Making a Case for Classic Television

In my high school senior year public speaking class, we had to give a fake obituary for a media character. It was supposed to teach us to portray emotion; really, I learned more about the popular types of media my peers were consuming.

I don’t watch modern TV. I prefer the “golden oldies” from way back — and I’m talking WAY back (think "Hogan’s Heroes," "The A-Team," the original "Charlie’s Angels" or "The Andy Griffith Show." If you’ve never heard of any of these before, don’t worry: most of my peers have not).

The one character that many people in my class chose to write an obituary for was Walter White from Netflix's "Breaking Bad."

I did not have Netflix at the time (and still don’t), where this show streamed. I had very little idea as to what my classmates were talking about before I searched on Google. For those of you who, like myself, are unfamiliar with this series, the main plot revolves around Walter White, a struggling high school teacher who decides to earn extra money for his family and his own health by creating a meth lab in an old RV.

I guess my first reaction was to wonder why we are glorifying drug dealers who work with kids?

Whether or not you are a fan of the show — even if you can justify it to me — I’m still going to wonder why we glorify this in the media, but be appalled by it in real life. Or at least, I hope we would be appalled.

So much media today portrays things that are unrealistic or completely unhealthy in real life. Not just high school teachers being drug dealers. Modern “romance” media is off the charts with domestic abuse, manipulation and unhealthy standards. Think about Colleen Hoover's novels, the new "Wuthering Heights" movie or reality dating shows. The media glorifies unhealthy standards and abuse to draw us in. Whether or not you truly believe these things in real life, the question remains: how much of this can we consume before we truly believe it or bring it into reality?

When I looked up the most popular TV shows right now, IMDB gave me an extensive list of what is trending. Every single option in the top twelve is labeled as TV-MA, meaning it is for mature audiences and may contain any of the following: graphic violence, intense language, extreme adult content or other elements not appropriate for anyone under the age of seventeen. In fact, every single entry in IMDB’s trending TV shows is rated TV-14 or TV-MA, save for #97 and #98, which are "The Big Bang Theory" and "Gilmore Girls," respectively (both are rated PG). So much for family television!

Those are just a few examples of why I don’t understand modern media. I’m not going to come right out and say that old entertainment was perfect, because it definitely wasn’t. However, when I see old TV shows, I don’t see the dark themes that we glorify now. I see TV portraying healthy families with good relationships, such as "Family Ties," "Happy Days" and a dozen others. Shows that emphasize good over evil, such as "The A-Team" and "Hogan’s Heroes," or cop shows without all the graphic violence or intense drama, like "Adam-12" or "Dragnet." "Dragnet" and "Adam-12" were cop shows that even used real-life examples as plotlines, which was the same for the medical drama "Emergency." Comedy-drama "M*A*S*H" broke records and conventions during its eleven-season run, and its finale is still the most-watched TV episode of all time. The show emphasized doing the right thing even when it’s hard and putting yourself aside to help someone else.

These old shows were also better quality, in my opinion. Back in the day, there were only three main channels, not dozens of streaming services. This meant that to stay on the air, the show had to be good enough to stick on one of the three channels, or else it was canceled. The show also had to appeal to a broader audience. There were no separate platforms for different family members to watch, no multiple TV sets in one home or other devices to watch whatever you wanted, when you wanted. The whole family had to watch one TV together, so shows had to appeal to all members — and more often than not, be appropriate for the whole family: no swearing, no graphic violence, no adult situations or content in most cases. And, certainly no drug dealers who were high school teachers.

I get it; times change. I’m still out here wondering when violence and lying and criminals became our heroes of entertainment. I still wonder why classic entertainment gets a bad reputation simply because it's older. I would much rather watch The Fonz teach kids not to smoke, to get library cards, to finish high school and stand up for their friends and their morals than watch shows that no one should see in mixed company.