Larry Gelbart died today. If you don't know the name, you surely know the work: A Funny Thing Happened On the Way To the Forum, Tootsie, and the t.v. adaptation of M*A*S*H, just to name the top three of a long and varied career.
Less well-known, perhaps, is Gelbart's role in keeping the government from pressuring broadcasters to keep certain content off the air at certain times of the day.
The early to mid 70s was a high point in American pop culture, in my opinion. On the big screen you had classic American films like Easy Rider and Chinatown in theaters, and even television was trying to put edgier fare on their schedules to appeal to the Baby Boom generation. Series like All In the Family dealt with themes like racism and generational conflict in ways that hadn't been seen before. And then there was M*A*S*H, the rare--even singular--t.v. series that not only equaled the movie on which it was based, but even exceeded it. Robert Altman's film was a biting commentary on a Vietnam thinly disguised as Korea; Gelbart's adaptation transcended even that and dealt with a huge range of issues in its long run.
But as my fellow Kossacks no doubt know, the Culture Wars did not begin with the premiere of Rush Limbaugh's radio show or the inauguration of Bill Clinton in January 1993. Even as film studios and t.v. broadcasters were attempting to lure a younger, hipper audience, pressure was building in Congress to "do something" about so-called mature content on television--particularly from 7-9 pm Eastern, which became known as the Family Hour. The flash point came in September 1974 when a scene in a t.v. movie called Born Innocent, depicting star Linda Blair being violated with a broom handle, was broadcast right at the peak time for family viewing. The FCC, under pressure from a group of congressmen led by Sen. John Pastore of Wisconsin, pressured broadcasters to regulate the content of their t.v. series airing from 7 to 9 and leave tougher content till after the kiddies went to bed.
It was Larry Gelbart, along with All In the Family creator Norman Lear, who stood up to the networks (who went along) and to the government. Gelbart and Lear felt that shows like All In the Family, Maude and M*A*S*H should not have to wait till the kids went to bed, that the ratings of their shows would suffer. More importantly, they contended, the FCC's pressure amounted to prior censorship by the Federal government on television content, making the supposedly voluntary compliance of network broadcasters a sham. Backed by fellow writers and producers, and actors including Carol O'Connor and Alan Alda, Gelbart and Lear sued in the California state court to end Family Hour. In November 1975, Judge Warren Ferguson--siding with Gelbart and Lear--issued a decision stating that the National Association of Broadcasters had been coerced by the FCC into adopting Family Hour content restrictions and that they therefore violated the First Amendment.
So on this day of many remembrances, pause a moment in tribute to Larry Gelbart, a great screenwriter and First Amendment warrior. He refused to back down when he saw his work and beliefs under threat, he fought, and he won. And the culture of the U.S. and the world is better for the kinds of issues M*A*S*H was able to handle, in ways that feel as fresh to me when I catch re-runs of the show today as when I watched some first-run episodes as a kid 30-odd years ago.
As for the FCC, it's still driving writers crazy. But what can you do? Larry Gelbart showed us.