Random observation on acceptable sexism...

[Kevin M.]

Among the shows I digitized from my VHS archives was the short-lived Robert Conrad series "High Mountain Rangers" from the 1980s (one of the best TV theme songs ever). Rewatching it, I think it might have been the last openly sexist series wherein men were "real men" and women were always portrayed as victims to be rescued. Conrad plays a retired ranger living in a rustic cabin in the mountains above Lake Tahoe. His real life sons costar as his character's kids, one a teen, the other a part of a group of rangers who serve the region as everything from lifeguards to law enforcement. The one female cast member was a tall, blonde, Swedish woman for whom English was not her first language (she wasn't hired for her ability to speak). In the pilot episode, when her character first appears, the other rangers greet her with words like, "Hey, look, it is Ms Sweden" even though her character is also, in theory, an equally ranked ranger. She spends most of the episode making coffee and answering phones, but when she finally does get outside, Robert Conrad's teenage boy is presented as better at everything than she is.

I only have a couple of episodes, but they all feature women or girls in distress as Conrad and his mostly male cadre of rangers render aid. In the pilot episode, the ranger station features posters on the walls of various bikini-clad women.

In my boredom at work this week, I've been trying to think of any more recent series that was so unequal in its depiction of female characters. The series went off the air in 1988 and though some of the characters were revived in a later series, it was -- if memory serves -- much more watered down and politically correct (Conrad no longer wore a manly fur coat, for instance). In my head, I've been trying to put a specific date to when TV started to become politically correct, and the old school roles of men and women started to fade. Anybody think of a dramatic series or sitcom after 1988 that still featured the sort of open sexism as I've described?

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Kevin M. (RPCV)

[Ed Dravecky]

Kevin M. <drunkba...@gmail.com> wrote:
> The series went off the air in 1988 and though some of the characters were
> revived in a later series, it was -- if memory serves -- much more watered
> down and politically correct (Conrad no longer wore a manly fur coat, for
> instance).

The 12 barely-watchable episode of "High Mountain Rangers" were
followed in April/May 1989 by 6 less-watchable episodes of "Jesse
Hawkes" with Robert Conrad's title character and his two sons moving
to San Francisco to fight crime.


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Ed Dravecky
Dallas, Texas

[Bob Jersey]

Ed Dravecky III, to Kevin M:

> The series went off the air in 1988 and though some of the characters were
> revived in a later series, it was -- if memory serves -- much more watered
> down and politically correct (Conrad no longer wore a manly fur coat, for
> instance).

The 12 barely-watchable episode of "High Mountain Rangers" were
followed in April/May 1989 by 6 less-watchable episodes of "Jesse
Hawkes" with Robert Conrad's title character and his two sons moving
to San Francisco to fight crime.

This all-you-can't-stomach buffet of Conrads survives on the 'toob, IYC...

B

[Kevin M.]

The most distracting thing about the series is the score for the episodes, which have no connection to the theme song, and generally don't relate to what is happening on-screen. Its liberal use of the pan-flute to convey suspense or action baffles me. The writing is, to me, not much different than the average episode of CHiPs or Hunter, but the scenery is pretty... too bad they didn't have HD cameras back then. As I understand it, Tahoe has become so built up with condos and mansions and Starbucks that some of those mountain views don't exist anymore.

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Kevin M. (RPCV)