The new normal

Television takes the next step down | Gene Edward Veith

The sitcoms of the 1990s—such as Friends and That '70s Show—were full of sexual innuendos, double entendres, and suggestive plot lines. Today's TV comedies—such as The Office and My Name Is Earl—do not depend so much on that kind of adolescent, off-color humor. Does that mean that TV is cleaning up its act? Not at all. TV has actually taken the next step downward.

The 1990s comedies approached the line of sexual propriety and then crossed it. This resulted in a titillating humor that made adolescents snicker and shocked their parents. Today there is no line to cross.

In The Office, arguably the funniest show on TV, it is simply taken for granted that unmarried people are having sex. There is no need for innuendo. The characters talk about their sex lives openly, and extramarital sex is normal.