Give them a break, will you?

You know, one thing that seriously bugs me about Adam-12, and moreso Emergency! (and CHiPs too, I'm discovering), is that all the ventures the characters try to do independent of their rescue work are treated like a cartoon show. No matter what it is, it seems like they can't be allowed to succeed at it. Pete or Ponch want a boat? It'll get sold before they have the chance to grab it. Or a hole will get punched in it and it'll sink on the maiden voyage. Johnny and Roy want to open a carpet cleaning service? It will fail, badly. Enter a parade with the old engine they've spent 200 hours fixing up? Forget it; the engine will get ruined on the way to the parade. Buy a hot dog stand? It'll burn down.

It's so bad that I was seriously surprised when I watched the Emergency! episode where they form a barbershop quartet and they actually were allowed to get an award. I was sure Johnny would get laryngitis or something else sad would happen and he wouldn't get to do it when he'd been looking so forward to it.

Seriously, do people really find these things funny? The characters feel real (although of course I know they're not) and I care about them and I want them to have some happiness off the jobs. Let them, for goodness sake. After all they try to do to help other people, they seriously could use some more things going right for them.