How did all the cursing on tv get the ok?

[MarkLaRoi]

Lately it seems like even the stations on basic cable are airing movies like "Blade" and "Saving Private Benjamin" uncut, and in the two episodes of the new series "Blade" on Spike tv that I watched, they use "sh*t" like some shows use "d*mn".

This afternoon in a promo for Blade at about 1:30 in the afternoon, they used a clip in which a character used "godd*mn"!

I don't want to get into a discussion about who wants what when and how, or how it's somebody's fault etc;. I just want to know what changed that this is now acceptable.

 

[bpatrick]

I suspect there are a couple of reasons. First, broadcast
television and basic cable had to compete with the likes of HBO
and Showtime, which have always allowed uncensored language;
then ABC, CBS, and NBC had to compete with the comparatively-freer
content of Fox.

Second, I recall that about twenty years ago the Big Three
made some major budget cuts, and that included a sharp
reduction in their Standards and Practices (or Program Practices,
depending on the network) departments.

There are certainly those people who would argue that to
censor the language you mention would be a violation of
freedom of speech, or that that's the way people talk.
I have news for you. I seldom hear that kind of langauage
in everyday conversation; further, I get tired of having it
rammed down my throat every time I watch a movie. So
much for my rant, at risk of sounding like a prude. But
I do think it's a matter of survival, especially at the broadcast
networks.

However, I do hear redubbed dialogue on some
channels, such as USA and ABC Family; I've noticed the
language has been cleaned up whenever they show an
Adam Sandler movie. Also, I remember a few years back,
ABC showed "Quiz Show" in primetime, and some of John
Turturro's f-words were changed to "freaking."

The answer, of course, is simply not to watch the shows
you find offensive. We can discuss this until the cows come
home, but networks and stations are still going to look at
one thing and one thing only--RATINGS.

 

[formeraa]

Lately it seems like even the stations on basic cable are airing movies like "Blade" and "Saving Private Benjamin" uncut, and in the two episodes of the new series "Blade" on Spike tv that I watched, they use "sh*t" like some shows use "d*mn".

This afternoon in a promo for Blade at about 1:30 in the afternoon, they used a clip in which a character used "godd*mn"!

I don't want to get into a discussion about who wants what when and how, or how it's somebody's fault etc;. I just want to know what changed that this is now acceptable.

As for Spike TV, cable stations have much greater latitude in what they can air. As for broadcast stations, they still must watch what they air particularly during the "family" hours.

 

[Markxxx]

One thing I noticed is the Simpsons seem to be able to pull off a lot of unusual words first. Like "Boner" (relating to male sexual organ), "Ass Wipe," and "jack off" which aren't exactly swear words but I shook my head when I heard them first on the show. Well everything short of the "S" and the "F" word.

People have just become more used to cussing. I take public transportation in Chicago and it is very common for even little kids to be saying "F" this and "F" right in front of their parents, who think nothing of it.

So I guess, at least in the city, it's pretty useless to protest the use of cuss words if the kids are gonna hear them right outside their door and see them spray painted everywhere

 

[aarontabr]

I noticed watching the rerun of 50 Most Awsomely Bad Songs on VH1 that almost every person interviewed had to use one of those 7 words you can't say on the air. For example "When Vanilla Ice starts playing, I think I f------g hate you."

I agree that there needs to be not so much cussing on tv. Can't you just say a normal sentence like "this is a horrible song" instead of "this is a f-------g horrible song." I worked at a Sonic Drive in for 3 summers where everyone in the kitchen cussed for fun, including the manager. As a result, I have a bad habit of cussing, especially when I am angry.

 

[bhayes1016]

.

 

[70sdj]

How about the kid from the Statin Island Little League team last night on ESPN?

As they were heading to break before the bottom of the final inning, the kid yells "One F@#%ing Run!" clearly into the coaches mic.

 

[aarontabr]

How about the kid from the Statin Island Little League team last night on ESPN?

As they were heading to break before the bottom of the final inning, the kid yells "One F@#%ing Run!" clearly into the coaches mic.

Hopefully the coach smacked him afterwards.

 

[BDBopper]

If you don't like the cursing there's always the remote control. the FCC shouldn't have any say in content whatsoever. Same goes for E/I. PBS already does a pretty good job with educational programming. FCC should stick with allocating frequencies. Buf of course that's not happening. In fact the FCC is requiring broadcast networks to send in tapes of sports programming for several years so they can go through and catch cursing and issue fines. absolutely outrageous and a blatent breach of 1st ammendment and the constitution itslef.

 

[jal41]

Lately it seems like even the stations on basic cable are airing movies like "Blade" and "Saving Private Benjamin" uncut, and in the two episodes of the new series "Blade" on Spike tv that I watched, they use "sh*t" like some shows use "d*mn".

This afternoon in a promo for Blade at about 1:30 in the afternoon, they used a clip in which a character used "godd*mn"!

I don't want to get into a discussion about who wants what when and how, or how it's somebody's fault etc;. I just want to know what changed that this is now acceptable.

As far as I know, cable networks are not under FCC jurisdication, just broadcast networks and cable service providers (cable companies). The indecency regulations are for FCC licensed broadcast entities only.

CBS is in the middle of appealing "Nipplegate". I suspect we will be hearing from the Supreme Court within the next couple of years or so.

 

[Irishfl]

If you don't like the cursing there's always the remote control. the FCC shouldn't have any say in content whatsoever. Same goes for E/I. PBS already does a pretty good job with educational programming. FCC should stick with allocating frequencies. Buf of course that's not happening. In fact the FCC is requiring broadcast networks to send in tapes of sports programming for several years so they can go through and catch cursing and issue fines. absolutely outrageous and a blatent breach of 1st ammendment and the constitution itslef.

How exactly is it a breach of the 1st amendment? broadcast TV is regulated. Meaning, owners agree to these terms inorder to get the licence to broadcast. Granted it is a loophole from the government to use censoring, but it doesn't change the fact.

Cable isn't regulated. They can if they want air the same content as HBO. hey don't ofcoarse for several reasons.
1. being advertisers might pull away when religious groups start crying.
2. The government might try to regulate cable, which they don't want.
3. Cable companies under pressure may pull the channel off either basic (and move it to a higher tier) or all together (which happened to MTV in many areas when beavis and Butthead first started airing. As a result, MTV banned the show from doing certain things, including fire.)

Cable is getting looser now, as a result of the v-chip. There argument is parent can block certain contain. Airing the S-word, and other things at night isn't gonna get enough people mad to effect them. The cable networks tend to allow more stuff after 9:00PM. I remember watching American pie 2 on USA a few months ago. The first hour (8:00PM) was butchered to death. was suprised at some of the words, and things that got cut out. Than the 2nd hour came (9:00PM), and altough some stuff was still censored, they wern't as bad. They were allowing worse stuff to air, then what was censored during the first hour.

Other networks have ligh censoring all the time. TBS will air s**t during daytime movies, comedy central often airs the South Park movie uncensored during the overnights(which has to have the F-word in it over 100 times..there's even a song that goes along the lines of shut your face unclef****r.

I think things will only get less stricked over the next few years.

a la carte may be a wildcard in this. For maximum audience, some may go back to the g-rated stuff of 10 years ago (time warner mostly, since they have HBO), while others may try to be more like a premium channel.

Comedy

 

[BDBopper]

I believe that the limiting of content or requiring of some content on broadcast TV is tantamount to the government telling newspapers what they can and can't publish, as well as a fairness doctrine on radio. In any case it is government sponsored censorship. Clearly a violation of the 1st Ammendment. Granted that there was censorship during World War II for reasons of national security but that's different. The F-Bomb can't kill us.

 

[nuzguy]

A story by The Associated Press a few days ago concerned the "new" language standards in use by all, including younger people today, that the usual curse words in addition to scatological and sexual references are now routinely part of America's vocabulary. Perhaps television programmers and the FCC reason what's the use in cutting language from program content when even younger viewers use the same references and worse in their everyday language.

Some maintain that it's just plain wrong while others take the attitude, "The times they are a changin'."

 

[dhett]

I believe that the limiting of content or requiring of some content on broadcast TV is tantamount to the government telling newspapers what they can and can't publish, as well as a fairness doctrine on radio. In any case it is government sponsored censorship. Clearly a violation of the 1st Ammendment. Granted that there was censorship during World War II for reasons of national security but that's different. The F-Bomb can't kill us.

I don't exactly see your First Amendment argument. Stations can air more adult fare, but it's limited to late night. Nevertheless, they are allowed to air it. No First Amendment violation there.

When's the last time you saw the f-bomb printed in a newspaper?

But I think the broader point is this: why is it that as a society, we've come to accept these things. When I was a kid in the mid-70s, we dropped the f-bomb, but made sure our parents didn't hear it, or anyone else for that matter who might tell our parents. Otherwise, we'd be eating a soap sandwich when we got home. The above reference with the kid using the word openly speaks volumes about where we've gone as a society. I'll bet his parents didn't say a thing to him about it. I don't appreciate the coarseness. I guess I put government language control right along side government gun control - we wouldn't need them if we exercised a little self-control.

 

[Markxxx]

I believe that the limiting of content or requiring of some content on broadcast TV is tantamount to the government telling newspapers what they can and can't publish, as well as a fairness doctrine on radio. In any case it is government sponsored censorship. Clearly a violation of the 1st Ammendment. Granted that there was censorship during World War II for reasons of national security but that's different. The F-Bomb can't kill us.

I don't see it as necessarily as a first amdendment issue. 1st admendment relates to political and ideolgical speech. Not commerical ventures. There is a time and a place for everything. I am not fanatical, but I don't like cuss words. To me they grate on my nerves like fingers on a chalkboard.

Because I don't know WHAT is on a show I can't censor it in advance so a rating systems is appropriate. If I know a show is, let's say "G" no cussing. I can make better choices.

Try to look at it like this. Let's say I hate the Bush Administration. I have every right to walk up and down in front of the White House and carry a sign expressing my distaste with it. Because the White House is a symbol of ANY president and his policies. I also have the right to "picket" the President GW Bush if he was at a park celebrating his daughters' birthdays. But THAT while being my right and most likely legal, would be tacky and inappropriate.

There is a time and a place for everything. And those who are willing to show consideration to another side's argument are in a better position to win them over to their side.

A lot of time network TV shows are shown for pure shock value. That is not protected by the 1st Amendment. It's commerical and if it wasn't making any money (or they though it wouldn't) they wouldn't be showing the program. If there is an alternate way to express something they should do it. If it can't be done, it should be noted and shown in a time period where people can "expect" such content.

I can deal with hate mongers like the KKK because, as wrong, and hateful as those people are, in reality, they are just speaking their minds. But to hide behind the 1st amendment to sell a commerical venture, is not the same thing.

The fairness doctrine is an equalizer. The fact that so many Senators are millionaires should be self-explanitory. People need to be able to make choices and if one candidate cannot get his message out because he/she is poor, you are effectively, limiting the public's choices. They will only hear one side.

Now there are counter-arguments such as, well if the people are interested in voting issues they should be willing to go to the trouble of looking and writing the other candidates to get the information. But the public won't do this. Thus you EFFECTIVELY limit the choices.

It is similar to when they made flag burning legal, but then said "Anyone who assults a flag burner gets a maximum fine of $1.00" You see this means flag burners would have the right to burn the flag but EFFECTIVELY would be banned from exercising this right. The constitution also says the governments of the state and national have a duty to protect its citizens.

So the fairness doctrine IS very important, because with out it you are EFFECTIVELY barring voices, while in theory still giving them that right.

 

[Nertz!]

I don't know where you live, but I hear people use "cursing" every day. It just adds realism, since when people don't it just sounds fake.

 

[MarkLaRoi]

A story by The Associated Press a few days ago concerned the "new" language standards in use by all, including younger people today, that the usual curse words in addition to scatological and sexual references are now routinely part of America's vocabulary. Perhaps television programmers and the FCC reason what's the use in cutting language from program content when even younger viewers use the same references and worse in their everyday language.

Some maintain that it's just plain wrong while others take the attitude, "The times they are a changin'."

Sorry to take so long getting back to this. Thanks nuzguy, that's close to answering my question. I guess nothing really changed except the attitudes of the people airing the shows. It just really surprised me to hear cursing in a promo at 1 on a Sunday afternoon.

 

[RexManning]

One thing I noticed is the Simpsons seem to be able to pull off a lot of unusual words first. Like "Boner" (relating to male sexual organ), "Ass Wipe," and "jack off" which aren't exactly swear words but I shook my head when I heard them first on the show. Well everything short of the "S" and the "F" word.

thats funny, especially seeing how that radio station got fined for playing janet jacksons "all for you" because of the lyrics:
".. got a nice package alright, i'm going to have to ride it tonight".

which is less tame than what the simpsons said in your quote...

 

[bk77]

I believe that the limiting of content or requiring of some content on broadcast TV is tantamount to the government telling newspapers what they can and can't publish, as well as a fairness doctrine on radio. In any case it is government sponsored censorship. Clearly a violation of the 1st Ammendment. Granted that there was censorship during World War II for reasons of national security but that's different. The F-Bomb can't kill us.

But I think the broader point is this: why is it that as a society, we've come to accept these things. When I was a kid in the mid-70s, we dropped the f-bomb, but made sure our parents didn't hear it, or anyone else for that matter who might tell our parents. Otherwise, we'd be eating a soap sandwich when we got home. The above reference with the kid using the word openly speaks volumes about where we've gone as a society. I'll bet his parents didn't say a thing to him about it. I don't appreciate the coarseness. I guess I put government language control right along side government gun control - we wouldn't need them if we exercised a little self-control.

Its very hard to believe now but back in 1982 when I was 14, a friend and I stayed up late one Friday night while my parents were asleep watching the movie "10" with Dudley Moore on HBO. Of course being on HBO it was uncut. That Monday I was telling another classmate of mine about us watching "10", how cool it was to see bare breast, hear dirty words, watched an orgy, whatever. Anyway my teacher overheard it and actually called my parents in to school and demanded why they would even have HBO in their home if they have kids. Today, few if any teachers would care. Not only does my next door neighbor's 15 year old can tell you the names of a number of porn stars but his 11 year old sister often uses the word "w-h-o-r-e" in conversation. Parents? They don't care. They even told me they don't.

Sadly a lot of parents are now like that.

 

[rch66]

Lately it seems like even the stations on basic cable are airing movies like "Blade" and "Saving Private Benjamin" uncut, and in the two episodes of the new series "Blade" on Spike tv that I watched, they use "sh*t" like some shows use "d*mn".

This afternoon in a promo for Blade at about 1:30 in the afternoon, they used a clip in which a character used "godd*mn"!

I don't want to get into a discussion about who wants what when and how, or how it's somebody's fault etc;. I just want to know what changed that this is now acceptable.

As far as I know, cable networks are not under FCC jurisdication, just broadcast networks and cable service providers (cable companies). The indecency regulations are for FCC licensed broadcast entities only.

CBS is in the middle of appealing "Nipplegate". I suspect we will be hearing from the Supreme Court within the next couple of years or so.

Cable networks are not under FCC jurisdiction for indecency; however, they fall into jurisdiction to other related matters involving children. FCC regulations limit children's programing to 12 minutes of advertising per hour during weekdays and 10.5 minutes on weekends - this applied to Nickelodeon and ABC Family. Both were fined for exceeding the minutes of advertising during for a show [child oriented program] back in 2004. Because cable tv is more fragmented in nature with channels targeted just for kids, etc. and no basic channel (like TBS, or USA) has aired programming w/ profanity intentionally (usually profanity is bleeped out..dunno what the FCC thinks about TBS and running movies in the daytime with s**t), but there has been no well known precedent; however, I foresee the FCC getting tied into indecency issues with basic cable networks in the future if something were to provoke something, as they already have jurisdiction in minutes of advertising during children programming. As for TBS, I'm surprised WTBS isn't getting reviewed for profanity usage. I don't know if USA, TNT, TBS, WGN Cable, MTV, VH1, Lifetime, Sci-Fi and other basic channels could be considered in the scope for this children's viewing in the future. Note: A children's act gave the FCC jurisdiction in fining against misuse of minutes of advertising during children's programming; that's why Nick and ABC Family were scrutinized.