ABSTRACT
Smoking on prime time television in the top rated series contained two critical smoking incidents, both distinctly negative in their consequences for the smokers and as any kind of modeling source for viewers. A coding form was created in which all instances of all speaking characters who smoked, drank, or used illegal drugs were itemized. Drinking could be alcoholic or non-alcoholic; drugging was identified only if it were non-medical. Subsequent interest in television’s depiction of alcohol and other drugs focuses on the potential for its impact on young viewers. Smoking is out and drugging is out and one can find little reason to expect them to reappear. A more sophisticated examination of social learning theory would make more precise hypotheses about the impact of television content based on programs and on program characters most preferred by the viewers.
