New Television Guidelines

The new TV ratings now include FV for “fantasy violence” (July 11). Isn’t all violence on television fantasy? Confounding me even more is the fact that television news, which portrays real violence as often as they can get a picture of it (can anyone even count the number of times they’ve seen the Rodney King video?), requires no rating, whatsoever!

This new system must have been dreamed up by sitcom writers. Oh well. I have to change the channel now. The Sojourner explorer’s collision with the Martian rock named Yogi has resulted in a TV-V (violence) rating, and I wouldn’t want my kids to see that.

DOUGLAS INMAN

Marina del Rey

* Re your July 11 editorial:

If processed foods and television shows are consumer products, then what exactly is The Times? By your own logic this newspaper should be required by law to rate each news story in order to assist parents who are too stupid to raise their own children.

CHUCK ROSE

Temple City

* Ah, for the simplicity of the early days of television. Not only did most cities have only two or three stations but there was no voluntary or government censorship. Programs had single sponsors. Single sponsors cared about what they put on the air and they knew that any program of objectionable taste would affect sales of the product.

So we had “The Kraft Television Theater,” “The Lucky Strike Program Starring Jack Benny,” “Philip Morris Presents I Love Lucy,” “The Philco Television Playhouse” and “Lawrence Welk’s Dodge Dancing Party.” This was TV in the 1950s. Whatever its flaws, no one ever accused it of being overly violent, sexually suggestive or full of foul language.

RICK ROFMAN

Van Nuys