Not by government regulation, that's for sure. If there are benefits to moral behavior and moral thought (and there are) then it is up to each generation to explain and impress those benefits on the generations that follow. If the religious underpinning (i.e. you'll go to Hell if you act that way) no longer has as much credibility to the promoters and consumers of this degrading smut because fewer people believe than did 100 years ago, then there are other reasons, too, which must carefully explained.
If things go in cycles, and I believe they do, then I have come to theorize the cycles do not coincide with generations. This makes it nearly impossible to achieve some romantic, static vision of Utopia - the holy grail of religious nuts and secular zealots alike.
By one popular model, there are 10 years of liberal decadence, 10 of liberal decay, and then 10 of reactionary conservatism. Almost instantly, the peace and wealth gained by conservatives gets spent on foolishness ("is pissed away") and the cycle repeats.
An alternate view (that I haven't developed) is based on classic generational resentments... old vs. young, the embellishing of heritage against new ideologies. You can see, I don't know what I'm talking about. But I think I'm on to something...
"If the religious underpinning (i.e. you'll go to Hell if you act that way) no longer has as much credibility to the promoters and consumers of this degrading smut because fewer people believe than did 100 years ago, then there are other reasons, too, which must carefully explained."
Carefully, because the hypersensitive will always be offended by truth and reason. When a brewing storm erupts to shift power, there is no need to be so careful... reference my alternative model above.
I don't want to see government regulation of TV either. Individuals are in a better position to make subjective viewing decisions than government bureaucrats. Check out TV Watch at www.televisionwatch.org for more information.