Flipper's bad. Lisa Simpson is a role model. Lassie's in a category all its own. And the show Friends, well, shame on them. That's the word from Beverly Kaskey, Senior Director of the Hollywood branch of the Humane Society of the United States, when it comes to the best and worst on TV in terms of raising awareness of animal issues. After producing the Genesis Awards, Kaskey gave Fancast her picks (listed below in no particular ranking), and explained why:
Best
The Simpsons: “Lisa the Vegetarian”- Although the seminal comedy series, watched by millions around the world, has won several Genesis Awards, this powerful episode stands out, with Lisa making the connection between the lamb chops on her plate and the lamb she had befriended earlier and refusing to eat her dinner.
CSI: ‘Unbearable” - To great dramatic effect, this ground-breaking episode took the lid off several egregious and lesser known animal issues: the so-called “sport” of canned hunting, the surplus zoo animal trade and the bear bile trade, which involves either the farming or hunting of bears for their gall bladders.
The Practice: “Food Chains” and “Small Sacrifices” - Producer and writer David E. Kelley brought his provocative talent for social commentary to these episodes about the use of chimpanzees, our closest relatives, in medical research, and the hypocrisy of opposing religious animal slaughter when viewed alongside the cruelty of factory farming.
Magnum P.I.: This popular 80s series devoted an entire episode to a dolphin rescue, making it a winner at the 1st Genesis Awards in 1986. Enlightened statements about marine mammals were made throughout, with Magnum actually declaring “it’s wrong to kill whales” – sadly, 22 years later, that message still applies.
Ellen: In her distinctively personal comedy series, Ellen DeGeneres took on the cruelty of hunting, cooking lobsters and even defended small insects - all in one season .
(Where's Lassie? Kaskey said the series falls into its own All-Time Best category "for celebrating the human-animal bond, and teaching respect for companion animals long before there was an animal protection movement.")
Worst
Survivor: Killing animals or reveling in doing unspeakable things to dead animals became an unfortunate hallmark of certain Reality TV shows. In one infamous episode – and there were many - contestants were required to behead a rooster and stab to death a squealing pig. The frenzy ended with one contestant smearing blood on his face.
Fear Factor: Also became a repeat Reality TV offender with its gross-out challenges, involving the general debasement of animals and their body parts, and the frequent, sadistic killing of live insects.
Flipper: This was a series that did much to endear dolphins to mass audiences, revealing their remarkable intelligence and extraordinary personalities. But, sadly, it popularized dolphins in negative way, creating an increase in wild dolphin captures to meet the demands of marine parks and swim-with-programs.
Friends: “The One With The Ball” - In this classic example of irresponsible pet ownership, Rachel purchases a hairless “sphinx” cat, then tires of the ridicule, and instead of finding a good home for her unwanted pet, she takes to the streets trying to sell the cat to anyone who’ll take him. This episode rounded out its disregard for animals with another character shooting a noisy bird because his early morning chirping annoys him!
The Drew Carey Show: In a 2001 episode, Drew’s animal activist girlfriend is maliciously ridiculed for her concern for animals, sending an implicit message that animal-welfare is a joke and that animals just don’t matter.