In 24 years, we've gone from Mike Douglas in the afternoon to Oprah. From a decent variety show to one where teen girls have been on to talk about performing oral sex and "tossing the salad". Not saying that everything should be swept under the rug, but it shows what's happened to TV in a quarter century.
"Not saying that everything should be swept under the rug, but it shows what's happened to TV in a quarter century."
Even my 14 year old groans about TMI in TV commercials today... E.D., bladder control, femminine hygiene, herpes medication, etc. All quite explicit. Just another reason I don't watch much anymore.
I did watch Mike Douglas after school. I didn't much care for the music, but it was kind of like hanging with the adults. :)
I blame Phil Donohue for the change.
. . .
TV defies the most obvious fact about its customers -- their prodigal and efflorescent diversity. people perform scores of thousands of different jobs; pursue multifarious hobbies; read hundreds of thousands of different publications. TV ignores the reality that people are not inherently couch potatoes; given a chance, they talk back and interact. People have little in common except their prurient interests and morbid fears and anxieties. Necessarily aiming its fare at this lowest-common-denominator target, television gets worse and worse every year.
I remember he used to have Moe from the Three Stooges on the show. That was a real thrill for those of us who grew up watching the Stooges. We were a little confused because Moe by this time had silver hair, but still with the Chili Bowl cut. They always would have pie fights with the audience when Moe showed up. Wacky chaos inevitably ensued. Gotta love Moe! RIP, Mike.