# What were the most "risque" shows of the 1960s? **URL:** \ **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:** 2
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/21 "2018-07-02T22:21:55Z")
Is it just me, or does it seems that every TV show, produced in the 1960’s, was somewhat racy? I think that’s kinda the point. Until then, entertainment was by definition, supposed to be “safe” – you could read a provocative book, or not. But with only 2 or 3 stations, if some someone writes a double entrendre or a space show wants to make put a lampshade on contemporary politics, people are just going to have to live with it. Maybe the Ed Sullivan show was desperate to keep TV “safe”, but it seems like no one else was trying to. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/22 "2018-07-02T22:24:14Z")
A couple drama shows. “The Defenders” a father and son lawyer team starring E G Marshall and Robert Reed. Season 1 is out on DVD “The Lieutenant”. Gene Roddenberry’s show about a Marine Corps Lieutenant (Gary Lockwood). One episode about racism got the Marine Corps upset some episodes of “Route 66” ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/23 "2018-07-02T23:07:15Z")
> [@Arkcon](#): > > Maybe the Ed Sullivan show was desperate to keep TV “safe”, but it seems like no one else was trying to. The raciest _ **The Farmer’s Daughter** _ ever got was Morley and Katie necking on a chaise lounge.\* The raciest things in the episode of _ **Playboy’s Penthouse** _ I watched were the jokes Mort Sahl was telling, and each one was followed by a shot of Hef laughing uproariously. When I was in junior high, I loved watching Joe Pyne and Alan Burke late at night. Jerry and Maury owe everything to them. \*Yes, this is what we call them in Minnesota. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/24 "2018-07-02T23:13:34Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > [Turn-On - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turn-On) > > It was going to happen. It might as well be me, since I saw it. See post #7 [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21060044&postcount=7](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21060044&postcount=7) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/25 "2018-07-03T00:01:46Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > [Turn-On - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turn-On) > > It was going to happen. It might as well be me, since I saw it. Reading the final paragraph of that story _The network eventually replaced Turn On with a revival of The King Family Show. The controversy led ABC to reject a pilot written by Norman Lear, stating that the lead character was “foul-mouthed, and bigoted”, out of fear that it might anger its affiliates again. CBS liked it, picked it up as All in the Family, and began airing it in 1971._ reminds me of Bob Newhart’s telephone sketch where the premise for _ **Laugh-In** _ is pitched (" … And then a guy in a German helmet pops up and says ‘Veeeeeeery interesting!’"), followed by Norman Lear’s idea for “a show about a lovable bigot.” ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/26 "2018-07-03T00:26:19Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > See post #7 [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21060044&postcount=7](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21060044&postcount=7) It happens every time, doesn’t it? One joke that got talked about the next day was a guy chasing a girl and a flash card comes up with the word “Sex” In any case it is the answer to the OP. But it was the 70s when they had a fad for “Mature audience” shows not the 60s, which was still (leave it to) beaver country so to speak. Hot L Baltimore was one. They got a lot of mileage out of that disclaimer at the front. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/27 "2018-07-03T00:38:08Z")
Speaking of _The Defenders_… Harlan Ellison, in his book of essays _The Glass Teat_, described writing edgy content for an episode of that show, and how quickly it was gutted by the network (One line that got bowdlerized was EG Marshall saying “That’s like saying Fay Wray was a feminist symbol in King Kong because she wasn’t wearing a bra.” The bra reference was deleted.) He ran the full script in his LA Free Press column and invited readers to compare it to what actually ran. Oh, that Harlan! ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/28 "2018-07-03T01:58:15Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > 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!) There’s a [scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiACfMJ-nAQ) in the _I Love Lucy_ episode “First Stop” (originally broadcast January 17, 1955) that shows not just Lucy and Ricky, but also Fred and Ethel, in the same bed. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/29 "2018-07-03T02:47:43Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > There’s a [scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiACfMJ-nAQ) in the _I Love Lucy_ episode “First Stop” (originally broadcast January 17, 1955) that shows not just Lucy and Ricky, but also Fred and Ethel, in the same bed. “Splendid. We’ll make it a foursome!” 😃 —Hudson and Landry, _ **Sir Basil** _ ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/30 "2018-07-03T03:00:07Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > There’s a [scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiACfMJ-nAQ) in the _I Love Lucy_ episode “First Stop” (originally broadcast January 17, 1955) that shows not just Lucy and Ricky, but also Fred and Ethel, in the same bed. There is one scene in “George Burns Gracie Allen Show” which has them in the same bed (although it could be two singles moved together. But it is not two separate ones five feet apart like their neighbors the Mortons have). I don’t know the episode but George says “it’s midnight and I have to get up at 4 AM to make that 6AM appointment at the airport you scheduled for me. I am only going to get four hours sleep”. Gracie replies “don’t wory, I will be going with you so together we will be getting eight hours sleep.” I don’t know why they didn’t have more bedroom scenes. Maybe George couldn’t smoke cigars in bed. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/31 "2018-07-03T04:19:49Z")
> [@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. > > But back then, audiences were small and primarily urban, so it was not really noted. Plus it was on the Dumont Network. And there is no surviving footage, so this notion relies on memories. Which aren’t totally reliable. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/32 "2018-07-03T13:40:18Z")
My grandmother described _Laugh-In_ as “the crudest thing I have ever seen!”. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/33 "2018-07-03T13:50:01Z")
Lucille Ball had to fight to get Desi Arnaz play her TV husband. Seems to network didn’t like the idea of a white woman married to a Cuban, and wanted Richard Denning in the role. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/34 "2018-07-03T14:10:06Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > There’s a [scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiACfMJ-nAQ) in the _I Love Lucy_ episode “First Stop” (originally broadcast January 17, 1955) that shows not just Lucy and Ricky, but also Fred and Ethel, in the same bed. The Ricardos had a double bed in the first season of ILL (or at least two twins pushed together). See this YouTube clip for Lucy and Ricky and said bed, engaged in some [hot handcuffed action](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXSMvBfagdI). ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/35 "2018-07-03T14:18:58Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > 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. You mean the Smothers Comedy Brothers Hour? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/36 "2018-07-03T14:31:16Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Lucille Ball had to fight to get Desi Arnaz play her TV husband. Seems to network didn’t like the idea of a white woman married to a Cuban, and wanted Richard Denning in the role. By the way, Richard Denning had played Lucy’s husband in the radio program “My Favorite Husband” which was much like “I Love Lucy” (in fact at least one radio script became an episode of “I Love Lucy” with minimal changes - “Lucy’s Schedule”) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/37 "2018-07-03T14:45:17Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > You mean the Smothers Comedy Brothers Hour? _Edit: I missed the word transposition in your reply._ 🙂 As per [Wikpedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Smothers_Brothers_Comedy_Hour#Controversies_and_cancellation), for those who aren’t familiar: > [@](#): > > The show became both popular and controversial for those same references to youth culture and the issues that both interested and affected this particular target audience. Whereas most older and more conservative audiences were tuning into shows such as the western Bonanza, the younger, more liberal generation—ages 15–25—were watching the Smothers’ more socially relevant humor. > > The brothers soon found themselves in regular conflicts with CBS’ network censors. At the start of the 1968–69 season, the network ordered that the Smothers deliver their shows finished and ready for air ten days before airdate so that the censors could edit the shows as necessary. In the season premiere, CBS deleted an entire segment featuring Belafonte singing Lord, Don’t Stop the Carnival against a backdrop of the havoc during the 1968 Democratic National Convention, along with two lines from a satire of their main competitor, Bonanza. As the year progressed, battles over content continued, including a David Steinberg sermon about Moses and the Burning Bush. > > With some local stations making their own deletions of controversial sketches or comments, the continuing problems over the show reached a boiling point after CBS showed a rerun on March 9, 1969. The network explained the decision by stating that because that week’s episode did not arrive in time to be previewed, it would not be shown. In that program, Joan Baez paid tribute to her then-husband David Harris, who was entering jail after refusing military service, while comedian Jackie Mason made a joke about children “playing doctor”. When the show finally did air, three weeks later, the network allowed Baez to state that her husband was in prison, but edited out the reason. > > Despite the conflict, the show was picked up for the 1969–70 season on March 14, seemingly ending the debate over the show’s status. An episode slated for an April 13 broadcast was refused by CBS because the brothers had brought back Steinberg to perform another sermon routine; the original sermon on October 27, 1968 had been met with hundreds of angry viewer letters. However, the episode was aired in Canada on CTV on a pre-release which was a common occurrence at that time. Network CEO and president William S. Paley abruptly canceled the show on April 4, 1969, citing the Smothers’ failure to meet the contractual pre-air delivery dates required for local affiliate screening. Another of the network’s presidents, Robert Wood, stated that it became evident that the brothers “were unwilling to accept the criteria of taste established by CBS.” This cancellation led the brothers to file a breach of contract suit against the network. On April 6, 1973, after four years of litigation, a federal court ruled in favor of the Smotherses and ordered CBS to pay them US$776,300 (equivalent to $4,279,500 in 2017), and in 1975, the duo returned to television, hosting the tamer (and unsuccessful) The Smothers Brothers Show. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/38 "2018-07-03T14:54:30Z")
Too late to edit: the TV show was “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.” They also released [a record album of material from the show](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smothers_Brothers_Comedy_Hour_(album)); the original cover of the album had a logo which read “[The Smothers Comedy Brothers Hour.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/31/Smothers.JPG/220px-Smothers.JPG)” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/39 "2018-07-03T14:57:18Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > * * * > > Star Trek: TOS\*\*\* addressed some important issues (e.g., Vietnam, mutual assured destruction, exploitation, racial bigotry) by setting its stories in space. _Star Trek_ was reportedly the first American television series to show an interracial kiss. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188/40 "2018-07-03T15:04:01Z")
“Petticoat Junction” was entirely about jiggle. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-risque-shows-of-the-1960s/817188.md?page=3)