# What were the most "risque" shows of the 1960s?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** tv-shows-scripted
**Created:** [July 2, 2018, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188 "2018-07-02T20:23:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Kennedy1960](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kennedy1960)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/1 "2018-07-02T20:23:12Z")
Were there any shows in the 60s which tackled or displayed taboo subject matter or which serve as a great time capuscle of the period? Compared to say, All in the Family in the 70s or The Sopranos? Something like Dragnet I suppose (but not a cop show and less right wing)?
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### Author:  [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/2 "2018-07-02T20:28:39Z")
Laugh-In and Love American Style come to mind.
I just checked with Wikipedia, and the latter debuted in 1969, so it also counts.
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/3 "2018-07-02T20:32:35Z")
> [@Find\_Friends](#):
>
> Laugh-In and Love American Style come to mind.
>
> I just checked with Wikipedia, and the latter debuted in 1969, so it also counts.
Those were going to be my suggestions, along with the _Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour_, though their run-ins with the censors were more about political satire than sex or drugs.
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### Author:  [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/4 "2018-07-02T20:33:32Z")
_Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In_ debuted in 1968 and pushed a lot of the envelope.
_The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour_ debuted a year earlier and was quite controversial (leading to its sudden cancellation), but mainly for political/cultural reasons than being “risque”.
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### Author:  [@Kennedy1960](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kennedy1960)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/5 "2018-07-02T20:34:43Z")
Anything earlier than 66 or 65?
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### Author:  [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/6 "2018-07-02T20:34:50Z")
Not risque, but [Family Affair](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Affair) dealt with some unconventional situations.
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### Author:  [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/7 "2018-07-02T20:36:39Z")
> [@ftg](#):
>
> _Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In_ debuted in 1968 and pushed a lot of the envelope.
>
> _The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour_ debuted a year earlier and was quite controversial (leading to its sudden cancellation), but mainly for political/cultural reasons than being “risque”.
[Turn-On - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turn-On) was cancelled after one episode - apparently racier than Laugh-In or the Smothers Brothers, but not as good.
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### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/8 "2018-07-02T20:43:23Z")
I Spy (1965) count as risque? It seems like it pushed the envelope for the time.
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### Author:  [@Temporary\_Name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Temporary_Name)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/9 "2018-07-02T20:43:32Z")
I happened to see some show on early Television, possibly a soft documentary, that mentioned The Munster’s was the first show to actually show a married couple in the same bed. There are or at least were many rules about depicting beds and bedrooms (it might have extended to movies also, but I doubt it). Early TV only depicted twin beds such as the Ricardo’s and the Petrie’s, but there was also a ‘one foot on the floor at all times rule’ about which I have forgotten any detail I may have known. They could not even say the word ‘pregnant’ at the beginning of the sixties – I believe they used ‘with child’ or ‘in the family way’; quite a difference from the shows of the late sixties as the suggested Laugh-In. (There were no replies when I started typing this, will be surprised if the joke below isn’t already posted.)
(I also predict there will be an off color joke concerning Jerry Matthers, Hugh Beaumont, and possibly Barbara Billingsly within seven posts.)
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### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/10 "2018-07-02T20:46:04Z")
I had to look one up: Playboy’s Penthouse,
> [@](#):
>
> was set up as if it were a party at Hefner’s own apartment, with many [Playboy Playmates](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playboy_Playmates) and bunnies in attendance
Never saw it, but I would think it must have pushed boundaries at the time.
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### Author:  [@Textual\_Assault](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Textual_Assault)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/11 "2018-07-02T20:50:12Z")
_Perry Mason_.
Yeah you read that right.
There was a doc about 60’s tv recently that went out of it’s way to talk about how _Perry Mason_ of all shows had been one of the first if not the first tv drama or comedy to do an episode about abortion. Standards and Practices predictably went apeshit and some ads were pulled bu they went ahead with the episode.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/12 "2018-07-02T21:22:22Z")
> [@Textual\_Assault](#):
>
> _Perry Mason_.
>
> Yeah you read that right.
>
> There was a doc about 60’s tv recently that went out of it’s way to talk about how _Perry Mason_ of all shows had been one of the first if not the first tv drama or comedy to do an episode about abortion. Standards and Practices predictably went apeshit and some ads were pulled bu they went ahead with the episode.
Cite? Are you sure you’re not thinking of _The Defenders_, another courtroom drama show that did [a show on abortion in 1962](https://mic.com/articles/183033/how-abortion-on-television-has-changed-in-the-last-55-years#.XJLASWjUZ)?
> [@](#):
>
> Abortion Onscreen’s database lists it as the very first TV plot line where an abortion took place — though this was long before they’d actually be depicted on-screen. On The Defenders, in the courtroom scenes, the abortions are only discussed in past tense, and the lawyers even question the woman who was on the operating table when the doctor performing an abortion was arrested.
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/13 "2018-07-02T21:24:36Z")
Jeannie and her jiggling boobs were pretty risque, though we were never allowed to see her navel. ☹
* * *
Star Trek: TOS\*\*\* addressed some important issues (e.g., Vietnam, mutual assured destruction, exploitation, racial bigotry) by setting its stories in space.
A number of shows in the late '60s tried to address social issues by being “relevant”: _ **Room 222** _, _ **The Name of the Game** _, and _ **Marcus Welby** _, f’rinstance.
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/14 "2018-07-02T21:28:10Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#):
>
> I had to look one up: Playboy’s Penthouse,
> Never saw it, but I would think it must have pushed boundaries at the time.
Not really. I tried watching it when I was ten (it wasn’t on cable, or anything like that), and I found it pretty boring. It was basically Hef being Hef. He was on screen more than any of the women were.
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### Author:  [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/15 "2018-07-02T21:35:57Z")
> **[Turn-On](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turn-On)**
>
> Turn-On is an American sketch comedy series that aired on ABC in February 1969. Only one episode was shown, leaving one episode unaired, and the show is considered one of the most infamous flops in TV history.
> Turn-On's sole broadcast episode was shown on Wednesday, February 5, 1969, at 8:30 pm ET, replacing the Wednesday episode of Peyton Place. Among the cast were Teresa Graves (who would join the Laugh-In cast that fall), Hamilton Camp, and Chuck McCann. The writing staff included Albert B...
It was going to happen. It might as well be me, since I saw it.
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### Author:  [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/16 "2018-07-02T21:38:43Z")
_Peter Gunn_ (1958-61)
_Route 66_ (1960-64)
_Shindig!_ (1964-66)
_Honey West_ (1965-66)
_Batman_ (1966-68)
_Julia_ (1968-71)
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/17 "2018-07-02T21:42:25Z")
> [@terentii](#):
>
> A number of shows in the late '60s tried to address social issues by being “relevant”: _ **Room 222** _, _ **The Name of the Game** _, and _ **Marcus Welby** _, f’rinstance.
Probably the best example of this was _ **The Storefront Lawyers** _, with Robert Foxworth and Sheila Larkin. Lasted about thirteen weeks until it morphed into _ **Men at Law** _, and Larkin was reduced to pouring coffee for her male counterparts.
I guess Jeannie cohabiting with Major Nelson was also pretty risque for the time.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/18 "2018-07-02T21:48:47Z")
> [@Temporary\_Name](#):
>
> I happened to see some show on early Television, possibly a soft documentary, that mentioned The Munster’s was the first show to actually show a married couple in the same bed.
That’s a common misconception. TV historians credit _Mary Kay and Johnny_ as the first, in 1947. It also dealt with Mary Kay’s pregnancy.
But back then, audiences were small and primarily urban, so it was not really noted. Plus it was on the Dumont Network.
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/19 "2018-07-02T21:53:37Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#):
>
> That’s a common misconception. TV historians credit _Mary Kay and Johnny_ as the first, in 1947. It also dealt with Mary Kay’s pregnancy.
Wasn’t _ **The Flintsones** _ second do do both?
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/20 "2018-07-02T21:57:37Z")
> [@Temporary\_Name](#):
>
> I happened to see some show on early Television, possibly a soft documentary, that mentioned The Munster’s was the first show to actually show a married couple in the same bed.
Ozzie and Harriet were [sleeping in the same bed](https://youtu.be/c4Ow8lKT7Mw?t=797)years before The Munsters. Some people say that doesn’t count, because the Nelsons were real-life husband and wife (but so were Lucy and Desi!)
And [Samantha and Darrin shared a bed from the very beginning](http://www.harpiesbizarre.com/bedtime.htm) on Bewitched. Also, for that matter, [Fred and Wilma Flintstone.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMC-EkI_LHc)
But back to the OP, if you want a show that really pushed limits, try [East Side/West Side](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Side/West_Side) with George C. Scott as a New York City social worker. Not risque in the sexual sense, but risky.
In the category of Very Special Episodes there was an episode of _Leave It to Beaver_ where Beaver unwittingly gave an alcoholic booze (not in a funny way, but showing Ward and June had screwed up as parents.)
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