The Censorship Was So Strong Back Then
-
Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Classic TV: The 50s
Camelot_2000 — 12 years ago(July 11, 2013 09:53 PM)
You can really notice it when watching shows from the 1950s ('60s too). It was unbelievable that married couples were shown sleeping in separate beds and that the word "pregnant" couldn't even be said. The word "expecting" was a more acceptable way of addressing it.
It seemed like almost anything of an adult nature was, well, taboo back then.
The more I study it, the greater the puzzle becomes.
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad -
Thor-Delta — 12 years ago(July 12, 2013 04:35 AM)
There were a few shows in the 50s/60s where the couple shared the same bed. "Mary Kay and Johnny", "Ozzie and Harriet", "The Goldbergs" (well, at least in a DuMont-era episode I've seen), later in the 1960s "Bewitched", even "The Flintstones".
I read that an episode of "The Johns Hopkins Science Review" back in the 1950s showed a film of a birth, which really surprises me.
British TV (in the 1950s) by comparison was odd, some things were more restricted and some things less restricted. Then by the mid-1960s things got crazythere's stuff in 1960s-era episodes of "Steptoe and Son" which I can't imagine being done on US series of the era.
Since Australian, Swedish, Japanese, etc TV of the 1950s is not available we cannot be assessments of it.
"That coaxial cable looks sensational" - "Oh thank you Harry, but that's stuffed celery" -
3rdrowleft — 12 years ago(July 12, 2013 10:43 AM)
I don't recall a bedroom scene with Ozzie and Harriet, but it wouldn't have made an impression on me anyway. I read somewhere (can't remember where)that the first "couple" to share a bed were The Munsters.
There was an episode of December Bride, in which Matt and Ruth Henshaw were in their (twin) beds, having a discussion. Ruth gets out of hers and goes to sit, repeat SIT, at the foot of Matt's bed. There was a hue and a cry from the precursors of the Moral Majority.
But throughout it all, my motto was "Dignity! Always dignity!". -
Thor-Delta — 12 years ago(July 12, 2013 08:58 PM)
No, "Mary Kay and Johnny" was the first to show a couple sharing a bed, back in the late-1940s.
I took a quick look through "Ozzie and Harriet" episodes, and it seems that in the very early episodes it was double beds, but they had changed to a single bed by the mid-1950s, as seen in the 9 January 1957 episode "Hairstyle for Harriet", such as in this screenshot with the two in the same bed from that episode:
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s389/JeiceWarrior/ozzieharrietsame bed_zpse0f72e75.png
"That coaxial cable looks sensational" - "Oh thank you Harry, but that's stuffed celery" -
Camelot_2000 — 12 years ago(July 12, 2013 11:48 PM)
Barbara Eden couldn't even show her belly button during the airing of "
I Dream Of Jeannie
". Her belly button! They may as well covered her body in an entire bed sheet.
The more I study it, the greater the puzzle becomes.
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad -
Thor-Delta — 12 years ago(July 13, 2013 12:40 AM)
Your reply has nothing to do with my post, which is the post you decided to reply to.
EDIT: Sorry if the above is being rude. Speaking which, I wonder why Belly Buttons weren't allowed but outfits showing legs were OK? (as seen in this screenshot from an early 1960s "Ed Sullivan" episode):
http://s1049.photobucket.com/user/JeiceWarrior/media/legs-EdSullivan19 61_zps74c3aaed.png.html
Those restrictions were always very confusing, why some things were allowed while others weren't.
"That coaxial cable looks sensational" - "Oh thank you Harry, but that's stuffed celery" -
kueskues — 12 years ago(August 12, 2013 08:26 PM)
As for "pregnant" real-life pg actresses could not be seen, had to hide behind objects, such as chairs, tables, people, etc. and wore "loose" clothing to hid the pregnancy.
Censorship was not only the sexual issue but in other issues.
The various social restrictions reflected in the tv censorship is related to the Hayes Code of 1933. One prime example was that pre-code movies, criminals got away with their crimes. Post-code required the criminals to be punished. Also the pre-code "modern" female characters were also made to be the post-code "barefoot and pg" images.
Anyway, the Hayes Code spilt over onto television then, which basically what this is about.
This also brings me back to how progressive Dale Evans character was on The Roy Rogers Show. She was pretty liberated compared to Beaver's Mom, Harriet Nelson, Donna Reed and so on.
We also can talk about the ethnic issue - Ames and Andy, The Goldbergs and so on.
NOTE: I will say Harriet Nelson started to exhibit a more "freer" woman in the 60s. In one episode she drove David's motorcycle - oh, my