# was telivision portrayal of alcoholism controversial 15-20 years ago? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 5, 2017, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-telivision-portrayal-of-alcoholism-controversial-15-20-years-ago/790562 "2017-07-05T21:33:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-telivision-portrayal-of-alcoholism-controversial-15-20-years-ago/790562/21 "2017-07-12T14:58:51Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > Alcohol was significant on MASH, in that two of the central characters (Hawkeye and the other guy) had a still in their tent and were fond of martinis. I don’t recall alcohol abuse being discussed, but I could be wrong. I believe there was one episode where Hawkeye quit drinking for 24 hours. And I thought that Radar was once very upset because Hawkeye came into surgery drunk, and had to go outside and vomit. Maybe it was the same ep. I wish they had dealt with the idea of alcohol abuse more than they did. I think it was always taken for granted that the drinking was a reaction to the madness of war. Or just taken for granted as part of the culture of the 50s. They dealt with other related issues - Major Winchester abused amphetamines during one episode, and a nurse was an alcoholic and Hot Lips had to deal with it - but only in the standard sitcom “the problem is fixed in twenty four minutes and never brought up again” way. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Peanut\_Gallery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/838e76/32.png) [@Peanut\_Gallery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanut_Gallery)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-telivision-portrayal-of-alcoholism-controversial-15-20-years-ago/790562/22 "2017-07-12T15:10:26Z")
If non-fiction(?) TV counts … We had American Ninja Warrior on in the background the other day, and they like to show short My Personal Struggle videos for emotional emphasis. Normally this has been something like: survived cancer, dad died last week, some major misfortune of some kind. One popped up that was basically just “yeah I used to be a huge drunk”. I kind of did a double take that that qualified (not to discount alcoholism as a disease, but just that times change). It was produced every bit as seriously as ‘survived cancer’. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-telivision-portrayal-of-alcoholism-controversial-15-20-years-ago/790562/23 "2017-07-12T15:46:51Z")
ISTR a secondary character’s alcoholism was treated seriously in an episode or two of _Roseanne_, which ran from 1988-97. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2017, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-telivision-portrayal-of-alcoholism-controversial-15-20-years-ago/790562/24 "2017-07-14T18:40:53Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > AbFab was played for laughs. AbFab was actually considered very controversial when it first aired. None of the four American networks at the time would run it and for a few years, the only way to see it in the U.S. was to watch bootlegged/pirated videos. The fact that the alcohol and drug use were sources of humor and Saffy’s moral objections to her mother’s behavior were ridiculed and dismissed by the two main characters Patsy and Eddy were major factors why American networks didn’t want to run it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-telivision-portrayal-of-alcoholism-controversial-15-20-years-ago/790562.md?page=1)