TV Shows with a political bias

Occasionally, while watching a show, I've picked up on the views of the writers/producers/stars/etc. You know, the little things (and some not so little) in our favorite TV shows that let us know the writers/producers/stars/etc political leanings. Like this:

Show - ER
Scenes - Drs. Lewis and Kovac at Abby's graduation, Dr. Lewis commented on Molly Ivans commencement speech and how great it was. There was also the scene with Dr. Carter and his girlfriend talking to their unborn child, calling him George. Carter compared him to George Washington. His GF mentioned that George is also the name of the current Pres. Carter commented that no name is perfect.
Ruling - Definite slant to the Left

Show - JAG
Scenes - Any scene where Cmdr Rabb discusses his political views
Ruling - Strong slant to the Right

Show - NCIS
Scenes - Any scene with Agent Gibbs in the season finale. (That character has seriously lost it. He actually shot an unarmed man for no good reason.)
Other evidence - Same producer as JAG
Ruling - Strong slant to the Right

Show - Las Vegas
Scene - During the season finale, there was a scene with Danny getting ready to go to Iraq. He was discussing the situation with Nessa, who asked why he'd go, given his disagreement with the war. Danny responded that, if they thought he could save the lives of fellow Marines, it was worth it.
Ruling - Slight slant to the Left

Show - 24
Scene - Shot of campaign headquarters of the opponent of the President. His signs looked a hell of a lot like Kerry's. Also commented about his losing the AFL-CIO endorsement. (There's no way a challenger would ever get that endorsement without being a Dem.)
Ruling - Definite slant to the Right



So, in what shows have you been able to spot a political preference?

The Simpsons

Scenes - The Republican Group Of Evil (With Dracula, And Hitler, Mr Burns And Other Characters Around The Table)
Countless Others, This Season Especially
Ruling - Strong Slant OTo The Left

South Park
Scenes - Just About Every Episode
Ruling - Strong Leaning To The Left

The Daily Show - Obviously Left
Letterman - Getting More Left By The Minute

There's A Few Off The Top Of My Bean.

Edited For Spelling

My friend always used to shout, for no particular reason,

"Jesus saves! But Judas picks up the rebound, he shoots, he SCORES!"

In the voice of Mike Lang, hockey announcer for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Your sig just reminded me of that.

Yeah, Anytime I Play D&D (Pen/Paper Or On The Computer) My Name Is Jesus Nipples - So Whenever I Get A Saving Roll That's How It Reads.

..but Moses invests!

South Park savages the left, too. (For example, the episode about the rain forest, or the one about hate crimes.)

In My Opinion - Did You See The "Gooback" Episode? Basically, It's About People Form The Future Taking The Jobs We Don't Want. (Goobacks/Wetbacks - You Get The Idea) The Episode Portrays The Right And Left In Bad Light, True - But They Always Put The Spin On The Right Being Idiots/Contradictorists Like The Gay Pile Up The Right Was Doing To Make Sure That There Wouldn't Be People In The Future.

Also, Check Out The DVD'S Matt Stone And Trey Parker Make No Bones About Being Leftist

The last two episodes of this season, they absolutely CRUCIFIED Bush and the admin.

They've been pretty balanced over the years - remember the ep where Clinton comes on to Marge and tells her he spends most of his time behind a shed at the White House - but I was absolutely ecstatic when they turned left this season and started lobbing bombs.

Whoppi Goldberg's show on NBC has a left slant, but i just heard they canceled her show.

I don't think 24 has a conservative slant. The AFL-CIO endorsement for Keeler was interesting. However, during Season 1 it was confirmed that President Palmer was a Democrat.

I thought Season 2 was liberal, with the oil companies trying to orchestrate a phony war.

Palmer was one of the favorite "fake Presidents" of Dems everywhere. But this season, it's seemed as if the whole show was a big ad for terrorism awareness and how it's OK to do horrible things if it protects the greater good. Like killing Chapelle. Palmer lying to protect his wife. Jack threatening to expose Saunders' daughter to the virus. Jack murdering Nina. (Yes, he murdered her.) The list goes on. The Keeler stuff was just the most obvious.

It's like FOX decided they needed to try to help Bush out, so they started to put subtle things in the show that might shift things their way.

Much to my chagrin, I watched an episode last night (I think it might have been a repeat) where there was an anti-war activist who was murdered. When his girlfriend was being questioned by the police, she said something about the war being caused by corporations and the government, and craphead Lenny Brisco (Orbach) said "Funny... I thought it was about 9/11 and the attack on the World Trade Center." (Or something to that effect.)

The defendant ended up getting off.... :wtf: I used to like that show.

Always has been.

was that she had no retort. Couldn't she have said "No, THAT was Osama Bin Laden, NOT Saddam Hussein." ??

I really couldn't decide if that was meant to be pro or con. Not necessarily from his character, but from the writers. Maybe a bit of cynicism?

"He was my soul mate, maaaaan."

It was totally making fun of all us dumb liberals who, since we're liberals, must be high all the time and completely wrong about everything.

It was "Funny... I thought it was about 9/11 and three thousand dead Americans."

And no, I'm not shadowing you, LOL (just happened to stumble onto your post) :)

I was so incensed.

West Wing used to be the most reliably liberal show on any network, anywhere. When they canned Aaron Sorkin, it turned into a Bush apologia. I remember the exact moment I stopped watching it... There was supposedly a recession going on, Pres. Bartlett came in to meet with his economic advisors, they gave him advice that was basically what dubya and crew have been doing, and Bartlett (supposedly with a doctorate in economics) had NOTHING TO SAY. No criticisms, no argument, no alternate ideas, nothing. He just walked out. And I turned off the tv.

They killed "my" show. :cry:

Edited to add:

It's not like I didn't see it coming, and I'd been growing increasingly uncomfortable with the right wing talking points that started cropping up in it before that moment... that moment was just the straw that broke the camel, ya know?

How NBC could be SO right wing in it's news and "magazine" shows and yet tolerate airing a liberal show like West Wing. My hubby took it as evidence that the media wasn't really showing political bias, just chasing the money, and that as long as WW gave them good ratings they were happy to air it.

Another "you're imagining things" theory bites the dust.

For starters, look at the defendants. Rarely do you get some punk-ass kid shooting another punk-ass kid. The accused on "Law and Order" are typically of an income level that would make them strong candidates for Bush's Pioneers.

That being said, the writers seem to be more interested in telling a good story -- the Serena/Jack debates over the death penalty are the closest they get to political commentary, and the debates are typically a draw.

I think the show is pretty well-balanced.

:)

Are you saying it isn't liberal anymore? It sure strikes me as such.

And I mean REALLY right-wing...

(especially TOS and TNG), DS9 and VOY are more moderate. The Federation seems to be a democratic socialist type government.

not sure if it counts since you're mentioning dramas and sitcoms and Quinn's show is in its own category: stupid TV. Quinn usually gives an incoherent rambling "monologue" which is rightwing. His guests are largely rightwing. Mostly, the show is juvenile and annoying. I don't know why Quinn is such a freeper. I think he, like Bush, needs the persona of a "tough guy" since they're both awkward and inept. And for some bizarre reason, they believe being neaderthal freepers constitutes masculinity. Both Quinn and Bush come off as little boys in way over their heads. They both look frightened most of the time.

The hell with him, the reason SNL canned him is because he RUINED Weekend Update, a task I didn't think was possible. He's just such an awkward jackass that everything he touches turns to shit instantly.

I was a stand-up (professionally amateur) for 10 years and I hung out with headliners, nobodies and everybody in between and most were leftist, if they leaned at all. The comics I knew tended to be, either avowedly or unknowingly, centrist; humor is non-partisan.

And yet here's Quinn's show in which virtually every comic seems to lean more right than left and the lefties are almost exclusively caricatures of foppish "fairies". Christ, Nick Depaolo could sub for Hannity should the need ever arise.

Don't make no damn sense.

I think that they try to split it right down the middle. The gist of the show is that Jack Bauer is trying to do what is best for the COUNTRY- even if it means busting a cap in his boss's head.
Politically, there are some clues that indicate that they try their best to split it down the middle:

1. Palmer is attempting to pass a health care bill when he is blackmailed by Milliken. (possibly left)
2. Palmer pledged to cut CTU funding early in the first season (could go either way)
3. Jack invokes the Patriot act when interrogating Jane Saunders (right)

I'm aware of the Keeler=Kerry resemblence, but I still think they go out of their way not to lean one way or the other.

and has been shown to be the moral center of the show (though he's taken several hits to that this season). Bauer does some things you could interpret as right wing, but most of his acts are explainable under the "ticking bomb" exception.

So disappointed, btw, that RFK Noir wasn't killed. What a weasel.

leaned rather left back in his Quantum Leap days

because they had a bit of a left-lean to them.

An entire season's subplot was Larry being able to make good on his wife's offer to let him have a one-night stand on their 10th anniversary. After a season of misfires and almosts, he's in a clinch with the woman of his carnal dreams, but stops when he sees her pic of W. on her dresser.

LOL!!! Larry David for Veep!

shows routinely have Gay and Lesbian couples for the home makeovers. The wedding and dating shows frequently have interracial couples. I don't watch those very much so I don't know if the dating or wedding show have ever had a gay or lesbian couple.