That 70's Show VS. Happy Days

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mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Ron Howard went to grade school on the set of the Andy Griffith Show playing Oppie. After his being the perpetual scene stealing kid, I have always suspected he rather enjoyed being an old bald guy. Being damned adorable would get to be tiresome, and then on to Richie in Happy Days, the teenage ingenue. I was impressed with his film biography of Pavarotti, taking on the Italian and opera cultures, and an extraordinary talent with all his flaws and charm. That's some serious film making.
 

BROBS

Lifer
Nov 13, 2019
11,765
40,026
IA
My pet peeve with sitcoms is the unrealistic housing situations. It's always reversed. People with meager incomes living in what would be extraordinarily expensive houses or flats. Or it's the other way around, a successful doctor who somehow needs a roommate that is a successful corporate lawyer,etc.

That and the unrealistic premises and absurd comical problem solving shenanigans that no human in real life would ever even consider pondering as a reasonable course of action. Then of course you have all the continuity errors. So and so burns their eyebrows off in one episode, and the story line picks up right where it left off in the next episode and suddenly they have eyebrows again.

Yes, I think about stupid things like this way too much.

Oh, and I vote That 70's Show. It is a nostalgic show for me, as it's prime run was during the period of my life at which I was most suited to enjoy it (age 14 or so). I watched Happy Days on Nick at Nite when I was a kid and remember it being alright.
Plus Mila Kunis. Be real
 

scloyd

Lifer
May 23, 2018
5,941
12,038
What about the comparisons between The Honeymooners and The Flintstones?

Ralph and Ed belong to the Raccoon Lodge
Fred and Barney belong to the Royal order of Water Buffalo Lodge

Always involved in some scheme that always fails and results them getting into trouble with the wives.

I'm sure there's more.
 

warren

Lifer
Sep 13, 2013
11,700
16,209
Foothills of the Chugach Range, AK
I'm of the opinion, "TV follows the trends, feeds on them. It doesn't set them. It may accelerate them however." I'm not ready to concede that last point though. Not yet, anyways.

I really doubt earlier generations were any more honest or dishonest than later generations. I guess the best way to support my statement is to suggest reading about early 19th Century US political campaigns. They are well documented. One will see that dishonesty was as prevalent and possibly even more directed at the "politics of personality" (if that's possible) than today. It may be a bit tougher. I doubt one could get away with calling an opponent a "heterosexual" and have many voters believe the target is a sexual deviate of some sort. Not in today's world at least.puffy

Video and phone records, public records (newspaper and TV archives), The Congressional Record, etc. make fact checking easier. Dishonesty is easier to uncover than in the past. The internet makes it much easier to spread a lie. Retractions hardly ever attract an audience. People tend to lie when it is in their best interests to do so. That, I suspect, hasn't changed over the years. Uncovering the lies has simply become easier as people leave a trail which is now readily available with a couple of key strokes.

Hell, children innately lie as self-preservation is built in at birth. Honesty must be taught and rewarded in some fashion so as to reinforce and grow that part of the personality, They learn from mom and dad's demeanor, speech, etc.,(But, as the babes age, they do learn from exposure to TV. I might need to rethink my earlier position as the TV is the "child sitter" of choice for many parents.) the necessity to lie or be truthful. When caught, they learn to lie better unless taught otherwise. Honesty must be taught.

So, I believe "Hollywood" simply uses a device, dishonesty, as one of many ways to attract an audience. No different than sex. It's simply a valuable "plot device" for increasing and maintaining an audience. Lying leads to many, easily "mined for laughs and/or drama" plots. A mirror of society and not a "trend setter" would be my position. (Which I seriously just weakened.)

I'll now concede that "Hollywood" is indeed an "accelerator". bdw Far too many parents abrogate their responsibilities and use "Hollywood" as a handy substitute.

Remember, "Hollywood's" job is to make tons of money for investors. They do not view themselves as the arbiter of social mores. Or, good taste I might add.
 

BROBS

Lifer
Nov 13, 2019
11,765
40,026
IA
People are more honest now than in the past IMO due to the ease of fact checking and the internet. As warren said back in the day you could print a complete lie and no one could check out if it was true.
 
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