Boorish TV Characters

With all the talk about violence on TV, what about simple rudeness? When I watch “NYPD Blue,” “ER” or any other of the popular TV shows, I am stunned by the unrelentingly rude, humorless and abrasive manner of the characters. I couldn’t spend two minutes with such people.

I am glad I grew up on the television fare of the 1950s such as “I Love Lucy,” “My Little Margie” and “Ozzie and Harriet.” The characters were sweet and gracious, as are most people in real life.

A popular TV psychologist recently talked about the “Never-never land of Ozzie and Harriet.” Well, I grew up in a whole neighborhood of Ozzies and Harriets, as did millions of other Americans. And the sweet, well-mannered happy American families are still out there by the millions, but they have an uphill battle countering the crude and uncivil manner which is now the norm for TV personages.

RICHARD BRODIE

Pacific Palisades