Smoking in TV and Movies

I picked the television forum, because I see smoking on TV more than in movies. For a long time, except for in documentaries and period pieces, it seemed that people smoking cigarettes almost disappeared.

In the last year, every time I turn the TV on, there are people smoking. This includes TV, movies and even news shots of celebrities.

One good thing I noticed is that on a rare occasion, I see someone on TV or in a movie smoking an electronic cigarette, a much healthier choice.

I changed to vaping in October of 2012, but I am not unhappy with those who smoke analog cigarettes, it is their choie. In my home when a visitor asks "do you mind if I smoke?" I always say I do not mind. If I am having a gathering of 3 or more people and they are all smoking I sometimes say , "Can we all step out on the porch?" I have a large porch with comfortable outdoor furniture. The smell doesn't bother me that much, but the smoke can bother my eyes if a room gets full of it.

So, now that I have established that I am not an 'angry former smoker', I am wondering about the increase of smoking on TV.

It runs the gambit from characters that seem to be casual smokers- like Fiona on 'Shameless' to people on the same show who are constantly lighting up.

On The Walking dead, 2 characters are almost always smoking. I grant that, in a zombie apocalypse, it wouldn't really matter too much.

In movies, people often smoke, in modern time set movies.

I am wondering if the Tobacco industry is pushing this as many have quit, are using gum/patches or have changed to vaping. Is there money changing hands to write smoking into scripts?

a reply to: reldra

That is an interesting theory about the tobacco industry almost encouraging it.
It wouldn't surprise me if money was changing hands. It would really surprise me if the old advertising began slipping back in again.
Seems reasonable in this crazy world...

Thanks for the picture of Norman Reedus!

originally posted by: TNMockingbird
a reply to: reldra

That is an interesting theory about the tobacco industry almost encouraging it.
It wouldn't surprise me if money was changing hands. It would really surprise me if the old advertising began slipping back in again.
Seems reasonable in this crazy world...

Thanks for the picture of Norman Reedus!

welome)

I spent 4 hours in a casino today.
Believe me when I say that there is no lack of smokers.

originally posted by: Bluntone22
I spent 4 hours in a casino today.
Believe me when I say that there is no lack of smokers.

Well, all that are left usually go to the 'smoking floor' or area of a casino. I have a multi floor one near me and one floor allows smoking. It would appear that there a lot, but that is only one building.

Most people I know have quit or are trying to change over to vaping as other methods didn't work. It is so expensive, even if one buys cigarettes at an Indian reservation, the cost becomes prohibitive to smoke as one once did.

a reply to: reldra

This one had an amazing non existitant barrier to stop the smoke from entering the non smoking section.
Let's say it didn't work to well.

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: reldra

This one had an amazing non existitant barrier to stop the smoke from entering the non smoking section.
Let's say it didn't work to well.

better than the past when there was no sectioning of any kind. people lived through smoking and non smoking sections in restaurants.
Then places like Denny's spent thousands on separate, sealed rooms with air filters, which should have solved it, but some non smokers were still angry with that.

Then the lawmakers talked of the 'poor bar workers'. The 'poor bar workers' begged for those laws to not be passed as they know they would lose customers and tips.

But , we digress.

a reply to: reldra

Can't say I've seen a change due to watching only VHS tapes on an old tv.

I'm thinking the actors are just smokers and work better smoking and get to. Also, I'm speculating since the increased media and political attention on smoking pot within the last 4 years or so, those who don't smoke cigs but smoke the other, where many claim to be health nuts, produce plumes of smoke that have a strong odor. The smell of cig smoke and pot smoke both being stinky has maybe created some common ground with actors and the crew where no one's ashamed to hide behind a building and smoke a cig anymore or they need cigs as a cover for the joint they really need and there's a strain that isn't stinky where cigs can mask the smell. Who knows?

Smoking is such a fun little toy for a writer.
You can use it in so many ways.

Want to portray the character as ....
A bad boy rebel?
A sub culture misfit?
A perplexed and troubled soul?
A hard working normal Joe?
A old regretful person?
A hero or heroine that has normal flaws?
An idiot teenager?

I could go on and on.

I can tell you that after 30 years in the TV business I have never even heard of a writer being paid to put cigarettes into a script or character.

They are simply tools to convey a story or the attitude of a character.

If all you see is smoking you're missing the point.

originally posted by: WhiteWingedMonolith
a reply to: reldra

Can't say I've seen a change due to watching only VHS tapes on an old tv.

I'm thinking the actors are just smokers and work better smoking and get to. Also, I'm speculating since the increased media and political attention on smoking pot within the last 4 years or so, those who don't smoke cigs but smoke the other, where many claim to be health nuts, produce plumes of smoke that have a strong odor. The smell of cig smoke and pot smoke both being stinky has maybe created some common ground with actors and the crew where no one's ashamed to hide behind a building and smoke a cig anymore or they need cigs as a cover for the joint they really need and there's a strain that isn't stinky where cigs can mask the smell. Who knows?

The cigarettes you see on tv are actually an herbal blend. There's lots of info on the net about this in regard to the show Madmen. But it makes it look like cigarettes for viewers, especially teens.

Since you are watching mainly VHS, you wouldn't have seen the increase in the last few years.

originally posted by: tvtexan
Smoking is such a fun little toy for a writer.
You can use it in so many ways.

Want to portray the character as ....
A bad boy rebel?
A sub culture misfit?
A perplexed and troubled soul?
A hard working normal Joe?
A old regretful person?
A hero or heroine that has normal flaws?
An idiot teenager?

I could go on and on.

I can tell you that after 30 years in the TV business I have never even heard of a writer being paid to put cigarettes into a script or character.

They are simply tools to convey a story or the attitude of a character.

If all you see is smoking you're missing the point.

At one point, there was DEFINITELY payment by the tobacco industry for actors or actresses to smoke their brand of cigarette. I am not sure if it ended or just went secret. Entire TV shows were sponsored by a brand of cigarette and it would say 'X show brought to you by X cigarette, the one Doctors recommend" or something to that effect.

Later, that was banned. Later, any ads for cigarettes on TV were banned. Later than that, smoking on TV became less and less.


There are reasons for writers, but for a long time almost no one was smoking on TV and it has changed . Almost going back to when all smoked on TV. I see characters on TV smoking where their character would not benefit for it either way in regard to their personality or storyline.

a reply to: reldra

Advertising will always find a way. When I was a kid they removed ads from bill boards, magazines and newspapers, but they were still smoking in movies and on TV. They replaced TV ads with anti smoking ads (also advertising), then when that ran out, they started with the vaping, now its back to characters in moves and TV, again?

Round and round they go. Money, money…

When I was a kid they had bubble gum cigarettes, we brought packs to school and passed them out in class, everyone 'pretended' to smoke.

a reply to: reldra

So as an observer and consumer of television you know that because you saw a program from the 50's that was sponsored by a tobacco company they must surely be involved in any smoking we see now?

I find that hilarious.

Pareidolia? Or maybe...
SMOKEIDOLIA?

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: reldra

Advertising will always find a way. When I was a kid they removed ads from bill boards, magazines and newspapers, but they were still smoking in movies and on TV. They replaced TV ads with anti smoking ads (also advertising), then when that ran out, they started with the vaping, now its back to characters in moves and TV, again?

Round and round they go. Money, money…

When I was a kid they had bubble gum cigarettes, we brought packs to school and passed them out in class, everyone 'pretended' to smoke.

I remember those.

It seems the have found a way.

originally posted by: tvtexan
a reply to: reldra

So as an observer and consumer of television you know that because you saw a program from the 50's that was sponsored by a tobacco company they must surely be involved in any smoking we see now?

I find that hilarious.

Pareidolia? Or maybe...
SMOKEIDOLIA?

NO, I was answering you when you said in all your 30 years of experience you had not heard of this.

I am saying they might be as their sales are dropping and smoking on TV and movies has increased over the last say, 3 years, by a lot.

a reply to: reldra

Roadside BillBoard ad…

Ad

Look familiar?

chewing gum cigarettes for kids

a reply to: reldra

For nearly 30 years smoking from movies, tvs and live shows were banned by the FCC. Thats why we didnt see it unless something from the 30s-40s-50s-60s and a bit in the 70s.

In the last few years the tobacco industry has fought back on the basis of fair trade, and the gov has backed down a bit.

a reply to: tvtexan

That's interesting, because just last night, while reading Weed The People by Bruce Barcott, I learned that Barry McCaffery (Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) under President Bill Clinton from 1996 to 2001) funneled upward of $25 million in a "clandestine" program to have anti drug messages added into popular shows. He wanted to have marijuana users portrayed in a negative light on shows such as Beverly Hills 90210, 7th Heaven, The Drew Carey Show and Chicago Hope.

originally posted by: reldra
I picked the television forum, because I see smoking on TV more than in movies. For a long time, except for in documentaries and period pieces, it seemed that people smoking cigarettes almost disappeared.

In the last year, every time I turn the TV on, there are people smoking. This includes TV, movies and even news shots of celebrities.

One good thing I noticed is that on a rare occasion, I see someone on TV or in a movie smoking an electronic cigarette, a much healthier choice.

I changed to vaping in October of 2012, but I am not unhappy with those who smoke analog cigarettes, it is their choie. In my home when a visitor asks "do you mind if I smoke?" I always say I do not mind. If I am having a gathering of 3 or more people and they are all smoking I sometimes say , "Can we all step out on the porch?" I have a large porch with comfortable outdoor furniture. The smell doesn't bother me that much, but the smoke can bother my eyes if a room gets full of it.

So, now that I have established that I am not an 'angry former smoker', I am wondering about the increase of smoking on TV.

It runs the gambit from characters that seem to be casual smokers- like Fiona on 'Shameless' to people on the same show who are constantly lighting up.

On The Walking dead, 2 characters are almost always smoking. I grant that, in a zombie apocalypse, it wouldn't really matter too much.

In movies, people often smoke, in modern time set movies.

I am wondering if the Tobacco industry is pushing this as many have quit, are using gum/patches or have changed to vaping. Is there money changing hands to write smoking into scripts?

The re-emergence of smoking on TV and in the movies is a demonstration of the power of big business and the tobacco industry in particular.

I only wonder if the legislation of dope in some states in the US was a factor in this.

a reply to: tvtexan

Beat me to it.
I was going to say that its normally an unpleasant person or someone the audiences is not supposed to sympathise with.
You may know about "product placement".
Instead of having to invent a fictitious brand of beer for every shot they can now use real names (usually very well known ones). I'm not sure who pays who for the exposure but everyone likes to drink what their heroes drink....right???
Maybe the tobacco industry has an interest in this.
Maybe not.
Maybe its just too unrealistic to have movies where no body swears, farts or smokes.