Some critics of broadcasting assert that the authoritarian dimension of entertainment television encourages viewer passivity and the uncritical acceptance of negative social values on the part of some viewers. This paper reviews the research on this topic and presents two new studies that tested the authoritarian impact of entertainment television. The first study questioned two randomly selected groups of viewers on items designed to assess the consciousness raising effect and reinforcement impact of one particular television program, "All in the Family." Subject responses were analyzed according to region, race, and agreement with Archie Bunker's attitudes. The second study measured the dogmatic characteristics of 206 college students as these characteristics related to opinion change. The first study revealed a significant correlation between the authoritarianism of the viewer and the impact of the program. This finding was further supported by the second study which showed that high authoritarian viewers are influenced more in their opinions by high authoritarian characters than by low authoritarian characters. Results of both studies support the view that television can be used to legitimize the antisocial opinions of certain viewers. (MAI)