The Godfrey show began appearing on television, and some Southern CBS affiliates objected to the barbershop quartet The Mariners. This group of four US Coast Guard veterans included two whites and two blacks. Godfrey resisted criticism from network affiliates in Southern states and struck back. He noted that black and white troops were serving together in the Korean War, and he attacked critics including Democratic Georgia Governor Herman Talmadge. Godfrey's opposition to racial discrimination was longstanding, alluded to on his broadcasts.