By the 70s, virtually all sitcoms had an episode or two that dealt with serious issues like prejudice, drunk driving, teenage pregancy and the like. But what was the first to do so? I vaguely remember reading about an episode of the Ann Sothern show that dealt with treatment of American Indians; could this be the first or where there ones before it?

I suppose it was an episode of "Leave It To Beaver", where the Beav discovers a friendly handy man has a drinking problem.

Usually, though, I can't stand "socially relevant" sitcoms. It's usually just code for liberal propaganda.

I don't know if they'd qualify, but in the late-50s/early-60s, it seemed like a lot of sitcoms had an episode in which they'd introduce a Japanese character, and show a brief clash of cultures, followed by a gradual understanding. I occasionally got the feeling that these episodes were somewhat calculatedly made to promote goodwill. That is, to offset some of the lingering grudges many Americans still felt after WW2 and losing loved ones and such. Maybe this constitutes socially conscious fare, maybe not.

Generally, I loathe the type of socially conscious fare that became the norm in the 1970s. I always felt a reactionary irritation when I sensed that a show was trying to "manipulate" me, and/or underhandedly push a platform of some kind. Even if the message was a genuinely 'positive' message, I just innately bristled at that sort of thing. It always seemed to come across condescendingly to me, and left me annoyed and irritated.