Still isn’t. The age of consent in most states is 16, with California being a notable exception.
There was an episode of Captain Planet called “If It’s Doomsday This Must Be Belfast” where the Planeteers go to the then late 80’s political hotsports of Northern Ireland, the West Bank, and Apartheid South Africa and convince everyone involved through peace and understanding their conflicts could be solved.
If a show attempted that story-line now it would be ripped apart for being so clueless in dealing with it.
The UK had a comedy show called Dad’s Army concerning the Home Guard. During the second world war the Home Guard consisted of men unsuitable for the regular army (usually too old hence the Dad’s Army nickname) who were ready to fight any German invasion of mainland Britain.
Although ultimately a success there were concerns, in 1968 when the show first went out, it was too insulting to the real Home Guard.
Similar concerns still existed in 1982 when the comedy Allo, Allo concerning the French Resistance went out. All the characters, including Nazis, were portrayed comically.
It has been reported that a plan for a remake of Allo, Allo was abandoned last year (2016) because of ‘political correctness’ and a general fear of the basic premise offending people.
TCMF-2L
Vast chunks of what were prime time family light entertainment in the 1970s Britain are - even if it is only unofficially - banned today. Comedy racism such as Love Thy Neighbour, socio-political commentary racism with Til Death Us Do Part and the well meaning social inclusiveness comedy of Mind Your Language. Then there was the Apartheid episode of The Goodies.
However a special mention must go to The Professionals. A TV show about a pair of tough guys, something between police officers and secret agents, solving various crimes. Although the general sexism is breathtakingly crass these days the show once tackled racism head on with a 1977 episode called The Klansmen. A home grown version of the Ku Klux Klan is operating in Britain.
In the episode the Klan are defeated but not before, initially, one of the Professionals is portrayed as casually racist himself - before his colleagues set him straight.
However the episode proved so controversial, even in 1977, it was never broadcast at the time. In fact various Internet sources suggest it has never been properly broadcast on a main channel in the UK.
TCMF-2L
For literally decades from the 1960s the most important TV show for pop music on British TV was the weekly Top of the Pops. Hit songs of the day would be ‘performed’ (mimed) in the studio, or played over some female dancers or promotional videos would be shown.
Old episodes are regularly shown as repeats these days however there is an unfortunately increasing amount of episodes which are now taboo since the show format had BBC radio disc jockeys as hosts introducing the songs and several of them (notably Jimmy Saville) have since been outed as sex offenders.
Plus some of the acts themselves have been outed as sex offenders. Prolific hit maker Gary Glitter alone eliminated most of the shows from the first half of the 1970s. It appears no one has the will to edit the shows to eliminate the bad people. Instead more and more episodes just disappear.
TCMF-2L
I’m resurrecting this thread to mention Cheers, season 1, episode 16, “The Boys in the Bar.”
I’ve been rewatching the series and it’s mostly as funny as I remember; but this episode - hoo boy.
Sam’s old friend and Red Sox teammate Tom has a book release party/press conference at the bar. In the book, he has come out as gay. But of course, Sam hasn’t read the book. When he publicly finds out Tom is gay, he is shocked and upset and storms out of the room.
Diane convinces him that his friend is the same person he always was, and needs his support now more than ever.
Sam goes back out, apologizes to Tom, and they embrace, as reporters’ flashbulbs pop.
This was all fine. Trouble is, it took up only about the first 7 minutes or so. Everything that happened after it was cringeworthy.
Norm, Cliff, and the other regulars are convinced that this incident is sure to turn Cheers into a gay bar. Sure enough, the next day some guys who look somewhat stereotypically gay come in, and everybody FREAKS OUT. Norm and Cliff throw around terms such as “Tinkerbell” and “patty cake.” Carla is worried she will lose her job, because Sam will have to hire “male waitresses.” The regulars demand that Sam throw the offending parties out or they will take their business elsewhere. Sam agrees, but to his credit, he doesn’t go through with it.
But then Norm cooks up a plan to trick the guys into thinking the bar is closed. They leave, and the day is saved!
Then comes the punchline to the whole episode. It turns out those guys weren’t gay! These two other guys that look straight are the gay ones! Ha ha ha!!!
The end.
Like I said, cringeworthy.
I was surprised to find out that this episode actually won an award from GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation). I guess this is what passed for forward-thinking in 1983.
I think comedy tends to show it’s age much sooner than other forms of entertainment and when looking at media from the past it’s important to place it within the context of the time it was produced. This was 1983 and you had a character from a prime time sitcom refuse to treat gay people with dignity and respect.
Sam Malone: “Hey, listen. Those guys are staying. If anyone else wants to leave, that’s fine.”
Norm Peterson: “OK, Sammy, you know what kind of bar this is going to turn into.”
Sam Malone: “It’s not going to turn into the kind of bar that I have to throw people out of.”
Sam was willing to put his livelihood at risk by refusing to give in to the demands of his regular customers who insisted he throw the gay couple out. I’m not surprised GLAAD recognized that episode.
“Homer’s Phobia” from 1997 is an episode of The Simpsons that hasn’t aged well in some circles. It too received a GLAAD media award but there are many who now find the episode cringe worthy.
Any episode of Three’s Company with Mr. Roper and Mr. Furley’s homophobia, Jack having to play gay and his constant leering and remarks at anything in a skirt.
I’ve heard on these forums that Battle of the Network Stars made a comeback, but I can’t imagine how it could ever beat the see-through T&A of the original. Ahh…I guess I did live in some good times! 
That Cheers ep seems cringey even for 1983. Didn’t All in the Family (or maybe it was the Bar Follow-up) do a similar ep but handled better?
True. As you said, this was 1983 and even though the 70s had seen a number of socially groundbreaking sitcoms by the likes of Norman Lear, that era was quickly receding into the past. Reagan’s election in 1980 resulted in the country becoming a lot more conservative and the networks panicked at the possibility that Jerry Falwell or some other leader of the religious right would lead a massive boycott of their shows’ sponsors at any mere hint of any pro-gay sentiments. I suspect “Cheers” only got away with it then because it was a low-rated show at the time and NBC figured the bible thumpers were all watching something else.
Laugh-In. Just about everything they did. LOL.
“Sock it to me baby!”
REEEEE Problematic. Domestic abuse isn’t funny!
Also, I’d LOVE to see AV Club reviews for Hee-Haw.
Not only would it fly today, it was very similar to an ep. of NCIS. Tony, undercover, makes out with a woman who mysteriously orders a LOT of specialty skin cream through the mail. Yep, she’s trans–and a KILLER! Tony gets ribbed for it afterwards, a LOT. Okay, maybe it flew 15 years ago.
THE CLOSER had two episodes about trans issues. One featured Beau Bridges as a trans woman who had been a tough-as-nails LA detective a few years earlier, and needed to butch it up as a dude to credibly testify in court against a murderer. It was mostly played for laughs. Much later, a very young trans girl was found murdered. The investigation centered on the immediate family. Dad was the initial suspect, but it turned out that the older brother killed her and Mom helped bury the body in a park. The child’s growing demands for puberty blockers and new clothes were bankrupting the family and no end was in sight. The older brother confessed at the end, closing his confession to his father with the line “He sure didn’t run like a girl.” The episode was sensitive to, but not uncritical of, TG issues.
Slight hijack but there were a lot of rap / r&b songs in the 90s that described the situation of going home with a sexy woman only to find…yeah it’s a transgender woman, who has opted to keep the penis, and spring it as a surprise on straight men because reasons.
Even as an immature teenager I can remember doubting that this is a thing that happens.
(And of course the serious side is that in many parts of the world homosexuality and transgender are treated the same as witchcraft: they’re hiding in plain sight, plotting to do wicked things to straight men and children, so you have to proactively attack them)
The Honeymooners has always bothered me. I never understood why threatening domestic violence was considered funny. (“One of these days Alice-right in the kisser!”) I would hope that wouldn’t be acceptable today.
I seem to remember a John Wayne movie (possibly McLintock) where he spanked his estranged wife played by Maureen O’Hara.
And of course there is almost everything about Gone with the Wind.
Yes - in fact, it was done quite early in the All in the Family series - in the fifth episode, Archie assumes that Mike’s friend is gay, but in fact, Archie’s friend, the former professional football player is gay (as I recall, the bartender at Archie’s bar tells Mike that he (the bartender) is concerned about the people that Archie and Mike have brought to the bar - but Kelsy means the football player, not Mike’s friend).
I’d hope so too, but I always felt that the Honeymooners were kind of progressive for it’s time, in that it’s very clear to the viewers that Alice was the one in charge of that relationship.
Were there any other 50s shows where the wife was the “boss”?
An episode of Room 222 where a male student is suspected of being gay (but he isn’t). The principal asks "Are we dealing with one or two problems here? Is the student homosexual of not?)
Referring to being gay as a “problem” would NOT fly today.
ETA: When I caught that episode in reruns in the early 2000’s, that line was cut.
But Ralph never did hit Alice, and more importantly, Alice knows he’s not going to hit her. I think it stays funny for that reason.
I’ve been watching some old Dick van Dyke episodes, and some of those have not aged well either. Don’t remember the particular episode, but there was one where Rob and Laura were having an argument. Buddy advises Rob to “slap her around a little.” Toward the end of the episode, after Laura has gotten the better of him, Rob turns to Buddy and says, “I should have slapped her around.” Big laugh from the audience.