TC and the mob

[vtunie]

One aspect of the show that seems a bit charged politically is the mob as it's depicted twice: with Mr. Bustamente as the "Loan Shark" and as Mr. Cannon in "A Friend in Need". I remember reading somewhere that when the Godfather movies first aired on network TV, around '75 or so, NBC was forced to run announcements during the breaks that the mob is not representative of Italian Americans. The TC episodes are only a few years later. I wonder if they were in any way controversial?

[johntealman]

I can see how Mr. Bustamente can be Italian, but Canon did not look italian at all nor did his last name. There was an episode where Jack teaches an Italian lady to cook and did not have any mob references to it. I think not having any african american roles in the show i smore controversial. I mean you had Felipe for Mexicans, you had some Italians in there too. But no Black or Asians at all. I guess that was Santa Monica then.

[vtunie]

Originally Posted by johntealman

I can see how Mr. Bustamente can be Italian, but Canon did not look italian at all nor did his last name. There was an episode where Jack teaches an Italian lady to cook and did not have any mob references to it. I think not having any african american roles in the show i smore controversial. I mean you had Felipe for Mexicans, you had some Italians in there too. But no Black or Asians at all. I guess that was Santa Monica then.

Yes, I've noticed there were no asians at all.

But there were black guests in the background at just about every party the kids threw. And at the Beagle. And at Jack's Bistro.

Perhaps that doesn't count.

****

Bustamente WAS Italian. Remember his wife?

And about Cannon (Canon?) ... note how he corrected Jack's amen [AY-MEN] to [AH-MEN]. And liked spicy linguini. And spoke with awed respect of his mama ("God rest her soul's linguini" as Janet put it)... I think he was meant to be Italian. But maybe they didn't want to spell it out -- it was two and a half years after the Bustamente episode, and the eighties were sinking in fast.