First toilet on a TV SHOW?

[Bob]

On Quora I've already busted the claim that a certain "Leave It to Beaver" episode had the first appearance (in 1957) on American TV of any part of a toilet. The claim seems never to have been made before the time DVD sales of the series were beginning, and I think they just made up a story of its being held up, so as to boost publicity. The episode air dates and production numbers SEEM to back up the story, until you note the others and see that MANY of them first aired out of production order. Anyway, TV commercials for at least a decade had been showing toilets quite conspicuously, so the claim that network standards and practices had an objection doesn't seem apt. However, someone on Quora suggested standards may have been lower for commercials, which I strongly doubt.

So what I'm looking for is any examples of toilets from American TV PROGRAMS in 1957 or earlier.

Bob in Andover

[danny burstein]

In <d0f7c4b2-28cf-4381...@googlegroups.com> Bob <rob...@bestweb.net> writes:

[snip]

>So what I'm looking for is any examples of toilets from American TV PROGRAM=
>S in 1957 or earlier.

Can't help you with that, but Mad Magazine (back when there
was a Mad Magazine and it was funny..) did a satire of
All in the Family, and made a big point of how toilets
were taboo on tv, so in the magazine Archie Bunker
was flushing away...

--
_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dan...@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

[Michael Trew]

I have always heard that the first reference to "toilet" on television
was the show "All in the Family".

[Snidely]

Michael Trew explained on 5/2/2022 :

AIUI, Bob isn't asking about "reference", but about the first time a
toilet was in view on camera, and being an item in the background would
count.

I'm not sure what shows were filmed "on location" during the '50s, and
a toilet in the background for other shows would require the set
builders to build a bathroom (or a plumbing showroom), and I can't
recall much of that (admittedly, I can't recall much of the shows I
recall, which is the short list of Donna Reed, Father Knows Best, Leave
It To Beaver, and My Three Sons; I think kitchen scenes dominated).

/dps


/dps

--
Rule #0: Don't be on fire.
In case of fire, exit the building before tweeting about it.
(Sighting reported by Adam F)

[Lee Ayrton]

On Monday, May 2, 2022 at 7:52:00 PM UTC-4, danny burstein wrote:
> In <d0f7c4b2-28cf-4381...@googlegroups.com> Bob <rob...@bestweb.net> writes:
>
> [snip]
>
> >So what I'm looking for is any examples of toilets from American TV PROGRAM=
> >S in 1957 or earlier.
>
> Can't help you with that, but Mad Magazine (back when there
> was a Mad Magazine and it was funny..) did a satire of
> All in the Family, and made a big point of how toilets
> were taboo on tv, so in the magazine Archie Bunker
> was flushing away...

As Dannyb notes, All in The Family made the papers with a loud but unseen flush from upstairs, to a huge laugh. "30 Something" made the papers with a scene of Mel peeing on a toilet, a first. The Internets claim that Leave It To Beaver was the first TV show to show a porcelain throne, in a shot that was reportedly censored.

https://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/21159/why-do-most-movies-series-dont-have-the-i-have-to-go-to-the-toilet-moment

Not TV, but Psycho featured a toilet, as did Clockwork Orange.

[Bob]

On Tuesday, June 7, 2022 at 6:27:48 PM UTC-4, Lee Ayrton wrote:
> On Monday, May 2, 2022 at 7:52:00 PM UTC-4, danny burstein wrote:
> > In <d0f7c4b2-28cf-4381...@googlegroups.com> Bob <rob...@bestweb.net> writes:
> >
> > [snip]
> >
> > >So what I'm looking for is any examples of toilets from American TV PROGRAM=
> > >S in 1957 or earlier.
> >
> > Can't help you with that, but Mad Magazine (back when there
> > was a Mad Magazine and it was funny..) did a satire of
> > All in the Family, and made a big point of how toilets
> > were taboo on tv, so in the magazine Archie Bunker
> > was flushing away...
> As Dannyb notes, All in The Family made the papers with a loud but unseen flush from upstairs, to a huge laugh. "30 Something" made the papers with a scene of Mel peeing on a toilet, a first. The Internets claim that Leave It To Beaver was the first TV show to show a porcelain throne, in a shot that was reportedly censored.

Except that there's no mention of that story until about the time that the DVDs of that series went on sale. The story was so obviously made up for publicity's sake, I'm amazed that I'm the first the call them out on it.

[Qaiser Tariq]

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[Pluted Pup]

On Mon, 02 May 2022 16:43:16 -0700, Bob wrote:

> On Quora I've already busted the claim that a certain "Leave It to Beaver" episode had the first appearance (in 1957) on American TV of any part of a toilet. The claim seems never to have been made before the time DVD sales of the series were beginning, and I think they just made up a story of its being held up, so as to boost publicity. The episode air dates and production numbers SEEM to back up the story, until you note the others and see that MANY of them first aired out of production order. Anyway, TV commercials for at least a decade had been showing toilets quite conspicuously, so the claim that network standards and practices had an objection doesn't seem apt. However, someone on Quora suggested standards may have been lower for commercials, which I strongly doubt.
>
> So what I'm looking for is any examples of toilets from American TV PROGRAMS in 1957 or earlier.

I don't know if it's true, but I heard about Leave
It To Beaver having the first TV toilet long before
DVDs were even invented. So it's not a new story.

[A Friend]

In article <0001HW.292EBECA0...@news.giganews.com>, Pluted

Leave It to Beaver had Beaver hiding his pet alligator in the toilet
tank in the boys' bathroom; I'm not sure if they ever showed the bowl.
I don't know why this was controversial, but there you are.

We were two adults and five kids in a cramped four-room apartment, so
AFAIWC the Cleavers lived in frickin' paradise. If memory serves, All
in the Family was the first to depict a toilet just having been used
(i.e., there's the sound of a flush, and then Archie comes downstairs,
with hilarity ensuing).

One of the reasons we bought this house is that we are two people, and
there are two and a half baths.

[Kerr-Mudd, John]

You can't have much of a bath in half a bath.

--
Bah, and indeed Humbug.

[Bob]

Sure, if you neglect the fact that the toilet flush sound had been used on RADIO for a long time by then.

[Bob]

At the time you heard it, did you consider it at all odd that, huh, you'd been seeing toilets in TV COMMERCIALS long before that? Or did you hear the story long after the show aired but long before DVDs, and hence were unfamiliar with TV TOTAL CONTENT at that time?

[A Friend]

In article <20221124134255.20cd...@127.0.0.1>,

I should have mentioned for those unfamiliar with the term that a
half-bath is a bathroom with a toilet and a sink, but without a tub or
a shower.

[Kerr-Mudd, John]

On Thu, 24 Nov 2022 13:51:44 -0500

I was kinda joshing; it's curious to this BrEng speaker that a bathroom to
us is literally a room with a bath in. (Maybe changed to a shower, but
historically contained a bathtub; very probably a WC as well). A room
with just a WC & basin is called a toilet.

Half a bath would lose water.

[anim8rfsk]

Not exactly. There are four components to a bathroom. Toilet, sink, tub,
shower. Any combination of two of those would be a half bath. That’s how
contractors count. Realtors often just count any bathroom as a whole
bathroom even if all it has in it is a sink because realtors cheat.

--
The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it is still on my list.

[suzeeq]

Actuall they don't. A full bath has a sink and toilet, and either a tub,
a shower, or both, or a tub with shower. They call them 3 piece
bathrooms or 4 piece.

[Adam H. Kerman]

Shower stall but no tub is a 3/4 bathroom. No idea what they call it if
there's a shower stall plus a separate tub.

[suzeeq]

>>> shower. Any combination of two of those would be a half bath. That’s how

>>> contractors count. Realtors often just count any bathroom as a whole
>>> bathroom even if all it has in it is a sink because realtors cheat.
>>>

>> Actually they don't. A full bath has a sink and toilet, and either a tub,

>> a shower, or both, or a tub with shower. They call them 3 piece
>> bathrooms or 4 piece.
>
> Shower stall but no tub is a 3/4 bathroom. No idea what they call it if
> there's a shower stall plus a separate tub.
>

A 4 piece.

[Les Albert]

On Wed, 23 Nov 2022 16:25:09 -0500, A Friend <no...@noway.com> wrote:
> PlutedPup <plut...@outlook.com> wrote:
>> On Mon, 02 May 2022 16:43:16 -0700, Bob wrote:

>> > On Quora I've already busted the claim that a certain "Leave It to Beaver"
>> > episode had the first appearance (in 1957) on American TV of any part of a
>> > toilet. The claim seems never to have been made before the time DVD sales
>> > of the series were beginning, and I think they just made up a story of its
>> > being held up, so as to boost publicity. The episode air dates and
>> > production numbers SEEM to back up the story, until you note the others and
>> > see that MANY of them first aired out of production order. Anyway, TV
>> > commercials for at least a decade had been showing toilets quite
>> > conspicuously, so the claim that network standards and practices had an
>> > objection doesn't seem apt. However, someone on Quora suggested standards
>> > may have been lower for commercials, which I strongly doubt.

>> > So what I'm looking for is any examples of toilets from American TV
>> > PROGRAMS in 1957 or earlier.

>> I don't know if it's true, but I heard about Leave
>> It To Beaver having the first TV toilet long before
>> DVDs were even invented. So it's not a new story.

>Leave It to Beaver had Beaver hiding his pet alligator in the toilet
>tank in the boys' bathroom; I'm not sure if they ever showed the bowl.
>I don't know why this was controversial, but there you are.

>...


Here is a photo of that TV scene: https://tinyurl.com/ypsenbaw

Les

[Michael Trew]

On 11/24/2022 19:14, anim8rfsk wrote:
> A Friend<no...@noway.com> wrote:
>> In article<20221124134255.20cd...@127.0.0.1>,
>> Kerr-Mudd, John<ad...@127.0.0.1> wrote:
>>> On Wed, 23 Nov 2022 16:25:09 -0500
>>> A Friend<no...@noway.com> wrote:
>>>> If memory serves, All
>>>> in the Family was the first to depict a toilet just having been used

I've heard the same sentiment.

>>>> One of the reasons we bought this house is that we are two people, and
>>>> there are two and a half baths.

Seems a bit excessive? My 1,800 sq ft circa 1900 Victorian (sq ft not
including part-finished cellar or finished attic) has precisely one
bathroom. It has the old-English style commode in the water closet, and
the tub and sink in the "bathroom".

>> I should have mentioned for those unfamiliar with the term that a
>> half-bath is a bathroom with a toilet and a sink, but without a tub or
>> a shower.
>
> Not exactly. There are four components to a bathroom. Toilet, sink, tub,
> shower. Any combination of two of those would be a half bath.

From time to time, I hear the phrase "3/4" bath, usually referring to a
shower-only, with commode and sink. For reference, I live in eastern
Ohio-state.

[A Friend]

In article <tm3cpq$22ene$1...@dont-email.me>, Michael Trew

<michae...@att.net> wrote:

> On 11/24/2022 19:14, anim8rfsk wrote:
> > A Friend<no...@noway.com> wrote:
> >> In article<20221124134255.20cd...@127.0.0.1>,
> >> Kerr-Mudd, John<ad...@127.0.0.1> wrote:
> >>> On Wed, 23 Nov 2022 16:25:09 -0500
> >>> A Friend<no...@noway.com> wrote:
> >>>> If memory serves, All
> >>>> in the Family was the first to depict a toilet just having been used
>
> I've heard the same sentiment.
>
> >>>> One of the reasons we bought this house is that we are two people, and
> >>>> there are two and a half baths.
>
> Seems a bit excessive?

No, not that I asked. We've occasionally had one of the bathrooms and
the half-bath down because of plumbing problems. You're free to go
down to the gas station if you like, but we don't care to do that.

> My 1,800 sq ft circa 1900 Victorian (sq ft not including
> part-finished cellar or finished attic) has precisely one bathroom.
> It has the old-English style commode in the water closet, and the tub
> and sink in the "bathroom".
>
> >> I should have mentioned for those unfamiliar with the term that a
> >> half-bath is a bathroom with a toilet and a sink, but without a tub or
> >> a shower.
> >
> > Not exactly. There are four components to a bathroom. Toilet, sink, tub,
> > shower. Any combination of two of those would be a half bath.

A bathroom of any sort will have a toilet in it, or it's not a
bathroom. I've seen small rooms built off gardens for wash-up, but I
wouldn't call that sort of thing a bathroom.

> From time to time, I hear the phrase "3/4" bath, usually referring to a
> shower-only, with commode and sink. For reference, I live in eastern
> Ohio-state.

A "3/4 bath" is a real estate term. It tries to make a half-bath seem
to be a bigger deal than it really is.

[suzeeq]

But a half bath only has a toilet and sink.

[anim8rfsk]

When it gets weird is in real estate listings where they add up the
fixtures so a house that has two full baths and two three-quarter baths and
a half bath will total four baths or five bathrooms.

[Michael Trew]

On 11/28/2022 18:17, A Friend wrote:
> In article<tm3cpq$22ene$1...@dont-email.me>, Michael Trew
> <michae...@att.net> wrote:

>> A Friend<no...@noway.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> One of the reasons we bought this house is that we are two people, and
>>> there are two and a half baths.
>>
>> Seems a bit excessive?
>
> No, not that I asked. We've occasionally had one of the bathrooms and
> the half-bath down because of plumbing problems. You're free to go
> down to the gas station if you like, but we don't care to do that.

Sorry about your plumbing issues, that's unfortunate. I get tree roots
in my terra-cotta sewer lines and have to have them rooted out every 2
years or so. I had a minor back-up doing laundry the other day, so it
looks like it's time again. I might have to invest in my own machine to
do it myself at this rate.

As recently as 15 years ago, I lived in a house with my two parents, and
four younger siblings. All seven of us all shared a single "full"
bathroom. I don't understand the modern craze for more bathrooms than
people.

>> From time to time, I hear the phrase "3/4" bath, usually referring to a
>> shower-only, with commode and sink.
>

> A "3/4 bath" is a real estate term. It tries to make a half-bath seem
> to be a bigger deal than it really is.

What do you consider a bathroom with a shower, commode, and sink (no
tub)? I've been in several houses with a shower-only, and no tub at
all. Do they not have a single "full bath"?

[anim8rfsk]

No. Count the fixtures. If they have three of the four fixtures, they have
a three-quarter bath, no matter what combination of fixtures they have.

[suzeeq]

It counts as a bathroom, one with a tub/shower is a 'full' bath.