Jack Webb said that there was an ''overabundance'' of violence on television

"Maybe harsh violence makes for better ratings, but I don't believe that," said the director.

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Many creative types tend to buck against censorship, seeing it as the long, oppressive arm of those more powerful than us sticking their nose where they aren't welcome.

However, not everyone who worked in the entertainment industry was resolutely against censorship. Jack Webb, for instance, was responsible for series like Adam-12 and Dragnet. Webb seemed to believe that censorship in television was a useful tool, rather than an impediment. "My responsibility in my shows is to exercise self-discipline, to provide the best quality we can within our economic restrictions," said Webb in an interview with the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. "To constantly say yes to this question: 'Do I want to see it in my home?'"

"That, and pay some attention to that dirtiest of words in entertainment - censorship," he said. "To me, censorship is nothing but instilling good taste in those who don't have it." 

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While many of the shows that Webb himself created were centered on crime and the police, the director expressed disappointment at the inundation of violence on various television shows, sometimes some on the same network. "I look at the whole picture, and the thing that disturbs me most is that they don't seem to realize that in three hours of prime time, since we have no clearinghouse, nobody knows what the other fellow is doing," he said. "And we have an overabundance of violence."

Webb didn't seem to put any stock into the belief that with more violence came more viewers. "Maybe harsh violence makes for better ratings, but I don't believe that," Webb said. "I think you can indicate violence. We did that for many years on Dragnet. We're forgetting that we're in the business of illusion."