1981 Letter to TV Guide

[MGH]

~ I never cared which television pro-
grams my two little girls watched until I
caught them imitating The Three Stooges
by hitting each other with plates of whip-
ped cream. I suppose children are
amused by "pie-in-the-face" slapstick,
but should they really be allowed to watch
things like that?

[boblipton]

You think they should be doing eye pokes?

Bob

[Hal Erickson]

That particular letter began circulating around 1960 in TV Guide and similar publications. Though there were variations, the body of the letter was almost always the same: I caught my two kids hitting each other, whereupon they replied "The 3 Stooges do it, mommy."
Another effort by well-meaning fatheads to start a grass-roots movement against a perceived evil.
Something like this recently happened with several letters-to-the-editors condemning those who criticize Barack Obama, all with different signatures, that turned out to be written by the same person.

[Bob Birchard]

That particular letter began circulating around 1960 in TV Guide and similar publications. Though there were variations, the body of the letter was almost always the same: I caught my two kids hitting each other, whereupon they replied "The 3 Stooges do it, mommy."
Another effort by well-meaning fatheads to start a grass-roots movement against a perceived evil.
Something like this recently happened with several letters-to-the-editors condemning those who criticize Barack Obama, all with different signatures, that turned out to be written by the same person.

Well this technique is used all the time. When I worked in the L.A. office of the Committee to Re-Elect the President in 1972, Republican "truth squads" consisted of volunteers coming in, copying pre-written letters in their own handwriting, signing them, and sending them off to newspaper editors, rival poiticians, and radio and TV news directors. There was a whole room and several tables devoted to this sort of "grassroots" effort.
The goal of this sort of campaign is to rouse the rabble with an emotional appeal. Most of the time such campaigns go nowhere, but every once in awhile one catches on. "Imitatable behavior" has become a catchphrase in children's programming--but if movies and TV really had the sort of impact on untrained minds that the anti-Stooge movement claimed, there would be food fights daily at the local Burger King, and Marie Calendar would have to raise the price of pies to insure there would be some for eating and not just for throwing.

[Rob Farr]

Bob? You worked for CREEP?

[Bob Birchard]

Bob? You worked for CREEP?

Hate to say it these days, but I was the California State Radio News Coordinator for the Committee to Re-Elect the Preseident--a high-falutin' title that came with a $200 a week salary--and a whole lot of rubber chicken dinners. I replaced Larry Carroll, who left to become one of the first black reporters on KABC-TV. The experience definitely soured me on politics in general, though it did give me an insider's understanding of how the game is played.