123Home123 started an idea in the TV.com Ideas forum about users being able to write articles about TV history events. He also started a thread for the meantime, and I wrote an article for my favorite type of show, 1960s sitcoms. I felt possibly a little bit bad writing it since I wasn't around in the 60s, but people write about the Civil War and such when they weren't around either. Here it is.
The Escapism of Television in the 1960s in America
Fictional television shows, particularly situation comedies, have generally had the purpose of providing entertainment throughout the history of television. However, the 1960s were perhaps the years with the biggest amount of escapism.
America was under a significant amount of pressure during the decade. The Cold and Vietnam Wars were in full swing; World War II had ended relatively recently; the Civil Rights Movement took off; well-loved President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963; and rock-and-roll music, illegal drugs, and other liberations all contributed to counter-culture.
Some of the popular family sitcoms of the 1950s, such as Leave It to Beaver and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, finished their runs during the 60s. Others, such as My Three Sons, started. However, a large number of novel concepts began.
CBS received the appellation of "The Hillbilly Network" due to its large collection of rural sitcoms: The Andy Griffith Show (set in fictional small town Mayberry, North Carolina) and its two spin-offs, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. and Mayberry R.F.D.; and The Beverly Hillbillies and its two related series, Petticoat Junction and Green Acres (both set in the insane fictitious farming community Hooterville). Some of these were extremely silly, particularly The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres.
Fantasies also became quite common. There was a show about a talking horse (Mister Ed), one about a genie living with an astronaut (I Dream of Jeannie), and even one about a flying nun (The Flying Nun).
The concepts for most of the sitcoms were unrelated to the turbulence of society. However, there were a few connections between the ridiculous escapism and some societal events.
Most shows had at least one episode featuring the rock-and-roll of the 1960s. One series, The Monkees, even used it as its basis. These episodes often featured hippie culture and/or psychedelic trips.
Kennedy died in November of 1963. The next television season, the one that began in 1964, was perhaps the one with the most blatant escapism. Gilligan's Island, a show about seven unlikely people stranded on an island with threats such as a mad scientist and invisibility; The Munsters, a show about a family of undead ghouls; Bewitched, about a witch married to a mortal; The Addams Family, about a family who delighted in torture devices and other dark things; and Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., about the goofiest character of The Andy Griffith Show in the Marines, all premiered. A more light-hearted escapist piece, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, also premiered during the Christmas season of 1964.
A few war pieces made their way into episodes. Many shows featured Russian spies, diplomats, or other villains from the area raising suspicions and causing trouble, reflecting the attitudes of the Cold War. Grandpa on The Munsters once jokingly mentioned shipping someone off to Vietnam. World War II also occasionally came into play, such as the story of how Oliver and Lisa Douglas met on Green Acres, and an oblivious Japanese sailor on Gilligan's Island, who was unaware the war was over. This was perhaps a manner of coping with the traumatic influence of WWII after it had been over for some time.
Although it might have seemed insignificant to television, the turbulence of the 1960s contributed directly and indirectly to the series and episodes of comedies of the era. The escapist nature of the shows makes them extremely light-hearted and fun to watch.
Sources: TV.com, whitehouse.gov
Edited slightly for content based on input from other users.