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What nonbelievers do you remember from TV growing up? The ones that stand out to me are Hawkeye Pierce and Dr. Gregory House.

azzow2 9 July 1
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39 comments (26 - 39)

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2

I remember having to be sneaky in order to catch a couple episodes of Carl Sagan's Cosmos when I was little because I wasn't allowed to watch it. It had anti-religious undertones. I didn't actually get the opportunity to watch the whole thing until I was an adult, moved out, & bought the series.

1

Star Trek. The original series. All the civilizations evolved past all that.

Trying to think Next Generation think the Q might have been.

@azzow2 I think Roddenberry was an athiest, wasn't he?

@Freespirit64 [startrekdom.blogspot.com] This I did not know was refreshing to learn something new Thank You

1

It is a sticky wicket to have non believers on TV figure how it was to get gay people out in the open

1

Red Foxx, from Sanford and Son and Carl Sagan.

1

There was a very long running local variety/comedy show in AZ called the Wallace and Ladmo show. As far as I remember they never took any stance either for or against religion.

They were pretty irreverent. I well remember Pat McMahon dressed in drag as Aunt Maud in one of his many character roles hitting on the local cop doing PSAs for the show. It turned into a running joke with the cop horribly embarrassed every time he came on. Ha, ha.

RCC Edit: Since @LiterateHiker mentioned Fractured Fairy Tales. W&L also often featured a lot of cartoons aimed as much at adults as children. Fractured Fairy Tales, Roger Ramjet, Super Chicken, George of the Jungle and others were some of my favorites. Thanks for the reminder.

@RichCC
You're welcome.

2

Growing up on a lake in Michigan, I didn't watch much TV. Too busy swimming, sailing, ice skating, playing flute and reading, my passion.

I remember laughing with my father at "Fractured Fairy Tales." Dad thought it was hilarious. So did I. As a family, we enjoyed the wonderful, wacky, "The Carol Burnett Show."

As a professional jazz trumpet player, Dad loved the goofy, wild band on "Sesame Street."

Uninterested in television, I never bought a TV nor paid for cable. Over the years, two people got me a TV, believing I was culturally deprived. I just use it for Netflix movies.

To watch Masterpiece Theatre shows like the beloved "Downton Abbey" and "Call the Midwife," I join an elderly friend at her house on Sunday evenings.

1

Karl Marx, nothing is more real than Real Life, otherwise is... made up.

3

Michael and Gloria Stivic from All in the Family come to mind. I remember the show where Archie snuck the new Stivic baby into a church to secretly baptize him, and really pissed off atheist mom and dad.

I don't think he actually told them though.

And he crept into the church and did it himself.

@BufftonBeotch yeah, you're right, the fight over the baptism precipitated Archie's sneaky christening ceremony.

1

I've seen several references here to the original Star Trek series, but it wasn't quite as atheistic or agnostic as people remember. In particular, in the episode "Who Mourns for Adonis," the crew meets Apollo (a powerful alien being, but the same entity from Greek antiquity) who captures them and wants their worship. This exchange takes place:

APOLLO: But you're of the same nature. I could sweep you out of existence with a wave of my hand and bring you back again. I can give life or death. What else does mankind demand of its gods?
KIRK: Mankind has no need for gods. We find the one quite adequate. [emphasis mine]

I suspect Kirk's qualifier was tossed in to appease audiences, and the studio, as being too obvious about atheism in 1967 was probably bad for viewership. Today's sci-fi audience is pretty accepting, I think, but 50 years ago it was a different matter. For the most part, they just didn't reference religion or theistic views at all.

Nimoy was and Shatner is Jewish.

Not that that is really important.

Might win a bet though.

Yeah, plenty of god themed stuff on the original Star Trek.

4

Brian Griffin on Family Guy, even though he’s a cartoon dog!

Seth MacFalane does that in his natural voice.

4

Bill..... Nye...... the science guy. Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill!

2

The Doctor. I loved (and still do) how often he'd (and hopefully she'd) show mystical and/or religious drivel to really be nothing more than misapprehended science.

1

Gilligan, the Skipper made him read the bible every day before he had his coconut milk.

2

Samantha from" Bewitched " Christians burned witches, so I'm sure she was not a fan of organised religion.

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