"I blame Phil Donohue for the change."
I blame the stupid people that lap that stuff up for the change. The coarsening of society is exactly what the masses want.
Yeah, but Phil Donohue "boiled the frog" in the sense that his show is the one that shifted the paradigm. His show was half-way decent before he started adding the schlock.
Back in Mike Douglas' day, "society" was primarily the Greatest Generation. Today, "society" is primarily Baby Boomer Sixties Brats, and their undisciplined children.