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Peter Jennings' death from lung cancer early this week sparked a new interest in awareness to the Hollywood/smoking connection. We know cigarette ads on TV have been banned since 1971, but back in the '50s and '60s there was a LOT of smoking on television...especially during game shows!
I've Got A Secret was proudly sponsored was Winston cigarettes, while Salem and Camel footed the bill on some nighttime Password episodes in the '60s. I believe Winston also sponsored the Bill Cullen TPIR. Of course, Winston, Salem, and Camel all fall under the R.J. Reynolds banner, and while in Winston-Salem a few weeks ago I didn't see their two plants, but the buildings where they make Hanes underwear as well as Krispy Kreme headquarters.
As for game show hosts, the only time Jack Barry puffed away on Joker's Wild was when the camera wasn't on him. He must've had an ashtray under his podium. But it was Bill Cullen that succumed to lung cancer in the summer of 1990.
I'm sure there have been other relations with smoking and game shows like the ones I mentioned.
Jonathan Allen
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Two for the Money = sponsored by Old Gold
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[quote name=\'johnnya2k3\' date=\'Aug 12 2005, 06:36 PM\']Peter Jennings' death from lung cancer early this week sparked a new interest in awareness to the Hollywood/smoking connection. We know cigarette ads on TV have been banned since 1971, but back in the '50s and '60s there was a LOT of smoking on television...especially during game shows!
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I'm sure there have been other relations with smoking and game shows like the ones I mentioned.
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Smoking was still seen on MG7x/PM/Syndie and the original Squares through their demises in the early 80s. The only smoking on game shows I can recall since then was on MTV: Colin Quinn on Remote Control c. 1987-89 and that angel character puffing on a cigar on Singled Out during the mid 90s cigar craze.
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Was it on I've Got A Secret where the contestents would get the money they earned plus a carton of Winstons? I remember seeing that and being blown away. Also it was funny watching Jackpot Bowling and seeing Uncle Miltie giving a box of Phillies away and telling the bowlers, "Happy Smoking"
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[quote name=\'gwarman2005\' date=\'Aug 12 2005, 07:15 PM\']Was it on I've Got A Secret where the contestents would get the money they earned plus a carton of Winstons?[/quote]
Yep. Except the episode I have on tape has Salem, not Winston.
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Sorta shell shocks ya these days, but again even in the '60s the information wasn't as prevalent. It was, dare I say, hip to smoke on TV. It's a generational thing, I suppose.
And, yeah Bill died of lung cancer in 1990, but Jack's years of smoking aided in his passing if you think about it as well.
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My father died of metastatic lung cancer in 1989 at age 59. He was a heavy smoker. He died a slow and very, very painful death. The cancer consumed him like so many piranha fish. No one deserves to die that way.
To anyone reading this who smokes: quit now. Do whatever it takes. Use whatever modern-day gimmick at your dipsosal to do so, be it patches, gum, hypnosis, black magic, whatever, but quit and quit now.
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[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Aug 13 2005, 02:58 PM\']My father died of metastatic lung cancer in 1989 at age 59. He was a heavy smoker. He died a slow and very, very painful death. The cancer consumed him like so many piranha fish. No one deserves to die that way.
To anyone reading this who smokes: quit now. Do whatever it takes. Use whatever modern-day gimmick at your dipsosal to do so, be it patches, gum, hypnosis, black magic, whatever, but quit and quit now.
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Gee, Chris, that sounds horrible. I'm so sorry to hear that. I hope whoever's reading your post and IS a smoker heeds your sage advice and does so NOW. I think there are too many smokers anymore!
Back to the subject at hand, most likely because I'm NOT a smoker, I have always found it disgusting to see these game shows where the panelists and sometimes host and moderator light up. I understand now that it was the "sociably acceptable" thing to do back then, but I just cannot tolerate it.
A game show which comes to mind which WASN'T sponsored by a cig company is "What's My Line?." In the early days of the run, I have seen (and sat thru), watching Daly and Francis smoking a cig. And I will say that seeing Daly and KNOWING Arlene was smoking probably has contributed to a lack of enjoyment in my watching the show. I can't put a finger on WHY, but shortly after those early eps, I've stopped watching the show. I know, silly reason, but ... oh well.
My question has always been, if folks smoke in their personal life, why can they not go THIRTY minutes out of ONE WEEK without finding the need to do so? I know Dorothy and Bennett both have found the discipline to NOT smoke on TV, so why couldn't Daly and Arlene do so as well??
I used to always love to watch Peter Lawford when he appeared on Password. I thought he was a very good player. I thought Sammy Davis, Jr. was too, and he and Lawford when teamed together were a brilliant pair. But for some reason, whenever the two were together, they usually began smoking. And I *hated* that. I don't believe Lawford would sit there and smoke if he was appearing on the show himself. At least I have never seen that on any of the clips I have -
(I'm referring to the B&W episode here ^^^)
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[quote name=\'MyCapableAssistant\' date=\'Aug 13 2005, 04:18 PM\']I don't believe Lawford would sit there and smoke if he was appearing on the show himself. At least I have never seen that on any of the clips I have -
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Wasn't he puffin' away on that awful Monday Night Quarterback pilot?
(Mind you, after watching that dog, I wished I'D smoked something to make it more tolerable. :))
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[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Aug 13 2005, 05:58 PM\']My father died of metastatic lung cancer in 1989 at age 59. He was a heavy smoker. He died a slow and very, very painful death. The cancer consumed him like so many piranha fish. No one deserves to die that way.
To anyone reading this who smokes: quit now. Do whatever it takes. Use whatever modern-day gimmick at your dipsosal to do so, be it patches, gum, hypnosis, black magic, whatever, but quit and quit now.[/quote]What Chris said. My grandfather died of the same cancer in 1989 as well, at 67. He smoked for 57 years. My grandfather went through a type of hell during his last 6 weeks of life, punishment I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.
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[quote name=\'hmtriplecrown\' date=\'Aug 13 2005, 07:55 PM\'][quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Aug 13 2005, 05:58 PM\']My father died of metastatic lung cancer in 1989 at age 59. He was a heavy smoker. He died a slow and very, very painful death. The cancer consumed him like so many piranha fish. No one deserves to die that way.
To anyone reading this who smokes: quit now. Do whatever it takes. Use whatever modern-day gimmick at your dipsosal to do so, be it patches, gum, hypnosis, black magic, whatever, but quit and quit now.[/quote]What Chris said. My grandfather died of the same cancer in 1989 as well, at 67. He smoked for 57 years. My grandfather went through a type of hell during his last 6 weeks of life, punishment I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.
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Reading those two comments on smoking really makes me glad I quit when I did- I got two brothers who are smoking, and I've been trying to convince my parents to quit (as well as them, of course). It's to no avail, naturally.
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[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Aug 13 2005, 05:58 PM\']To anyone reading this who smokes: quit now. Do whatever it takes. Use whatever modern-day gimmick at your dipsosal to do so, be it patches, gum, hypnosis, black magic, whatever, but quit and quit now.[/quote]
Keith Olbermann is setting aside a bit of Countdown each night in the foreseeable future for a segment on ways to quit smoking. He's personalized it a bit with talk of his own recent cancer scare. Oddly, he seems to have ticked off his boss in the process.
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/335982p-286995c.html (http://\"http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/335982p-286995c.html\")
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Funny how in the TV industry, the mentally ill gravitate toward management. IMO.
My grandfather went through a type of hell during his last 6 weeks of life, punishment I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.
Hell is nicer -- they serve ice water there.
What you describe devastates the cancer patient's family and friends because all they can do is wait around feeling totally, abjectly helpless.
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Years of smoking seemed to have taken a toll on Richard Dawson's voice & delivery in the Nineties shows. Unrelated, but I believe that Dorothy Jo Barker died of lung cancer but I could be mistaken.
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Wow...I don't think I've ever heard Clementson be so totally serious about something. (Not that I'm saying he shouldn't be, mind you.)
One of my grandfathers died of lung cancer, too. I'm glad to say I don't remember it well, as I was 6 at the time, but I understand that for the last several days of his life, he wasn't even able to talk.
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Interestingly how this topic came up when last night I had seen something on MG'7x that puzzled me:
Why was it that on MG, they always allowed/showed Charles Nelson Reilly smoking a pipe when the few times you saw any cigarette smokers (Richard Dawson & Scoey Mitchll come to mind), you'd occasionally see the plumes of smoke left after they took their last drag before the camera was on them?
But only once in a blue moon would you see them openly hold a cig in their hand near their face -- more often if you'd see the cigarette, they were holding it low to the desk either putting it down or snuffing it out.
Not that I favor equal opportunity smoking (I have always been a non smoker), but why would they allow pipes on camera but frown on cigarettes?
And while we are on the topic...What would have been the last game show to regularly allow smoking on camera during normal gameplay -- not including staged bits, comedy or otherwise?
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Three of my four grandparents smoked. Care to guess which one is still alive?
I've always admired people who can conquer that horrible addiction. Dick Clark's "Rock, Roll & Remember" autobiography talks about how he used to smoke and drink pretty heavily at times (great book, BTW, if very dated now...published in 1976).
Anybody know any other hosts besides Clark and Dawson who smoked and were able to quit?
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[quote name=\'bclark71\' date=\'Aug 13 2005, 11:10 PM\']Anybody know any other hosts besides Clark and Dawson who smoked and were able to quit?[/quote]
On Bill Cullen's last TV appearance in 1987 (a Pyramid guest shot) Dick Clark congratulated him on having finally given up smoking. Of course, he would be dead in three years, so it's hard to say this counts...
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[quote name=\'TimK2003\' date=\'Aug 13 2005, 10:09 PM\']
And while we are on the topic...What would have been the last game show to regularly allow smoking on camera during normal gameplay -- not including staged bits, comedy or otherwise?
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Celebrity Blackjack.
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Anybody know any other hosts besides Clark and Dawson who smoked and were able to quit?
Johnny Carson reportedly quit, but apparently too late in life to prevent him from succumbing to emphysema. According to his death certificate he spent the last 10 minutes of his life in respiratory arrest. I don't even want to THINK about what that entails.
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[quote name=\'bclark71\' date=\'Aug 13 2005, 10:10 PM\']
Anybody know any other hosts besides Clark and Dawson who smoked and were able to quit?
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It was reported in TV Guide at the time that Chuck Woolery quit smoking in 1996 around the time he had quadruple bypass surgery.
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Does anyone know whether Lynne Thigpen was a smoker, either while working on the Carmen Sandiego shows (not on camera, of course) or afterward? It wouldn't surpirse me if she had been.
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I think I remember on a few occasions on the 50's panel shows like I've Got a Secret, the contestants or celebrity guests were even asked if they would like to smoke a (insert brand name of cigarette) on the air. I know when Desi Arnaz was the special guest on IGaS with Lucille Ball as a panelist, he was asked if he'd like a Winston.
I do know many that smoke, but now I see way too many underagers smoking. I'm not going to go into a big schtick about smoking here, though.
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[quote name=\'JamesVipond\' date=\'Aug 14 2005, 08:49 AM\']Does anyone know whether Lynne Thigpen was a smoker, either while working on the Carmen Sandiego shows (not on camera, of course) or afterward? It wouldn't surpirse me if she had been.
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Having hung around stage actors for some time, I can say with a certain amount of certainty that Thigpen, who considered herself first a stage actor, was likely to have smoked. Last night the theater company I work with in Chicago wrapped up their weekend festival (not the one I've posted about elsewhere) and although it seems like the number of people standing outside at the cast party smoking is less and less each year, it still happens.
And on the fire doors in the theaters now is a sign saying that they are only to be opened for emergency use--"STANDING IN THE ALLEY SMOKING IS *NOT* AN EMERGENCY USE."
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[quote name=\'wschmrdr\' date=\'Aug 15 2005, 08:03 AM\']I know when Desi Arnaz was the special guest on IGaS with Lucille Ball as a panelist, he was asked if he'd like a Winston.
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But...wasn't their show I Love Lucy sponsored by Philip Morris???
Speaking of Winston...it may have been not a game show, but they also sponsored "The Flintstones." Although it was produced "in living color" (like all other Hanna-Barbera stuff), the show was broadcast in black-and-white.
Jonathan Allen
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Jonathan Allen wrote:
Speaking of Winston...it may have been not a game show, but they also sponsored "The Flintstones." Although it was produced "in living color" (like all other Hanna-Barbera stuff), the show was broadcast in black-and-white.
Not only did Winston sponsor the Flintstones, but they had cartoon commercials which featured Fred and Barney, and Wilma and Betty, huffing and puffing on Winstons and talking about what a great thing it was to smoke.
I've seen these old commercials recently, and folks I showed 'em to, couldn't believe that an early prime time cartoon would show this.
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All this goes to show that smoking back then was as acceptable as (insert something everybody does now that twenty years from now will be discovered to have been hazardous to our health.)
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[quote name=\'geno57\' date=\'Aug 15 2005, 05:29 PM\']I've seen these old commercials recently, and folks I showed 'em to, couldn't believe that an early prime time cartoon would show this.
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And why not? I was always of the mindset that "The Flintstones" was produced more for adults then kiddies.
And wah, wah. I'm sick of people shoving this anti-smoking crap down peoples throats. While I do sympathize with the loss of peoples' loved ones, youth today are fully aware of the consequences of smoking. If they choose to light up, that's their decision.
It shouldn't have had to come to crap like banning tobacco from being involved in sports, and requiring as much bullsh*t as they do. Same goes with fast food and beer. I'm sick of special interest groups getting their way in this country.
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[quote name=\'Modor\' date=\'Aug 15 2005, 04:16 PM\']And wah, wah. I'm sick of people shoving this anti-smoking crap down peoples throats. While I do sympathize with the loss of peoples' loved ones, youth today are fully aware of the consequences of smoking. If they choose to light up, that's their decision.
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Wow.
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Aug 15 2005, 05:27 PM\'][quote name=\'Modor\' date=\'Aug 15 2005, 04:16 PM\']And wah, wah. I'm sick of people shoving this anti-smoking crap down peoples throats. While I do sympathize with the loss of peoples' loved ones, youth today are fully aware of the consequences of smoking. If they choose to light up, that's their decision.
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Wow.
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Hey, I've actually got to agree with Mark here. I'm very VERY anti-smoking, but laws aren't gonna do any good. They'll just be broken. The "Over 18" law doesn't work, let's face it. Adults will just buy cigarettes for the kids. Prohibition was about as worthless as tits on a boar when it came to alcohol. When you get right down to it, it's the smokers decision.
I wholeheartedly sympathize for smokers, especially ailing ones, but trying to force people to stop is a lost cause.
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[quote name=\'whoserman\' date=\'Aug 15 2005, 05:38 PM\']I wholeheartedly sympathize for smokers, especially ailing ones, but trying to force people to stop is a lost cause.
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Hey, I don't care what people do behind closed doors in the privacy of their own home. I care VERY MUCH what they do in public and how it affects the quality of the air I have to breathe too.
I also care about little kids, and if a little kid who would have smoked because someone on TV they thought was "cool" isn't exposed to it, and therefore doesn't smoke, then it's all good with me.
("But what about beer drinking! I suppose you would have that outlawed too?" Yeah. I would.)
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youth today are fully aware of the consequences of smoking
No they're not. With all the anti-smoking publicity and information available these days, it's impossible not to know about the hazards of smoking. Yet young people continue to take up the habit. IMO they are in a state of denial concerning the adverse effects; put another way, they are victims of their own stupidity.
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[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Aug 15 2005, 11:05 PM\']
youth today are fully aware of the consequences of smoking
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How CAN they not be? It's less an issue of people being stupid as they are being stubborn. It's drilled into their heads constantly, by parents and such. Don't tell me that kids don't know the effects of smoking. I did when I started, and quite honestly, I didn't care.
It's not not knowing and being a victim of your own stupidity- IMO, it's knowing and not giving a crap. If you don't honestly know that smoking causes all sorts of problems (especially if you have parents who light up), then I'm sorry to say that something is wrong with you.
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put another way, they are victims of their own stupidity.
I don't know if I'd call it "stupidity," necessarily, but it definitely falls under the teen belief that they are immortal and all the bad stuff that happens to other people won't happen to them because they are young.
I have a younger brother that smoked and is a teenager, and he was fully aware of everything he is doing to himself. His excuse was that he won't have health problems until many years after he started, hence furthering that concept of immortality. He stopped a few months ago mainly because he couldn't afford it, but he saw what it was doing to my father, a chronic smoker who is pretty close to an oxygen tank. BTW, I don't know a single teenager who doesn't know that smoking causes emphysema, lung cancer, adverse birth effects, etc. They just don't think it'll happen to them; it's not until they actually see it happen to people they're close to that the point finally hits home.
Peer pressure and the belief that nothing bad will happen to them will give way to teenage smoking, IMO. I in no way am defending the practice, but, at the same time, calling my brother "stupid" or "ignorant" is not right, either. He was fully aware of the consequences of the decision he made and lived with them.
ObGameShows: Garry Moore smoked frequently on "I've Got a Secret."
Anthony
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[quote name=\'beatlefreak84\' date=\'Aug 15 2005, 08:39 PM\']calling my brother "stupid" or "ignorant" is not right, either. He was fully aware of the consequences of the decision he made and lived with them.
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Okay, so he wasn't ignorant.
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Aug 15 2005, 11:41 PM\'][quote name=\'beatlefreak84\' date=\'Aug 15 2005, 08:39 PM\']calling my brother "stupid" or "ignorant" is not right, either. He was fully aware of the consequences of the decision he made and lived with them.
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Okay, so he wasn't ignorant.
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Damn, Chris, ya beat me to it. :-)
Seriously...yes, Anthony, it is right. I realize you probably don't like the idea of calling your own brother stupid, but...well, in this case, he is.
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[quote name=\'beatlefreak84\' date=\'Aug 15 2005, 10:39 PM\']I don't know if I'd call it "stupidity," necessarily, but it definitely falls under the teen belief that they are immortal and all the bad stuff that happens to other people won't happen to them because they are young.
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And when they're dying and hooked up to tubes and things, some of 'em will be suing the tobacco companies for offering the product to them when all the while it was their choice to start firing up those ciggies---consequences be darned.
Yes, that's what lost us Peter Jennings. And in Peter's own words, "I was weak". He didn't blame others.
Many of you will remember the PSA done by William Talman (who played prosecuting attorney Hamilton Burger on Perry Mason) which ran after his death in the late 1960s. Near death and looking and sounding haggard [Remember: this ran after he passed away], his message would've shaken anybody up. One of the best anti-smoking messages ever. He came right out and said, "Don't be a loser". And it's what made my Dad stop smoking. Which could be a big reason why Dad's still with us.
ObGameShows: Dad tried out for The Who, What Or Where Game in 1972.
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[quote name=\'beatlefreak84\' date=\'Aug 15 2005, 08:39 PM\']I have a younger brother that smoked and is a teenager, and he was fully aware of everything he is doing to himself. His excuse was that he won't have health problems
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Let me add that if I ever caught or heard about my younger brother smoking when he was a teen, he definitely would have had health problems, because I would have kicked his ass myself. :)
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Don, I'm not old enough to have seen the Talman PSA. However, I think many of us did see the Yul Brenner PSA which ran under the same circumstances in the 80s.
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If you haven't seen the William Talman PSA, you can view it here. (http://\"http://www.roadode.com/smoke_1.shtml\")
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[quote name=\'Modor\' date=\'Aug 15 2005, 06:16 PM\'] I'm sick of special interest groups getting their way in this country.
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I realize this thread has left the game-show stratosphere, but here's my .02:
I agree with Modor on all the 'special interest groups' who are in the minority in this country, thinking they can gain fame and fortune if they can get one of their ideas (as unreasonable as it is) forced into our daily lives.
I'd love to see 60-Minutes, or some news organization sit down with the leader of PETA or the ACLU, and have them describe what the country's Utopian society should be in complete detail. After awhile, these groups will start to contradict their own beliefs and soon they will be giving themselves enough slack to hang themselves.
And if that doesn't work, when the current-day majority of America becomes the minority because of the ACLU groups, then they will have to represent us since then *we'll* be in the minority as *our* civil liberties will be violated.
And yes, I favor smoke-free environments in public places. If they want to smoke, have them all huddle together in a little alley away from the rest of us.
"And now, Back to 'Winky Dink & You, with Jack Barry".
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Have you ever noticed that smokers are allowed more work breaks during the day than non-smokers?
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[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Aug 16 2005, 10:26 PM\']Have you ever noticed that smokers are allowed more work breaks during the day than non-smokers?
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The ever popular smoke break, yes. That annoyed me at work. I couldn't take a "pop break" had I wanted to.