Gumbel’s Gaffe: Incivility, or Something Else?

Regarding Greg Crosby’s tirade against Bryant Gumbel (“TV Slides Into the Gutter [With Bryant Gumbel’s Mouth],” July 24), it’s hard to believe this guy is a humor writer. He comes across as a sanctimonious prig who should be wearing pilgrim’s garb.

Gumbel was totally right on with that representative from the Boy Scouts. How convenient that Crosby didn’t even mention the reason for Gumbel’s outburst, the fact that Gumbel obviously didn’t buy into the Boy Scouts’ blatantly discriminatory stance against homosexuals.

Though I agree with Crosby that TV has sunk to an all-time low, his anger is misdirected. It is the producers and executives like him who are to blame for allowing the public’s tolerance for bad taste to rise as high as it is now.

As for Gumbel, I have a newfound respect for the man, for expressing his opinion in a frank, unrehearsed manner. It was a refreshing break from the fake smiles and phony enthusiasm displayed on the morning chat-fests.

FREDRIC COOPER

Torrance

*

* Greg Crosby deserves praise for his piece about Bryant Gumbel. I agree with him completely. Civility is definitely missing in TV (and elsewhere) today. Just look at the prime-time shows that our youth are watching. There are no redeeming values ever shown. It is no wonder so many young people are mixed up.

SHIRLEY OGLESBY

Long Beach

*

* What I fear more than lack of civility and certainly more than unprofessional behavior is the insistence on political correctness, which is really the argument of Greg Crosby in his attack on Bryant Gumbel.

Crosby cannot seem to untangle the two crimes Gumbel committed: using profanity when privately speaking of someone else, and getting caught by a camera that was unexpectedly on. The latter was a mistake that consummate professionals don’t make, but it would have been a nonissue had he said something less offensive. The former--calling someone a bad name in private--is behavior that is practiced by everyone except a saintly few, and no one has yet confused our television news personalities with saints.

If Gumbel had intentionally derided his guest in public, he would have deserved the comparison with Howard Stern and Jerry Springer as someone who lessens our standards of civility. But his foulmouthed insult, meant only for his colleagues, tells us only one thing: Gumbel may not be a very nice man (something that is not news and certainly not a disqualifying trait in the entertainment industry).

Crosby needs to make that distinction between private speech that is in bad taste and a public attack on civility. The former is unfortunate, but only the latter is deserving of Crosby’s attack.

BRUCE A. GREENFIELD

Los Angeles

*

* It’s too bad that Greg Crosby can focus only on the so-called “obscenity” that Bryant Gumbel uttered instead of the real foulmouthed offender, an espouser of racist, violent ideology.

Yes, garbage mouths and low-class behavior are all too common on cable as well as on mainstream television today, but you cannot compare Gumbel to Stern and Springer, ignore the hate-spewing guest and instead highlight the mistimed, very honest reaction of a human being. Crosby’s focus on so-called “good manners, taste, ethics, etc.” at the expense of recognizing the horror of an espouser of hatred and violence just shows who has become desensitized and who hasn’t.

JULIE T. BYERS

Temple City

*

* Greg Crosby is right on target with his criticism of Bryant Gumbel and other rude talk-TV hosts.

I’m told that Matt Lauer was displeased at having to welcome Darva Conger to the “Today” show for a third (!) sit-down chat, yet he conducted the interview with courtesy and professionalism. The attitudes of the on-air talent are reflected in their respective ratings.

Being a TV host is no different than being a host in your own home. Treat your guests with respect (a little humor, when appropriate) for the duration of their stay. So what if you have to bite your tongue? You invited them.

NELSON ASPEN

Los Angeles