the 'sixties andout the way to a solution. Either way, it has
the country made a sharp turn to the right. Maryalways been one of our most important forms of
Tyler Moore was the farm girl who came todealing with issues.Raymond John loves mysteries
Minneapolis to make good at a television station.and forensics and they play an important role in
All in the Family became the most famous sitcomhis novel, The Cellini Masterpiece, written under
of all times with a harried average-guy hero whothe pen-name of Raymond John.
couldn't seem to put a handle on all the things that