We comedy writers from the past apologize

Very funny article in a UK paper:  a Comedy Writer from the 1970's apologizing that jokes they wrote then now are inappropriate and insensitive and we all should have known better at the time.

We all should have questioned whether material intended to be broadcast in a few months would be deemed unacceptable to people who wouldn't be born for another fifteen years.

How thoughtless of us!

It's a funny satire but all too true.  Entertainment needs to be viewed in context.   Tastes change, society changes, but we need to view past shows with the understanding that they were written and performed for a different audience with a different sensibility.   Suddenly, after 40 years we comedy writers are not all racists and homophobes.

To me a prime example is the episode of CHEERS my partner David Isaacs and I wrote for the first year of CHEERS.  It's called "Boys in the Bar."  There's been some recent outrage and demands that the episode be pulled from distribution.   In the episode, some of the bar regulars are worried the bar is going to go gay.  As a result they act like idiots and ultimately get their comeuppance.    Some folks are saying it's totally offensive to the LGBT community.

At the time we won the GLAAD Award from the LGBT community.  We also won the WGA Award for Best Comedy Script and were nominated for a writing Emmy.

Perspective people.  Perspective. 

from By Ken Levine