Perot Once Chastised ‘Doogie Howser’ : Politics: He cited one episode as an example of TV’s negative effect on the family months before calling Quayle’s ‘Murphy Brown’ comments ‘goofy.’

WASHINGTON —  Months before he ridiculed Vice President Dan Quayle’s criticism of TV’s Murphy Brown as “goofy,” undeclared presidential candidate Ross Perot sternly criticized another fictional television character, Doogie Howser, for going to bed with his girlfriend.

Referring to a controversial episode of “Doogie Howser, M.D.” during which the two 18-year-olds lost their virginity, Perot said it might influence younger viewers to have sexual relations.

“Some 15-year-old girl that’s been thinking about it hadn’t done it yet. ‘Hell, Doogie’s girl did it. It must be all right,’ ” Perot said. “You and I didn’t see that kind of stuff growing up.”

Perot made his remarks at a session with reporters and editors of the Los Angeles Times’ Washington bureau on Sept. 26, well before he broached the prospect of launching an independent presidential bid.

His comments were in accord with his stated belief in the importance of traditional family values, which Perot also alluded to with references to “Norman Rockwell’s America” and the Boy Scouts.

But they were markedly different from his recently stated views on the role of television in society. Last month, Perot derided Quayle after the vice president asserted that the “Murphy Brown” show contributed to moral decay and undercut family values by glamorizing unwed motherhood.

“I just thought it was goofy,” Perot said of Quayle’s remarks. “When you think of the real problems that face this country, well, suddenly it’s Murphy Brown--which is a fictional, 30-minute show on television.”

Told this week about Perot’s Doogie Howser remarks, Quayle’s chief spokesman responded with laughter and accused the Texas billionaire of being hypocritical and taking a “cheap shot” at the vice president.

“This is a classic,” said David Beckwith, Quayle’s press secretary. “The guy pretends that he’s not a traditional politician, but it’s clear that’s a false front he’s putting out. He says what he thinks is expedient at the time, going with the media elite trashing of the vice president even when it goes against what he apparently really believes. . . .

“It’s stuff like this that’s going to cause people eventually to wonder about Perot.”

Repeated attempts this week to reach Perot or his campaign for additional comment were unsuccessful.

In the September session, Perot brought up “Doogie Howser, M.D.” as an example of the negative effect such shows are likely to have on “all those kids watching television from single-parent families.” He then cited “a deteriorated family unit” as one of the nation’s major problems.

In the Doogie Howser show, the title character lives in a two-parent household. His girlfriend’s mother was killed in a car accident, and she lives with her father.

Steven Bochco, president of Steven Bochco Productions, which produces “Doogie Howser, M.D.,” defended the show when told of Perot’s comments and said the Texas billionaire “insults single-parent families” by implying that they are “less responsible to their children or care less about how they raise their children.”

At the September session, Perot also took a shot at another popular ABC television program, “Roseanne.” He raised the subject in a discussion of parenting skills, which he said should be taught to schoolchildren, especially those from disadvantaged, single-parent households.

“Eventually they will be parents, and they don’t know how,” he said.

“If you watch Roseanne Barr on television, you don’t get a very good role model,” he added.

Roseanne and Tom Arnold issued statements through their publicist expressing anger that Perot referred to the TV star by her maiden name--which she changed when she married Arnold last June--and rejecting his assessment of the brassy, working-class sitcom character.

“It just goes to show you that when you’re a multibillionaire, how out of touch you might find yourself with mainstream American family values,” Roseanne Arnold said. “Our show deals with a family that has two mortgages on their house, with both parents working and owning their own struggling business. ‘Roseanne’ is one of the most pro-family shows that has ever been on television.”

Before learning of Perot’s gibe, Arnold said she was inclined to support the independent candidate over presumptive Democratic nominee Bill Clinton.

“Oh well,” she said, “it looks like I’m back for Clinton again.”