Issue date: 9/18/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Photo courtesy James DeShaw Rae Assistant Government Professor James DeShaw Rae [Click to enlarge]

The State Hornet does not necessarily endorse the opinions expressed in this blog. James DeShaw Rae is an assistant government professor at Sacramento State, and is not affiliated with The State Hornet.

After watching the Emmys last night, I was again reminded how much society has changed, and especially how much television has changed since I was a young boy in the 1970s. The Emmys themselves honored the 30th anniversary of the mini-series "Roots," the epic struggle of African-Americans fighting for existence and identity under the oppressive system of slavery. I vividly remember the impact this mini-series had on my young mind. But I also remember many other shows from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. My favorites were often the top-rated shows of that era, and included comedies like "Happy Days," "Laverne & Shirley," "Good Times," and "Three's Company;" action shows like "The Dukes of Hazzard" and "The Incredible Hulk;" and police dramas like "Starsky & Hutch" and "Berretta."

Popular shows of the late 1990s and early 2000s include "Seinfeld," "Friends," "Will & Grace," "Sex and the City," "Grey's Anatomy," "Boston Legal" and "Ugly Betty." Of course, this is just a selective list of some; among the latter category, I was only a devoted fan of Seinfeld. What always strikes me is that my heroes growing up were Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzarelli (a part-time car mechanic in Milwaukee, Wis. living in an attic whose reputation was built on leaving a street gang but still maintaining street cred due to his style and toughness), Laverne DeFazio (a somewhat loose brewery factory worker - a bottlecapper - who shared a basement apartment in a bad neighborhood, as a spin-off from "Happy Days," set again in Milwaukee.

Another spinoff, "Mork and Mindy," was a favorite with Robin Williams as an alien struggling to meet rent with Mindy in Denver, Colo. Bo and Luke Duke were seemingly tolerant 'good-ole-boys' down south (in Georgia I think) who fought the law and always won, brewing moonshine, breaking every traffic code, and generally messing with the police before retreating to their country shack, which they shared with their uncle and cousin (whose "Daisy Dukes" denim shorts were worn by Daisy Duke). Jimmy Walker (JJ, aka Kid Dynamite!) was a smart aleck aspiring painter living in the Projects of the infamous slum of Cabrini Green, Chicago, in a family struggling to avoid eviction and the harassment of cutthroat loan sharks.

The Hulk, as David Banner, was, I believe, a freelance photographer who wandered the streets and was essentially homeless, while the cops or private detectives of the 1970s straddled the law, hanging with pimps and prostitutes, crossing the line to get information, and trying to survive on a pittance in rundown urban apartments (on the West Coast, as I recall).

What strikes me about my heroes of that era was that they were working class heroes, all of whom struggled to survive in very poor socio-economic conditions. While almost all had street smarts and a sense of humor (many of these were comedies, after all), misfortune and The Man (in some guise) conspired to keep them in their position. These shows also share a wide geographical scope, unlike modern TV shows, which seem to reflect that the only important events occur in New York City.

Aside from the East Coast bias of much of television, the other similarity is how elite television characters have become. Even if Rachel is only a waitress and Joey is a second-rate actor, while George is chronically unemployed and Kramer has no income, all of these shows seem to reflect loft and studio living in New York, or Manhattan, or perhaps the Upper West Side. That is not to say any of these shows are not funny, but leads me to wonder, a) am I correct that our TV characters - our heroes - were once predominantly working class and are now primarily elites and upper class, and b) is this transformation simply due to socio-economic trends that are reflected in a shrinking of the working class and the success of the American dream, or is the media (Hollywood studio production conglomerates) choosing to represent our heroes as elites even if it does not reflect contemporary reality. And if so, is this focus-group tested information that we'd rather watch those we wish to be, or a project to encourage the viewing public to disassociate their identity with working class folks (from urban white and minority laborers to the rural poor) in favor of an urban, professional class (particularly doctors and lawyers). What do you think?

James DeShaw Rae can be reached at editor@statehornet.com.

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