Staggering in drunk and letting himself in and out of the cell.

Staggering in drunk and letting himself in and out of the cell.

First, a disqualifier: I watch ZERO contemporary shows, so I have no idea what is considered "permissible" by today's standards. The most recent contemporary shows that I did watch, were Blue Bloods, and Training day.....which I dropped out on both in 2017.

That said, my general impression is that if such a character were allowed today, they would not be allowed to be "happy". They would be required to bare the scars of their failures, for all to see.

Lost time with their children, failures at work or within their standings in the community,
"Redeeming moral content" I believe is the concept. Something to confirm to the viewer that "this is not the way to go" :rolleyes:

Doubtful that such a character would exist today.

Even when the show aired in prime time back in the sixties Otis was a controversial character, with General Foods and CBS executives demanding the character be removed when the show went to color inthe fall of 1965(by that point attitudes towards comedic drunks are started to change) There's a reason after Season 5 Otis only appears in Season 6's Otis the Artist and (I always get the title mixed up with the leagues better Season 2 episode) the season 7 episode that's either called Deputy Otis or Otis the Deputy (like I said the episode where Otis plays the deputy in Season 2 to impress his visiting brother is a much better episode than the Season 7 episode where he spends the episode making Andy angry with the help of Howard. If only Barney were around to see Andy finally not Mollycoddle Otis)

Did playing Otis hurt Hal Smith's career? (https://www.metv.com/stories/did-playing-otis-hurt-hal-smiths-career)

The veteran character actor opened up about it in 1970.