I Was A Teenage Quincy Punk

The Alamo Drafthouse downtown resurrects the golden age of American anti-punk paranoia this evening at 9:45pm with the infamous Quincy episode in which Oscar Madison, M.E. tries to ascribe a teen's demise to punk rock. They'll also be showing the lesser-known CHiPS punk episode where Erik Estrada shows teaches misguided punk rockers a thing or two about real music by singing "Celebration."

Both of these episodes surfaced in the early Eighties, when the Germs, Black Flag, the Circle Jerks and Fear were scaring the hell out of prim Southern California parents and raising the billy-clubbed ire of area constabularies. In vapid "ripped from the headlines" fashion, the dangers of punk rock were hammered home with all the subtlety of Reefer Madness. You almost have to wonder if the cluelessness wasn't a deliberate attempt on the part of the writers to sabotage misbegotten notions of social relevance.

And it's dollar night at the Alamo, too!