A Desperate Housewives ad during a football game –

By: American Decency Staff

What we are entertained by DOES impact and that concerns me greatly.  I was briefly watching the University of Michigan football team playing the University of Connecticut this past Saturday.   During an intermission, there was an advertisement for ABC/Disney’s  Desperate Housewives.  A woman with legs spread standing right in front of your face (in a sense).  Other scenes from the advertisement included an abundance of readily exposed cleavage with lust arousing expressions on the faces of the “housewivesâ€Â. I couldn’t help think of the fathers sitting down with their sons and daughters watching football games this weekend to be invaded by uninvited sleaze. How do you inculcate into your youth purity, innocence, modesty in such a milieu?  It has been concerning for a long time.   And, this was only a 30 second advertisement.  An advertisement such as this is surrounded in various time slots with program after program of sex, profanity, immodesty, innuendo, perversions. My generation was raised on programs like Bonanza, Andy Griffith, My Three Sons, Flipper, Wild, Wild West and many other similar types of programs. With positive story lines and images impacting your life, you are not degraded but rather you are built up and encouraged to live rightly, honorably. Reviews by the critics confirmed the very conservative moral climate of television programming in the mid-60s.  Arnold Hano writing for New York Times Magazine stated: In “Bonanza,â€Â we meet Ben Cartwright and his grown sons Hoss and Little Joe.  Ben is a widower, Hoss and Little Joe are bachelors who live with their Pa. Except for Little Joe’s occasional dalliance with an innocent town girl – these men lead no sex lives whatsoever.  Andy Griffith is a widower, he has no visible women friends. Gomer Pyle, in the Marines, is a bachelor; he definitely has no women friends. Sergeant Carter, is also unmarried, and he does date girls – but then he is the villain of the piece.  Lucy is unmarried … Of the Beverly Hillbillies, Jed Clampett, the patriarch, is a widower; his grown son Jethro is unmarried and is wary of girls; his nubile daughter Elly May is equally chaste … Certain themes recur.  Naughty children will be punished.  Rebellious children must be put down.  Elders will be respected.  The family – even these oddly broken, sterile units – must be honored. Once upon a time our airwaves were kept free from filth.  That wasn’t by accident. During the 50s and 60s, television programs were produced under guidelines adopted in 1952.  The establishment and enforcement of those standards was described in the April 12,1969, America: In 1952 the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) developed a television code, a set of guidelines to assist in judging what is suitable programming content for the publicly owned airwaves. … To implement the code, the NAB called into existence the Television Code Authority, staffing it entirely with members of the industry.  Finally, the NAB formed a television Code Authority Review Board to keep an eye on the authority itself. The Review Board was the enforcement arm of the industry, ensuring compliance with their standards; all programming was submitted to these reviewers for pre-screening before being allowed to air.  The July 12, 1969, Saturday Review explained the role of those serving on this board: These men, day in and day out, in New York, Washington, Hollywood, and London decide what shall be shown and what shall not.  Thanks to their efforts, viewers are protected from … the three great taboos of television – sin, sex, and sacrilege. … [These] eighty-five network representatives must have a thorough knowledge of the National Association of Broadcasters Code – seventy-three do’s and don’ts (mostly don’ts) that comprise the parameters of acceptable programming. … “We are – to use that harsh and emotive term – censors.â€Â The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) restricted “anti-social behaviorâ€Â and explained its proper portrayal: Quoting Saturday Review, July 12, 1969: Illicit sex relations (“not to be treated as commendableâ€Â) and drunkenness (“should never be presented as desirable or prevalentâ€Â).  “My job is to move in if a program oversteps the boundaries,â€Â declares code-enforcer Stockton Helfrich. If a station or producer “overstepped the boundaries,â€Â the piece was cut or some type of discipline occurred.  Newsweek (January 24, 1966) reported on the narrowness of what was acceptable in 1966 and also the discipline that was given: The National Association of Broadcasters can withdraw its seal of approval from a station, as it did this month to five stations that aired commercials for a hemorrhoids cure. We are a long way from those years.  Below is a list of the top 40 programs for Fall 1965.  Note the strong family/traditional-value orientation: 1. Bonanza – NBC; 2. Beverly Hillbillies –CBS; 3. Gomer Pyle-CBS; 4. Lucy Show-CBS; 5. Red Skeleton-CBS; 6. Andy Griffith-CBS; 7. Get Smart!-NBC; 8. Saturday Movies-NBC; 9. Ed Sullivan-CBS;10. Petticoat Junction-CBS; 11. Thursday Movies-CBS; 12. Hogan’s Heroes-CBS; 13. My Three Sons-CBS; 14. Virginian-NBC; 15. Bewitched-ABC; 16. Disney-NBC; 17. Daniel Boone-NBC; 18. Man from UNCLE-NBC; 19. Flipper-NBC; 20. Dick VanDyke-CBS; 21. Green Acres-CBS; 22. F Troop-ABC; 23. Gilligan’s Island-CBS; 24. Lost in Space-CBS; 25. Bob Hope-NBC; 26. Branded-NBC; 27. I Dream of Jeannie-NBC; 28. Andy Williams-NBC; 29. 29. Chrysler Theater-NBC; 30. Wild Wild West-CBS; 31. McHale’s Navy-ABC; 32. Fugitive-ABC; 33. Lawrence Welk-ABC; 34. Combat-ABC; 35. Munsters-CBS; 36. Laredo-NBC; 37. My Favorite Martian-CBS. Peyton Place I-ABC; I Spy-NBC; 40 Run for Your Life-NBC. [Taken from Business Week, November 13, 1965] What a contrast it would be with today’s top 40. How can anyone allow programs like the following into their homes?  Desperate Housewives, Two and A Half Men, Cleveland Show, Family Guy, American Dad, Modern Family, Brothers and Sisters, Scoundrels, The Gates (to name only a few). Satan is a slippery schemer desiring to seek and destroy. God help us to stay vigilant – for your children’s and grandchildren’s sake AND for your sake as well. ============================================================= A classic resource available for a limited time only: “The Holiness of Godâ€Â by R.C. Sproul. To order your free copy, email bjohnson@americandecency.org Please include your mailing address. Many of you took advantage of our offer regarding the book “The Pursuit of Holinessâ€Â by Jerry Bridges. This is what Jerry Bridges has to say about this book offer “Every Christian who is serious about his or her growth needs to read ‘The Holiness of God.’ I profited greatly from this book.â€Â ======================================================= Donate online: https://secure4.afo.net/ada/donate.php American Decency Association P.O. Box 202 Fremont MI 49412 American Decency Association is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. ———————— American Decency Association Bill Johnson, President P.O. Box 202 Fremont, MI 49412 ph: 231-924-4050 https://americandecency.org/ http://www.twitter.com/billwjohnson

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