So with the recent brouhaha over Dukes of Hazzard, I've seen some people around the Internet suggest that Three's Company be banned for homophobia.

I think these people 1) they have never really watched Three's Company, 2) don't get that Jack was never ashamed to be gay 3) the show actually normalized homosexuality simply by acknowledging that it existed, and 4) the people who made fun of Jack for being gay (like Roper or Furley) were ALWAYS the butt of the joke. The audience was meant to see making fun of gay people made you look like an a$$hole.

The gay stereotyping was played for laughs, which I guess it politically incorrect, but I always felt it was rather subversive humor for the time---again, the people who had a problem with gayness were shown to be silly bigots. We even see Chrissy's strict parents completely condone the living arrangement BECAUSE they think Jack is gay. The entire premise of the show is based on the acceptance of a gay man living with his friends, so being gay is actually a positive.

Also, Roper and Furley actually liked Jack A LOT. They were NEVER out to hurt him or make him feel bad about himself. They always accepted him and treated him as a friend.

So with the recent brouhaha over Dukes of Hazzard, I've seen some people around the Internet suggest that Three's Company be banned for homophobia.

I think these people 1) they have never really watched Three's Company, 2) don't get that Jack was never ashamed to be gay 3) the show actually normalized homosexuality simply by acknowledging that it existed, and 4) the people who made fun of Jack for being gay (like Roper or Furley) were ALWAYS the butt of the joke. The audience was meant to see making fun of gay people made you look like an a$$hole.

The gay stereotyping was played for laughs, which I guess it politically incorrect, but I always felt it was rather subversive humor for the time---again, the people who had a problem with gayness were shown to be silly bigots. We even see Chrissy's strict parents completely condone the living arrangement BECAUSE they think Jack is gay. The entire premise of the show is based on the acceptance of a gay man living with his friends, so being gay is actually a positive.


I can relate to everything that you have written except, I do not know of any recent issues with the "Dukes of Hazzard". Are people saying that it makes fun of country people or people from the South? I would really enjoy learning about such things.

enough with the banning leave classic tv way it is.

I can relate to everything that you have written except, I do not know of any recent issues with the "Dukes of Hazzard". Are people saying that it makes fun of country people or people from the South? I would really enjoy learning about such things.

The Dukes of Hazzard features the General Lee, the car with the Confederate flag on the roof. The show was dropped by TV Land because of the Confederate flag controversy.

So with the recent brouhaha over Dukes of Hazzard, I've seen some people around the Internet suggest that Three's Company be banned for homophobia.

I think these people 1) they have never really watched Three's Company

There you go.

It's like that co-worker of mine who denounced the show as sexist. She later admitted she knew nothing about the show.

There you go.

It's like that co-worker of mine who denounced the show as sexist. She later admitted she knew nothing about the show.

Yeah, I'm sure a lot of people know it only as "jiggle tv," which I think is kind of laughable in today's let-it-all-hang-out culture.

How about they ban reality Television. It deeply offends me.

How about they ban reality Television. It deeply offends me.
I vote to replace all the reality shows with game shows.

Also, Roper and Furley actually liked Jack A LOT. They were NEVER out to hurt him or make him feel bad about himself. They always accepted him and treated him as a friend.


That took about 2 season for both of them lol

season 3 for Roper and season 6 for Furley

It's like that co-worker of mine who denounced the show as sexist. She later admitted she knew nothing about the show.

It's insane that people have formed opinions of shows they've never even seen. They just take something they've heard, and run with it.

For example, people like to rip the mom, June, on Leave It to Beaver because she's seen doing housework in a dress, pearls, and heels. Yet a full 2 decades later, Nancy Dussault's character was vacuuming in a skirt and heels on Too Close for Comfort. Like it's unusual for actors to want to be viewed by millions in nice clothes...!

These shows are enjoyable and innocuous. If people want to read too much into them, or assert that they've somehow damaged how people regard the sexes, they need to forget it -- and turn their attention to more important things, if they really feel the need.

I think that classic tv shows represent certain times in our history.
I'm never for rewriting history.

If you want to be technical some form of "homophobia, racism, sexism, ageism, ect..." has been present in our media since it began. They would have to ban plenty of classic shows and Films.

As a young black kid I LOVED the Duke's or Hazzard, especially The General Lee, just like i loved Chipps and Knight Rider.

I understand not wanting the Confederate Flag in public places but the talk about repainting the General Lee ( i guess it will be now called the General Grant?) is crazy.

Jack only pretended to be gay to stay in the apartment. That was the joke.

For example, people like to rip the mom, June, on Leave It to Beaver because she's seen doing housework in a dress, pearls, and heels. Yet a full 2 decades later, Nancy Dussault's character was vacuuming in a skirt and heels on Too Close for Comfort. Like it's unusual for actors to want to be viewed by millions in nice clothes...!


Leave It To Beaver is another misunderstood show. People thought it was unrealistic, but it was just a funny show. Would it have really made a difference if the mother was in sweats all the time and the setting was in a cramped urban apartment rather than a Suburb?

Leave It To Beaver is another misunderstood show. People thought it was unrealistic, but it was just a funny show. Would it have really made a difference if the mother was in sweats all the time and the setting was in a cramped urban apartment rather than a Suburb?


My mom always said June Clever was all dressed up to go nowhere

The Dukes of Hazzard features the General Lee, the car with the Confederate flag on the roof. The show was dropped by TV Land because of the Confederate flag controversy.


Thank you very much for that very interesting information.

How about they ban reality Television. It deeply offends me.


It seems that everyone I meet from Generation X loves to knock Reality TV. That and Elmo from "Sesame Street" seem to be the two favorite scapegoats of this generation! People will say that Elmo took a very nice children's show about inner city life and made it into the watered down piece of crap that you see today! This whole issue is quite amusing in my opinion!

I agree with BillyBatt....I am not for rewriting history in the arts. I think things like literature, tv, movies, art, etc should retain whatever cultural hallmarks they have to remind us where we are in history and possibly how far we've come. I'm sure one day our grandchildren will watch the Dukes of Hazzard and be shocked at the Confederate flag (as they should be), much like when we read Mark Twain novels and see ugly epithets used in the characters' regular speech. Then again, the Dukes of Hazzard isn't exactly Mark Twain, but I think you get my point.

Three's Company was sexist in some ways, but as a show that came of age in the feminist 70's, it is fun to watch the show transcend some of those attitudes the longer it ran (i.e., introducing Terri as a smart, professional person instead of a dumb blonde, etc). As I said before, some of the gay jokes would not be aired today. But the show was one of the first of its kind to openly acknowledge gay people without condemnation, and it's fascinating to watch the show deal a topic that was then-new on TV and considered edgy material.