Jungle Jim

Some adventure shows we used to watch after school were Jungle Jim and The Last of the Mohicans. Then on certain days of the week Cheyenne and Cimarron Strip were on in the afternoons.  In the evenings we watched Laramie, Lawman, Hawaiian Eye and 77 Sunset Strip.  These were our action shows and when I compare to what is on television today I shudder.  1960’s crime was pretty tame compared to Law & Order SVU or Criminal Minds.

       No one in our games wanted to be the bad guy instead everyone wanted to be the detective, lawman or heroine of the story and of course no one wanted to be the victim so most of the time we had to have a pretend body and then we would assume characters from the different shows.  The main point of any games meant running around a lot and screaming at the top of our lungs “Freeze, buster”.  Once the villain was caught we were allowed to shake him up a little bit but there was really no rough stuff because that isn’t what we saw on the shows.  I was quite surprised when viewing some old westerns like Gunsmoke and The Virginian to notice that we seldom ever saw the shot body once it was dead. 

       Most of the things we watched on television were so wholesome that I find myself constantly amazed that our generation didn’t turn out much better than we did.  Saying that I find myself reflecting and thinking “most of us turned out pretty good; it’s our leaders that disappoint”.  Perhaps that is our problem, we were raised up to trust our leaders and so we continue to vote and trust that our elected officials are going to do well by us.  Images of Fred McMurray and Robert Young as the wise fathers pop to mind as they tell their sons in the last scene what they should do to be a model citizen, then all will be right with their little world for that week.

       The bottom line for me is that television does influence social mores and thinking.