Is it time for a Rooney rant? Humor is getting edgier hand in hand with the loss of civility. I do not get HBO so I am spared the brunt of it. But on the networks I lose count of the bleeps from Jon Stewart and Bill Maher prides himself on being the first to utter "sucks" on TV. It is spawned in the "comedy" clubs where even the female "stand ups" are injecting rape into their acts in a frivolous way. It wasn't always this way. You had to be squeaky clean to get on Ed Sullivan's show. Even Sophie Tucker had to modify her blue material. Young talent like Cosby, Newhart and Allen were entertaining without shocking. Danny Thomas and Myron Cohen were story tellers and Sam Levenson the school teacher was homespun. Earlier, we thought Lenny Bruce was outrageous but his material was more anti-establishment than vulgar. And my earliest recollection of censorship was when NBC bleeped Jack Paar for using the term "W.C." i.e. water closet! Paar walked off the set that night in protest and it took NBC weeks to lure him back. We have come a long way - I wish I could say forward.
tjs
Next - The decline of political humor
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