One of the Most Percipient Sitcom Episodes of All Time: The Call Against Censorship

WKRP in Cincinnati, Episode 2, "Clean Up Radio Everywhere" 

A league of decency comes to see Mr. Carlson. They object to indecent language--swear words and such--used in the lyrics of the rock-n-roll songs played on the station. They want WKRP to pull those songs.

Mr. Carlson is a decent, fundamentally conservative man. This is the same guy who pulled the funeral ad account in Season 1 for being "tasteless." He understands the league's objections and initially agrees, over the protests of his DJs and program director.

The league begins to make more and more demands. When Carlson protests, the group begins to boycott his advertisers. Travis, his program director, is incensed, but Carlson quietly and evenly points out that in a capitalistic democracy, the league has the right to bring commercial power to bear. It has the right to be heard, just like any other group.

And Carlson has the right to back his principles. He changes his mind about the league when the leader objects to the song "Imagine" by John Lennon. Now, I am myself not a huge fan of "Imagine" (The world that Lennon imagines sounds like a world run by robots--and not the fun kind). But I will protect its right to be aired, etc. etc. This is Carlson's position. He perceptively points out that the league has moved from wanting to censor specific words to demanding the removal of specific ideas that don't agree with its ideology.

In one of the most level-headed, commonsense speeches about free speech ever given, Carlson states the following:

Aside from stirring a whole lot of people up and making an old man [advertiser] feel like a coward, I'll be darned if I can figure out anything else that has been accomplished by all this . . . I'm not sure that giving up my freedom of decision is God's side . . .  Watch out for those broadcasters who caved in to your pressure because principles won't mean a darn thing to them . . . oh, they'll come and sit at your table. But I think the good ones will be the ones who are willing to take a loss and put up a fight . . . I hope [you'll be able to love your enemies] because I don't think you'll be able to trust your friends.

The point where Carlson balks is the point these days where the true libertarians (the old-fashioned liberals) also balk: protests which began by focusing on language (expletives) move to censoring exchanges of ideas ("Imagine"). The group that began by using "democracy" as its argument, ends by narrowing the world to a single "righteous" vision determined by self-anointed elites. In today's world, such protests and censorship come as much, if not more, from the left than from the right. WKRP saw it coming.