Show Business: 1,000 Times No

Most TV drama is atrociously written, but considering the obstacles, it is remarkable that any of it gets written at all. Testifying before the FCC last week, the elders of the advertising profession reported on the infinitely detailed sponsors' commandments that govern TV's script carpenters. Samples:

¶McCann-Erickson for Liggett & Myers (Chesterfields, L & Ms): "No portrayal of pipe or cigar smoking or chewing . . . While we do not want to create an impression of one continual, smoke-filled room, from time to time in the shows we feel 'natural' smoking action is...

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