[muir_redwoods]

It goes back way before the ‘60’s. Ralph Cramden and Ricky Riccardo were the butt of the jokes. Alice was always right and even daffy Lucy was usually proved right in the end. Men have always been the target of humor and derision in television. Hot Lips Houlihan is one of the few women who have been the consistent target of derision in a sitcom and it’s important to note that she behaved like a man in a command role.

[carlo3b]

Well you sure have a point, the demeaning of men has always been a common thread, but the physical aggression part is certainly a bit more resent..

[Verginius Rufus]

I think Art Linkletter in Kids Say the Darndest Things, published in 1957, already comments on the negative way men were depicted on TV (it may have been particularly with fathers in sit-coms).