TV Taboos, Program Standards Change With Values : Broadcasting: TV in the ‘80s became more frank about sexual issues and grew less tolerant of depictions of smoking, alcohol and drugs, reflecting new attitudes.

In 1989, ABC’s “thirtysomething” ventured into uncharted waters when it showed a gay couple together in bed. Alfred Schneider, the network’s vice president of policy and standards, acknowledged that the scene would not have been shown a decade ago.

But in 1989, while the gay relationship passed muster, the scene might not have aired had that same couple carelessly smoked a few packs of cigarettes or gotten drunk without identifying a designated driver.

Although program-standards executives at the Big Three networks say there exists no tidy list of taboo words, scenes or subjects for TV programs now vs. 1980, they acknowledge that TV’s last decade has certainly reflected changes in American society: more openness about sexual issues and less tolerance of substance abuse.

While American TV has brought homosexuality, incest, child abuse, rape and family violence, and sexually transmitted disease out of the closet in the ‘80s, TV began to say no to depictions of casual drinking and smoking, drunk driving and drug abuse toward the end of the 1980s--and that trend may continue in the 1990s.

In fact, even a comedy such as NBC’s “Cheers,” set in a Boston bar, might not have made it to the air had the concept been proposed in 1990 instead of 1982--even though the show avoids depicting drunkenness or using it for humor. “If that idea came up now, there would be all of this societal noise in the back, saying: ‘Aren’t you going to encourage drinking with this show?’ ” said Alan Gerson, NBC vice president of program standards and marketing policy.

Beth Bressan, vice president and assistant to the president of the CBS Broadcast Group, agreed. “You’re not going to have a martini-drinking dog today like you would have in the days of (the 1950s series) ‘Topper,’ ” she said.

Bressan added that the networks have also become more sensitive to violence and sexual and ethnic stereotyping during the last decade. “It’s not a question of how we’ve changed, it’s a question of what’s now acceptable to the mass audience,” she said. “We’re not leading the charge. If in 1990 certain things are judged less offensive than they were before, it’s because they are used more and more in society, and we change too.”

ABC’s Schneider said that the networks have become more open and frank about sexuality than in years past. For example, that network’s “War and Remembrance” included some frontal nudity last season--but only within the context of the horrors of the concentration camps. “I think the televising of ‘War and Remembrance’ and the manner in which the victims of the Holocaust were depicted would have been more difficult 10 years ago, but that’s hindsight--it depends on the vehicle,” he said.

NBC’s Gerson, however, noted that while such shows as “thirtysomething,” “L.A. Law,” “Hill Street Blues” and “St. Elsewhere” broke ground with frank sexual situations and language in the 1980s, purely salacious or shocking material is on the wane--partly as a result of last season’s outcry from viewers and advertisers over titillating shows such as NBC’s “Nightingales.”

“We do let people say hell and damn and bastard, but we are making perhaps a stronger effort than a few years ago to cut back on that,” Gerson said. “It ought to be reserved for the times when to use anything else would ring false. We’re very sensitive to the sociological phenomenon of the baby boomers coming of age--now they’re parents; they’re watching TV with their children.”

Bressan added that a sophisticated adult program such as “L.A. Law” may get by with an occasional goddamn , and that last season’s “Lonesome Dove” miniseries tried to remain true to Larry McMurtry’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by including a horse named Hellbitch and the word poke to refer to sexual intercourse. Theatrical movies often include some profanity when aired on the network, she said, because many viewers have already seen the film and would find the cuts too jarring.

But, she added, CBS makes no attempt to reflect society’s increasing use of profanity in its own shows, or to compete with cable in that respect. “We don’t allow (cable) to loosen our judgments,” she said.

Standards executives say that occasionally a societal issue, such as the AIDS crisis of the ‘80s, provides the catalyst for more frankness. AIDS triggered the networks’ decision to allow condom advertising, as well as open discussion of how the disease is transmitted and prevented on programs ranging from sitcoms to “The CBS Schoolbreak Special.”

“Television has not ignored this issue,” said Gerson. “I think in other times in our society’s development and maturity, AIDS would have been ignored because it’s a sexually transmitted disease.”

Possibly as an offshoot of TV’s challenge to educate society about AIDS, Bressan and others noted a shift during the ‘80s away from “disease of the week” to more political or controversial made-for-TV movies including “Roe vs. Wade” on abortion and “The Burning Bed,” about an abused wife who strikes back. “We might present a very graphic and dramatic adult scene in the case of something like acquaintance rape, based on the time period and the audience composition,” Bressan said.

“As good broadcasters, we have to deal with important issues and topics; it’s our responsibility not just to entertain, but to inform.”