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Can you say the F word on SyFy?

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vchimpanzee

I know that cable channels aren't subject to regulations but this has been my experience.

I don't have anything at home except the channels once available with an antenna during the analog era, WGN America, an all-news channel and a couple of others. Anything else would be too expensive and I wouldn't have time to watch everything anyway. I'm not confident even an outdoor antenna would work consistently in my location partly due to trees but also because of distance and other problems that would cause interference.

So when I go to a motel like I did last week, I watch movies on FX, TNT and other channels. I just look in my newspaper TV section and see what's on that I haven't seen (some listings were not accurate and I ended up just searching through channels and found one with an autistic youngster, and since the movie aired again after it finished up, I saw what I had missed) . A lot of these movies have never been on network TV even cleaned up.

And in the past even FX has generally shown versions of movies that meet broadcast standards or come close, with a TV-14 rating. FX generally allows the A-word and the G-word and a couple of others. Whatever channel I was watching Friday night also had the S-word a number of times but still had a TV-14 rating. There may have been times when I didn't hear anything when a word that was worse was used.

I saw "Wolf of Wall Street" some years ago and I think the F-word was left out of it but everything else was left in, with warnings about language after very commercial break. I also believe the rating was TV-MA.

I can't even recall a movie on a cable channel which allowed the F-word and even if it stopped short of the F-word we were warned about language after every commercial break.

So I saw a movie on SyFy with a TV-MA rating. No warning at all. How many times did Samuel L. Jackson use the F-word and the MF-word? More times than I could count. And two other characters were almost as bad. Given past practices, I would think people would have certain expectations and would be shocked at what they were hearing. And what was this movie even doing on SyFy? There wasn't anything about it that was science fiction.
 
vchimpanzee said:
So I saw a movie on SyFy with a TV-MA rating. No warning at all. How many times did Samuel L. Jackson use the F-word and the MF-word? More times than I could count. And two other characters were almost as bad. Given past practices, I would think people would have certain expectations and would be shocked at what they were hearing. And what was this movie even doing on SyFy? There wasn't anything about it that was science fiction.
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As you correctly stated earlier in your post, SyFy is a cable/satellite subscription channel, it's not an OTA broadcast. That in mind, they are not held to the same guidelines as broadcast networks. As a good example, Comedy Central airs SouthPark. Normally in the earlier slots they bleep the cursing, and then after a certain hour, there is no censorship or 'bleeping' of any of the curse words. The same was true with the Comedy Central Roasts they used to air back in the day.

Regarding the movie you saw not being a science fiction offering in your estimation, but airing on SyFy, please tell me what 1/2 the stuff on MTV has to do with "Music Television", or much of the programming on the Travel Channel that has nothing to do with Travel. Same with Discovery, History and a handful of other networks that air significant amounts of programming that isn't necessarily in-line with their name or branding.
 
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vchimpanzee said:
I know that cable channels aren't subject to regulations but this has been my experience.

I don't have anything at home except the channels once available with an antenna during the analog era, WGN America, an all-news channel and a couple of others. Anything else would be too expensive and I wouldn't have time to watch everything anyway. I'm not confident even an outdoor antenna would work consistently in my location partly due to trees but also because of distance and other problems that would cause interference.
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You can also get everything that's free on the internet and if you have a modern TV, all you need is a wifi connection! There are also plenty of free apps with ad supported programming of all stripes! "Pluto" comes to mind.
vchimpanzee said:
So when I go to a motel like I did last week, I watch movies on FX, TNT and other channels. I just look in my newspaper TV section and see what's on that I haven't seen (some listings were not accurate and I ended up just searching through channels and found one with an autistic youngster, and since the movie aired again after it finished up, I saw what I had missed) . A lot of these movies have never been on network TV even cleaned up.

And in the past even FX has generally shown versions of movies that meet broadcast standards or come close, with a TV-14 rating. FX generally allows the A-word and the G-word and a couple of others. Whatever channel I was watching Friday night also had the S-word a number of times but still had a TV-14 rating. There may have been times when I didn't hear anything when a word that was worse was used.

I saw "Wolf of Wall Street" some years ago and I think the F-word was left out of it but everything else was left in, with warnings about language after very commercial break. I also believe the rating was TV-MA.

I can't even recall a movie on a cable channel which allowed the F-word and even if it stopped short of the F-word we were warned about language after every commercial break.
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I remember when you literally couldn't say, "f-word" or write it for public consumption!
vchimpanzee said:
So I saw a movie on SyFy with a TV-MA rating. No warning at all. How many times did Samuel L. Jackson use the F-word and the MF-word? More times than I could count. And two other characters were almost as bad. Given past practices, I would think people would have certain expectations and would be shocked at what they were hearing. And what was this movie even doing on SyFy? There wasn't anything about it that was science fiction.
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There are no indecency requirements on cable channels. If a channel censors, it's because the public expects it. It's probably also easier to sell advertising although I don't know if the latter is still true.

I
 
Mikey Radio said:
As you correctly stated earlier in your post, SyFy is a cable/satellite subscription channel, it's not an OTA broadcast. That in mind, they are not held to the same guidelines as broadcast networks. As a good example, Comedy Central airs SouthPark. Normally in the earlier slots they bleep the cursing, and then after a certain hour, there is no censorship or 'bleeping' of any of the curse words. The same was true with the Comedy Central Roasts they used to air back in the day.

Regarding the movie you saw not being a science fiction offering in your estimation, but airing on SyFy, please tell me what 1/2 the stuff on MTV has to do with "Music Television", or much of the programming on the Travel Channel that has nothing to do with Travel. Same with Discovery, History and a handful of other networks that air significant amounts of programming that isn't necessarily in-line with their name or branding.
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I don't think anyone under 40 knows that MTV was ever called "Music Television" any more than they would know that CBS is the Columbia Broadcasting System or RCA is the Radio Corporation of America or as they would put it, "What's RCA?"!
 
semoochie said:
I don't think anyone under 40 knows that MTV was ever called "Music Television" any more than they would know that CBS is the Columbia Broadcasting System or RCA is the Radio Corporation of America or as they would put it, "What's RCA?"!
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Minutia aside, my general point was that there are a number of channels and networks, including those I listed, that are subscription cable or satellite offerings that regularly air programming that has nothing to do with their name or positioning - Which explains why the OP may have seen a program on SyFy that may not have been what he'd think of traditionally as a science-fiction movie.
 
Standards and practices on cable networks have loosened up over the past decade. It still comes down to how far a particular network/network group wants to push it.

NBCU cable and FX networks allow F-bombs on TV-MA content. Turner networks still forbid it.
 
I've mentioned it before, but IFC showed Planes, Trains, and Automobiles with the car rental scene where Steve Martin uses the F-word multiple times uncut.

Shout Factory TV on Pluto TV definitely shows uncut movies, complete with uncut language and nudity, even in the daytime.
 
USA / Syfy aired Chucky a tv show based on and follows the child's play movies and they said the F word and S word alot. When they did the interview with Don the creator of Chucky he said that the network allowed only like 5 f bombs per episode.
 
anotherguyTN said:
I've mentioned it before, but IFC showed Planes, Trains, and Automobiles with the car rental scene where Steve Martin uses the F-word multiple times uncut.

Shout Factory TV on Pluto TV definitely shows uncut movies, complete with uncut language and nudity, even in the daytime.
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I've always viewed IFC as a step down from pay channels like HBO, not mainstream basic cable. I'm pretty sure that 10-15 years ago I saw movies like Bully or The Dreamers that have lots of nudity on that channel. They've never censored anything, at least back then.
 
NoDakObserver said:
I've always viewed IFC as a step down from pay channels like HBO, not mainstream basic cable. I'm pretty sure that 10-15 years ago I saw movies like Bully or The Dreamers that have lots of nudity on that channel. They've never censored anything, at least back then.
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I remember IFC in the movie channel lineup showing movies uncut and no commercials but has since started airing commercials and moved on direct tv from 557 to 239.
 
my thoughts on this topic:

1. this channel is basic cable, they don't have to worry about the FCC and thus only censors to make the advertisers happy and not the FCC themselves.

2. this topic belongs in the "Pay TV" section and not the "National TV" as the "Pay TV" spun off of it a long time ago to focus on Cable/Satellite TV, and National TV means what airs on Broadcast TV now, so mods, move it there please.
 
WWE on USA in 98 let Stone Cold Steve Austin to say the F-word and the middle finger when it was live they blurred it out when Live Wire showed highlights and Superstar on Sunday morning since the kids were watching and not to try and offend the parents. The Challenge on MTV doesn't blur the middle finger but will censor the F-word you kinda know they said the F-word as it is somewhat muted the F-bomb.

Personally, I believe let the F-bombs fly it's 2022, not the 1950s and 60s anymore I think on broadcast they say most swear words other than the F-bomb which I believe from 8PM on that the F-bomb should fly since most kids under 6 are in bed at 8:30PM maybe 9PM at the latest. I believe those that file complaints to the FCC have to much time on their hands to begin with, screw censorship orgs like The PTC The Parents Television Censorship Council needs to add another C in the name.
 
Megatron said:
WWE on USA in 98 let Stone Cold Steve Austin to say the F-word and the middle finger when it was live they blurred it out when Live Wire showed highlights and Superstar on Sunday morning since the kids were watching and not to try and offend the parents. The Challenge on MTV doesn't blur the middle finger but will censor the F-word you kinda know they said the F-word as it is somewhat muted the F-bomb.

Personally, I believe let the F-bombs fly it's 2022, not the 1950s and 60s anymore I think on broadcast they say most swear words other than the F-bomb which I believe from 8PM on that the F-bomb should fly since most kids under 6 are in bed at 8:30PM maybe 9PM at the latest. I believe those that file complaints to the FCC have to much time on their hands to begin with, screw censorship orgs like The PTC The Parents Television Censorship Council needs to add another C in the name.
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It simply cannot be! The government authorizes the frequencies to the stations and they set the rules and regulations. If you want to operate one of the stations, you must comply! In a world of You Tube, it seems silly to say you have to protect children from four-letter words but the fact that virtually everyone chooses to pay for internet access doesn't change the fact that they are free to program anything short of obscenity while the public airwaves are not!
 
semoochie said:
It simply cannot be! The government authorizes the frequencies to the stations and they set the rules and regulations. If you want to operate one of the stations, you must comply! In a world of You Tube, it seems silly to say you have to protect children from four-letter words but the fact that virtually everyone chooses to pay for internet access doesn't change the fact that they are free to program anything short of obscenity while the public airwaves are not!
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What have children got to do with any of this? I don't want to hear anyone constantly saying the F-word anywhere.
 
If you watched the recent January 6th hearings and following coverage from the major networks, Bill Barr's interview where he stated that he had explained to the former President, that the ideas around the 2020 election being fraudulent was "bullsh*t". Were you all offended by that being broadcast even on licensed stations?
 
vchimpanzee said:
What have children got to do with any of this? I don't want to hear anyone constantly saying the F-word anywhere.
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and that is why the"V Chip" and TV ratings system were implemented.

If you don't want to hear certain words, or see certain situations, look at the TV-MA rating and see what they are flagging, or set your parental controls up.

I would suggest avoiding content that is identified as TV-PG, TV-14, or TV-MA

 
MRBIboredop said:
and that is why the"V Chip" and TV ratings system were implemented.

If you don't want to hear certain words, or see certain situations, look at the TV-MA rating and see what they are flagging, or set your parental controls up.

I would suggest avoiding content that is identified as TV-PG, TV-14, or TV-MA

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There's nothing left that isn't.

The TV-MA rating does not make clear what is being included and what isn't.

Also, I was in a motel.
 
It's been my observation that when a program is rated TV-MA, the rating is followed by the reason for the rating ....
TV-MA L-V. Language and violence.
 
frankberry said:
It's been my observation that when a program is rated TV-MA, the rating is followed by the reason for the rating ....
TV-MA L-V. Language and violence.
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Again, this doesn't fully explain what's going on. In many cases there might be a V with a rating such as TV-14 when the violence was no worse than what would be rated TV-PG-V, meaning the TV-14 rating is for something else. Same with language.

If you want to avoid the S-word, one movie I watched had it several times with a TV-14 rating. But that won't likely happen with broadcast TV. The word got through a few times before the Janet Jackson incident.
 
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