Quincy “Punk Rock” Episode

I long for the days when mainstream dramatic television made a point of lecturing its viewers. Owing much to the ideology of government-issued “educational” films of the previous two decades, producers and networks, mainly during the glut of dramas that appeared during the late 70’s/early 80’s, would often take a schoolteacher’s stance on a hot-button issue, almost always resulting in unintentional comedy of the highest order when viewed years later. Drugs were the most common topic, and I will soon post clips from CHIPS and The Incredible Hulk to illustrate this, but, far and away, the best example of television producers existing in an inpenetrable cultural bubble is the legendary Quincy Punk Episode (mp4).

The episode aired in December 1982, five years after the disbanding of the Sex Pistols and almost three since The Clash carved punk’s epitaph with London Calling. Punk had moved underground, and wouldn’t rear its head again on a national level until 1991. Mainstream record buyers had much preferred scene-dwellers Blondie, and followed the band and the synthetic new-wave sound it helped found to the Top 40.

However, there was a documentary released in 1981 about the Los Angeles punk music underground called The Decline of Western Civilization. Directed by Penelope Spheeris, it charted the course of legendarily volatile west coast punks The Germs, Black Flag, The Circle Jerks, and Fear. Instead of viewing the film with a critical eye toward its ethnographic underpinnings, most took the title of the film as literal and saw it as a cautionary tale about, well, you know.

The latter group of Decline viewers no doubt included the producers of Quincy, who created an entire episode about the deleterious effects of, you guessed it, punk music. The story centers on a stabbing that occurs during a concert by punk band “Mayhem” which looks and sounds much more death metal than punk, but I digress. There is much moralizing, and when Quincy takes the stage to lecture the kids, hilarity ensues. Some quotes (contained in the clip):

“If I knew where that girl was, I sure as hell wouldn’t tell a cop. ‘Cause that’s all you are, man, is a dog without a uniform.”

“That’s a crock, mister. You think we’re all zombie killers!” followed by: “You’re the killers! Your whole sick society!”

Find more clips here.

Filed under: Clash  punk rock  Quincy  Sex Pistols  The Decline of Western Civilization  TV