Looking for Some 'Friends'

In these touchy times, a search for comfort TV

Diane Werts | GLUED TO THE TUBE

October 31, 2001

WHO WILL BE our Archie Bunker? Don't hold your breath waiting to find out.

When times got touchy circa 1970 -- Vietnam War, black power, feminism, upheaval everywhere -- TV was right there addressing the issues with "All in the Family. Americans made a hit of a sitcom roiling with Everyman ire and political debate.

When times get touchy at the start of the 21st century -- terrorist attacks, plague scares, anxiety everywhere -- TV is right not there, at least not yet. And probably never, judging by what viewers have been turning to since Sept. 11.

"Friends is suddenly No. 1 on the networks, and is also the top comedy in syndication, airing twice a night in many markets. (Add TBS' new cable run, and make it three times.) Cartoon Network has higher ratings than ever, and Game Show Network is luring viewers with prime-time repeats of "Let's Make a Deal -- people jumping up and down in chicken suits hoping for new cars but getting zonked by cans of baked beans.

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Seems viewers in our tense decade are turning to Comfort TV.

Yes, it's early into this scary new world, and maybe there's an Archie Bunker around the corner. But I don't think so. TV was different then, more mature, in its own three-network way. Archie Bunker was followed into Nielsen's Top 10 by "Maude, who tackled abortion and homosexuality. Even "Brady Bunch dad Robert Reed got topical, appearing on "Medical Center as a doctor having a sex-change operation. Viewers watched, and advertisers advertised. Because where else was there to go? Today, you can answer that question with a hundred channels, covering every possible mood or interest. Get daring or talk timely, and see both ads and viewers flee.

But, hey, you say, isn't "ER the top-rated drama, and doesn't it deal with issues? Come on. That show is our current nighttime soap. We watch to see what happened with Abby's love life. It's romance and office rivalry, with issues such as AIDS thrown in only to affect the days of our characters' lives. OK, so there's "The West Wing. But a drama that cleverly written, compellingly filmed and powerfully acted is going to get an audience. There's always room for one anomaly. And only one. You don't see anybody racing toward "The Agency, do you, even with its timely take on spies and sedition? CBS is so desperate to attract an audience that this Thursday at 10, it's unearthing the terrorist-themed pilot episode it pulled after last month's attacks. And it's promoting it portentously, with ominous music and an American flag gagging a hostage. They make it seem nearly unpatriotic not to watch.

Yet it isn't likely to work. The Gulf War 10 years ago also inspired a wave of public spirit but not much viewer interest in dramatic depictions. Like CBS with "The Agency, ABC happened to be on top of events then, in January 1991, with the midseason drama "Under Cover from "China Beach creator John Sacret Young. In the series premiere, the first of a two-parter, operatives of his National Intelligence Agency were portrayed in Kuwait spying on Iraq (!). Then the United States started dropping bombs in those countries. The second half got yanked. Bye-bye, "Under Cover.

Of course, the Gulf War was our first live-for-24-hours conflict. Americans could get so much of the real thing, we hardly needed it dramatized, too. Archie vs. Meathead-style debates suddenly took place on CNN's "Crossfire when warplanes were still flying. Everymen could vent ad nauseam on C-SPAN. Even Edith Bunker-type domestic concerns came to fill hours every day on "Oprah and "Sally. By the time prime time rolls around now, we've argued and analyzed real life 17 times already. We need an escape. We're desperate for a sense of "normalcy, however we individually define it -- as cartoons, chicken suits, or Ross and Rachel.

And is this a bad thing? Show of hands, please: During the week of Sept. 11, how many of us couldn't wait for the soaps and sitcoms to start up again? The more horrific things seem -- and the closer they are to home -- the sooner you can hit that point of overload where more information only makes you more nuts. Getting away from it can actually help you deal more rationally with whatever's fueling your fear.

Maybe Archie Bunker was an aberration, anyway. One could argue cultural chaos already was on the downswing by his 1971 arrival, having peaked in the previous several years. The top shows then had been the country folksiness of "Andy Griffith, the "Bonanza family Western, and "Gomer Pyle, a goofy sitcom about a Marine in whose world Vietnam seemed not to exist. Certainly the 1950s saw their own share of nuclear dread and communist threat. And what were people watching on TV? "I Love Lucy. What a coincidence -- she's hot again.