You beat me to this important point. Someone has to complain before the FCC would take any action. Even if they do find it egregious, chances of a large or any fine at all are slim.
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Question about obscene content or cursing on the air.
- Thread starter radioislife2020
- Start date
TV movie edits: Good Morning Vietnam substituted "real job" for "b--w job" and "passed gas" for "f--t" in Rain Man.
When I play Clarence Carter's Strokin' (that title itself a bit iffy) I fade down the "ooh s--t" part.
Fleeting expletives: once heard pitcher Bill Lee
use the S word on WEEI Boston; nobody noticed.
On ABC baseball coverage they miked the dugout and Leo Mazzone's F word got through. Bono's Grammy acceptance speech in the 90s had "f--k up the mainstream". Not bleeped live.
Famously--and it was late at night--Paul Shaffer let the F word out in a sketch about medieval musicians on Saturday Night Live.
When I play Clarence Carter's Strokin' (that title itself a bit iffy) I fade down the "ooh s--t" part.
Fleeting expletives: once heard pitcher Bill Lee
use the S word on WEEI Boston; nobody noticed.
On ABC baseball coverage they miked the dugout and Leo Mazzone's F word got through. Bono's Grammy acceptance speech in the 90s had "f--k up the mainstream". Not bleeped live.
Famously--and it was late at night--Paul Shaffer let the F word out in a sketch about medieval musicians on Saturday Night Live.
Jermaine Jackson got in an obscenity live on CNN when commenting on the second round of accusations against Michael. This was in 2003. But when the comments were re-aired later, it was bleeped. No surprise there.
There was an American Music Awards where Slash gave an acceptance speech saying he and other members of Guns N' Roses were just there to "hang out and s---" and when he started thanking people he said one man "f---ing got us started". All of a sudden, the sound was off and we saw a camera shot of the stage from a distance, and ABC went to commercial. The next night on "E.T." more of his speech was shown and he messed up and said "S---" and then he smiled and said something like "I mean oops".
The whole seven words thing has to go away..... 44 years after Pacifica was decided it is time to stop this bullship and let the people decide if they want to listen or not.
PS the Robin Williams line at the end of Good Morning Vietnam referencing what would become known as a Lewinski was one of the greatest lines in the movie.
The whole thing is a joke can't say f*ck, so you say Eff instead... the point has been made.
There is a commonly used word in the lexicon for every word on the list.
I'm watching Young Frankenstein as I type this WHAT KNOCKERS !!!!
A good wordsmith can get their point across without vulgarity and profanity.
I don't have to call someone a emm eff 'r, I can make an Oedipus reference, that chances are will go over the persons head.
PS the board software wont allow the letters M and F to be typed next to each other
PS the Robin Williams line at the end of Good Morning Vietnam referencing what would become known as a Lewinski was one of the greatest lines in the movie.
The whole thing is a joke can't say f*ck, so you say Eff instead... the point has been made.
There is a commonly used word in the lexicon for every word on the list.
I'm watching Young Frankenstein as I type this WHAT KNOCKERS !!!!
A good wordsmith can get their point across without vulgarity and profanity.
I don't have to call someone a emm eff 'r, I can make an Oedipus reference, that chances are will go over the persons head.
PS the board software wont allow the letters M and F to be typed next to each other
and one last comment,
there is no show on TV that is in re-runs and shown in what WAS once the "family hour" that has the writers going out of their way to push the Pacifica Decision envelope than Two And A Half Men"
Remember the decision is not limited to Carlin's 7 words , and I quote:
"The Court held that limited civil sanctions could constitutionally be invoked against a radio broadcast of patently offensive words dealing with sex and execration. The words need not be obscene to warrant sanctions. Audience, medium, time of day, and method of transmission are relevant factors in determining whether to invoke sanctions. "[W]hen the Commission finds that a pig has entered the parlor, the exercise of its regulatory power does not depend on proof that the pig is obscene."
there is no show on TV that is in re-runs and shown in what WAS once the "family hour" that has the writers going out of their way to push the Pacifica Decision envelope than Two And A Half Men"
Remember the decision is not limited to Carlin's 7 words , and I quote:
"The Court held that limited civil sanctions could constitutionally be invoked against a radio broadcast of patently offensive words dealing with sex and execration. The words need not be obscene to warrant sanctions. Audience, medium, time of day, and method of transmission are relevant factors in determining whether to invoke sanctions. "[W]hen the Commission finds that a pig has entered the parlor, the exercise of its regulatory power does not depend on proof that the pig is obscene."
There has been another court decision about the FCC indecency rules since Carlin:
Appeals Court Strikes Down FCC Indecency Rule
A federal appeals court has struck down the Federal Communications Commission's indecency rule. The ground breaking case is a major win for Fox Television, CBS Broadcasting, ABC and broadcast stations in general. The case is titled Fox Tel. Stations, Inc. v. FCC, 06-1760. The court found that...
www.findlaw.com
Two of my favorite words when describing FCC rules: "Arbitrary & capricious."
It is also important to remember if the FCC doesn’t fine you, your local manager could suspend or fire you if they feel you crossed the line. With either, it is good to cautious.
Ain't that the truth..... how many of us have been, or have friends that have been fired for doing exactly what the PD told them to do, and that is "be edgy"
O&A did that Sex For Sam thing how many years before that couple decided to play hide the sausage in St Patrick's Cathedral
Go one micron over that line, the line that gets listeners calling for advertisers to boycott, etc. and you are OUTTA HERE
O&A did that Sex For Sam thing how many years before that couple decided to play hide the sausage in St Patrick's Cathedral
Go one micron over that line, the line that gets listeners calling for advertisers to boycott, etc. and you are OUTTA HERE
My most memorable moment of on-air cursing was by KZZU Spokane back in 1996. For the first day of airing 1,2,3,4 (Sumpin New) by Coolio they aired the unedited version-which includes a couple of uses of the n-word(!!). I couldn't believe it and thankfully they started airing the edited version soon after.
True, but their bark is usually worse than their bite. At least, that has been my experience.
Yes, and many times they will use a questionable comment as a reason to fire someone they wanted to fire anyway. This actually happens more than most think.
Louie Louie does have an expletive but the sound was so warped it is hard to recognize. The joke was on the listener but perhaps even moreso on the record company. Gawd I miss this era!
and what is the expletive?
The whole Louie Louie thing was a joke
There was never a valid reason for the hysteria
Oh the same thing for Yes's "Roundabout" and Linda Rondstat's " You're No Good"
The whole Louie Louie thing was a joke
There was never a valid reason for the hysteria
Oh the same thing for Yes's "Roundabout" and Linda Rondstat's " You're No Good"
It's at 0:54 in the song. The drummer yelled "F**k!" after he screwed up. But you can barely hear it.
Which makes it not matter. The idea behind the original rule (written in 1934) was to provide a medium where people would not be offended by what they heard. If you have to know its there, put your ear to the speaker and strain to hear it....
Exactly.
PDs and GMs who push talent to be "edgy" are usually desperate for attention in the market, but if it goes sideways, the talent is a human shield. They'll lose their jobs long before the PD does, and the PD will be gone before the GM is.
I wrote a piece---wow---close to 30 years ago---for the old RadioDigest site that David Ferrell Jackson ran---about obscenity on the radio.
The upshot of it was that very few people will stop listening to a radio station because they don't say f***. Yeah, some prefer a satellite environment where Howard Stern doesn't have to censor himself, and explicit language is a big deal for fewer people than it used to be but the vast majority of people want to be entertained, accompanied or informed and are totally fine if it's done in good taste.
The example I used in the piece was that if McDonalds were to rename its signature sandwich the "Big F***in' Mac", yeah, that would be edgy, and yeah, they'd get some publicity, and yeah, 12 to 24 year old guys would probably think it was funny and think McDonalds was cool (for a week), but millions of people---families, where McDonalds makes its fortune---would never set foot in a McDonalds again.
We're pretty close to that already. There's a hot sauce company whose slogan is "I put that s**t on everything."
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