# When did smoking become such a no-no on American TV? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 10, 2014, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-smoking-become-such-a-no-no-on-american-tv/683391 "2014-03-10T23:10:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-smoking-become-such-a-no-no-on-american-tv/683391/21 "2014-03-11T08:37:52Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > It depends upon the story. There are a number of stories where people are sitting around in an office setting and smoking. Also, many of the military members who aren’t in combat roles are often smoking during the series. Sure. What I mean if that, even then, there was nothing casual about it: cigarettes were props, used to create a certain atmosphere… what you would rarely see is a main character smoking just because, like most of the actors would actually do in their real lives. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-smoking-become-such-a-no-no-on-american-tv/683391/22 "2014-03-11T10:23:02Z")
Hey, remember when Kramer was the Marlboro Man? ---
**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:** [March 11, 2014, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-smoking-become-such-a-no-no-on-american-tv/683391/23 "2014-03-11T10:43:10Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > Ironically, Burgess Meredith was a non-smoker, and his character’ persistent cigarette bothered the hell out of him. He has stated in interviews that the trademark “waugh! waugh! waugh!” that he bellowed was his way of covering up his persistent coughing from the smoke! And in the episode where he tried to feed Bruce Wayne into a blast furnace, it was revealed that Bruce carried a butane cigarette lighter just like his. (Bruce tossed it into the fire and it blew up the furnace; I think that was actually the first episode to feature the Penguin.) I would have to watch the old series (and movies) again to be sure, but I think Bruce may also have been shown smoking at a cocktail party or something. (I remember that in the old comics, he smoked a pipe.) Another weird TV moment came on _ **The New Avengers** _ when Steed was saved from a bullet by a silver cigarette case in his breast pocket. Pulling it out to show Purdey and Gambit, he’s heard in a post-production voiceover to say “I don’t smoke, but I carry them for friends who do.” Oddly enough, he was never shown smoking in the original series, at least not that I can remember. (Maybe he did in some of the lost episodes with Ian Hendry.) ---
**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:** [March 11, 2014, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-smoking-become-such-a-no-no-on-american-tv/683391/24 "2014-03-11T11:03:53Z")
FWIW, I remember a big change starting around 1968. On shows like _ **Combat!** _ and _ **12 O’Clock High** _, which finished their runs in 1967, almost everybody smoked. The first couple of years _ **Mission: Impossible** _ was on (1966-67), Dan, Jim, Rollin, Cinnamon, and a lot of the bad guys smoked. Even Larry Hagman and Dick York smoked on _ **I Dream of Jeannie** _ and _ **Bewitched** _, respectively. _ **Hawaii Five-O** _ came on in 1968. Not once do I remember McGarrett et al. smoking a cigarette, though an occasional bad guy might have. On _ **Cimmaron Strip** _ (1969), I remember Stuart Whitman rolling his own in one episode, and even that was out of character (of course, it could have been a joint; who knows?) Columbo (again, debuted in 1968) was rarely shown smoking; usually his cigar was out. The first few years _ **Dallas** _ was on (1978–81), Jock would have to hide from Miss Ellie when he wanted to sneak a smoke. Nobody else on the show ever smoked that I can recall (and by that time, Larry Hagman was strongly anti-smoking). There are probably lots of other examples I could cite, but smoking had definitely became a big no-no by 1970 at the latest. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-smoking-become-such-a-no-no-on-american-tv/683391/25 "2014-03-11T11:55:21Z")
Early episodes of Married With Children had Peg smoking, though that was pretty much gone by the third season or so. ---
**Author:** ![Nom\_de\_Plume](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/85f322/32.png) [@Nom\_de\_Plume](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nom_de_Plume)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-smoking-become-such-a-no-no-on-american-tv/683391/26 "2014-03-11T12:12:55Z")
The networks commemorated the 50th anniversary of the assassination of JFK with a bunch of specials and documentaries. I thought it was so odd to see the newscasters smoking on-air during the live feeds. Even Walter Cronkite. While it’s not on TV (yet) I found it amusing that the movie \*Monuments Men \*was rated PG-13, in part, for “historical smoking.” ---
**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:** [March 11, 2014, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-smoking-become-such-a-no-no-on-american-tv/683391/27 "2014-03-11T14:01:03Z")
The other day, I read that Kojack sucked Tootsie Pops because Telly Savalas was trying to quit smoking at the time! ---
**Author:** ![Fool\_in\_the\_Rain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fool\_in\_the\_Rain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fool_in_the_Rain)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-smoking-become-such-a-no-no-on-american-tv/683391/28 "2014-03-11T14:16:38Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > Sure. What I mean if that, even then, there was nothing casual about it: cigarettes were props, used to create a certain atmosphere… what you would rarely see is a main character smoking just because, like most of the actors would actually do in their real lives. Denis Leary’s [Rescue Me](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0381798/?ref_=nv_sr_2) (2004-2011 on FX) had a lot of smoking (and drinking) by characters, story-wise, due to the stress of the job, a ‘cool factor’ with the teen kids, and Leary smoked because, well, he smokes in real life. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-smoking-become-such-a-no-no-on-american-tv/683391/29 "2014-03-11T14:21:38Z")
On Miami Vice, Don Johnson’s character quit smoking as he was quitting IRL. ---
**Author:** ![Melchior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Melchior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melchior)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-smoking-become-such-a-no-no-on-american-tv/683391/30 "2014-03-11T14:22:40Z")
Watch any movie from the 40s and the smoke is so thick you wonder how they kept the lenses clean. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-smoking-become-such-a-no-no-on-american-tv/683391/31 "2014-03-11T14:29:31Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > There are probably lots of other examples I could cite, but smoking had definitely became a big no-no by 1970 at the latest. And yet this thread is filled with plenty of examples that are much later than 1970. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-smoking-become-such-a-no-no-on-american-tv/683391/32 "2014-03-11T14:30:49Z")
For those of you who have the Game Show Network (sadly our cable company cut it a long time ago), watch reruns of old game shows, especially Match Game, plenty of smoking on those. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-smoking-become-such-a-no-no-on-american-tv/683391/33 "2014-03-11T14:39:01Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > Was it ever, really, all that common? Even in the 50’s, the smoking population on television was under-represented. In the Twilight Zone Rod Serling had his perennial cigarette, yet smoking was rare amongst the actual actors during the story. Watch some _Perry Mason_. I think everyone on that show smoked like a chimney, except Della. > [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > On Miami Vice, Don Johnson’s character quit smoking as he was quitting IRL. James Garner and Jim Rockford quit simultaneously, as well, I believe. ---
**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:** [March 11, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-smoking-become-such-a-no-no-on-american-tv/683391/34 "2014-03-11T15:14:56Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > And yet this thread is filled with plenty of examples that are much later than 1970. Shows that are aimed at a particular audience or on certain networks, yeah. Very few prime-time shows on the three big US networks (four, if you include Fox). I’ve noticed there now seems to be a gradual trend back to showing smokers in some mainstream genres. Even so, shows like _ **Mad Men** _ get around antismoking laws with things like clove cigarettes. Smoke can also be added with CGI in post-production, so the actors are technically not smoking. ---
**Author:** ![Melchior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Melchior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melchior)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-smoking-become-such-a-no-no-on-american-tv/683391/35 "2014-03-11T15:29:11Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Watch some _Perry Mason_. I think everyone on that show smoked like a chimney, except Della. The smoking on\* Perry Mason \*declined in the last few seasons. ---
**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:** [March 11, 2014, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-smoking-become-such-a-no-no-on-american-tv/683391/36 "2014-03-11T15:38:57Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > For those of you who have the Game Show Network (sadly our cable company cut it a long time ago), watch reruns of old game shows, especially Match Game, plenty of smoking on those. Smoking on late-night TV also lasted well into the '70s, at least. Watch this clip from 1976: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/p9-wus5cflw/hqdefault.jpg "Star Trek cast on Tom Snyder's Tomorrow, 1976, Part 2") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9-wus5cflw) It gets me how natural it all seems to have lit cigarettes billowing smoke while they sit and talk, almost like they couldn’t get by without them (which was probably the case). ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-smoking-become-such-a-no-no-on-american-tv/683391/37 "2014-03-12T00:16:08Z")
OK, so when did Johnny quit smoking or have smoking guests? I don’t remember Letterman ever having smoking on the show, but I do distinctly remember him quickly puffing as the cameras came back from break. Once, he even waved off the camera for a second and it cut to Paul playing the music. Anyway, when did Johnny stop having smoking on his show/set? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-smoking-become-such-a-no-no-on-american-tv/683391/38 "2014-03-12T00:38:34Z")
> [@Melchior](#): > > Watch any movie from the 40s and the smoke is so thick you wonder how they kept the lenses clean. Long after the 40’s, we banned smoking in the electronic development labs at Litton Guidance (80’s) after we found giant particles of smoke (as seen on microscopes) on 8" floppy disks for our computers. It explained the excessive failure rate. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-smoking-become-such-a-no-no-on-american-tv/683391/39 "2014-03-12T00:58:57Z")
I know that Jackie Gleason was smoking on “Tonight” a year or two before he died in 1987. The only smoking I remember on Letterman was when they were coming back from breaks, including Letterman himself putting away his cigar, but also in the 1980s. ---
**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:** [March 12, 2014, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-smoking-become-such-a-no-no-on-american-tv/683391/40 "2014-03-12T01:12:28Z")
> [@Melchior](#): > > Watch any movie from the 40s and the smoke is so thick you wonder how they kept the lenses clean. my very favorite ‘old movie smoking scene’ is from [Dark Victory](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsbtPfVqUnI). Bette Davis is in the hospital the night before she’s supposed to have risky surgery to remove a brain tumor, and is (understandably) quite nervous. Her _doctor_ gives her a cigarette to calm her nerves, and lights it for her!!! (Her doctor is also her beau too, but that’s another story.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-smoking-become-such-a-no-no-on-american-tv/683391.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-smoking-become-such-a-no-no-on-american-tv/683391.md?page=3)