Republic of Doyle - Why can't TV set a GOOD example for a change?

Just watched the first episode of the new CBC comedy-drama 'Republic of Doyle' on my PVR (haven't watched live TV since I got this thing, hence haven't seen a TV ad since then either. The fast forward button is your friend.)

The show is set in St. John's Newfoundland, one of my favourite places - thanks largely to Targa Newfoundland, but a scenic setting it is too. Just don't know when they found so many sunny days to shoot it.

It's not bad, actually, if somewhat predictable - OK, so it was just the first episode.

Apparently, the star, head writer and producer Allan Hawco was a big fan of The Rockford Files.

You can hardly tell.

Hawco, playing Jake Doyle as a Private Eye with his father, even drives an old Pontiac, just like Jim Garner (Rockford) did, except this time it's a 1969 Pontiac GTO instead of a Firebird with the dead chicken on the hood.

So yes, this is why the show gets a mention in an automotive blog.

Another reason - actually, the main reason?

Not a seat belt to be seen, anywhere.

The GTO comes screeching around a corner, in a hurry to catch a bad guy or get to the pub or whatever.

Father and son leap out. No belts. No worries.

Come on, people. This is now the year 2010. Belt use has been mandatory for decades now, and Newfoundland's usage rate according to the most-but-not-very-recent (2004) statistics ranks pretty close to (actually, slightly below) the 90 percent national average.

Why is it so hard for TV people to show how the real world works? Especially since these people are playing current or former police officers? Wouldn't you expect them to know better?

I have come to expect this sort of idiocy from American TV shows, although you do occasionally see people buckled up there.

But you'd never see a character smoke a cigarette any more. Sets a bad example for the kids, dontcha know.

So why the hell don't they buckle up?

Comments

[George Murphy]

I remember driving my new 1970 TR 6 home in April 1970 and realizing that there were no seat belts. The dealer installed them the next day. My 1973 Volvo had shoulder belts in front and back and you would have never found them on a 1973 American car. My understanding is that antique cars don't require seat belts if they weren't installed when the car was sold. Yes now they are required, but 1969 was a much different time.

[Richard Allman]

Never see a character smoke anymore, Jim? Obviously your beloved PVR doesn't record Mad Men, possibly the best Drama on TV! Of course they don't wear seatbelts either, but few people did in 1963.

[David White]

When was the last time you saw a Hollywood celebrity riding in the rear seat with a belt on, while talking to the camera? Its a USA phenomena!

[John Frewen-Lord]

Here in the UK, it is very rare indeed to not see a cop, hero, whoever wearing a seatbelt. Even in the heat of a chase scene, as the cops get out to apprehend the suspect, you see them slipping off their fastened seatbelts. And celebs and stars of reality shows are usually (though not always) seen wearing seatbelts in the back seats.

Pity that the same good example doesn't extend as far as smoking - in spite of the fact that less than 25% of the UK population smokes, there seems to be a far higher %age smoking on TV shows. Oh well.