This is great!

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/arti...2/193550.shtml

The major TV networks are planning a full-scale attack on traditional values and sensibilities with this fall’s upcoming TV season, NewsMax.com has learned.
ABC, CBS and NBC are considering dropping many of the few remaining standards on network prime-time TV programs – and will likely allow expletives and four-letter words never spoken before on broadcast TV.

The New York Times reported over the Labor Day weekend that NBC's "The West Wing" program is planning on breaking "a longstanding network taboo" this fall.

Aaron Sorkin, the executive producer of "The West Wing," told the Times he is planning for "a character to curse in a way that uses the Lord's name in vain."

Sorkin and his cronies at NBC are not the only ones trying to undermine civility. Other plans being touted by the networks include:

• ABC’s "Philly" is planning on using the word "Sh--" – which has never aired before on an ABC program.
• CBS executives have told the Times they are considering "scripts for programs that include every crude word imaginable" – including the "F" word that has never been uttered on broadcast TV. (The Times described the "F" word as the same word one would use to describe the making of stem cells, i.e., fertilized embryos.)
• CBS will air "Wolf Lake" – a new TV show about a fictional town where people can become wolves. The program will begin with a nudity warning, and CBS executives told the Times "the first episode contains a particularly revealing sex scene."
  The free-for-all attitude on the use of expletives and shocking scenes doesn't come in a vacuum.

Little by little, broadcast networks have been tackling industry standards and challenging public decency – with no complaint from the Federal Communications Commission.

The FCC is charged with maintaining decency and standards on the airwaves. The airwaves are owned by the public, and networks broadcast by license and at the discretion of the public.

Still, the Times reports that "the F.C.C. said the number of indecency complaints involving television remained negligible and no actions had been taken against stations for network programs this year."

"What's really happening now is a transformation to the daily normalization of this," Robert Thompson, professor of media at Syracuse University, told the Times. "It's commonplace to hear erection jokes on 'Friends' at 8 o'clock; even gentle little programs like 'Everybody Loves Raymond' have the kind of stuff that, when it played on 'Three's Company' 20 years ago, made the PTA go completely ballistic."

Network executives say that several reasons are forcing them to program down-market.

The success of cable shows like HBO's "The Sopranos" – which uses graphic scenes and expletives – is drawing viewers away from broadcast TV.

The major networks claim they fear the loss of key advertisers, who are seeking the youth market, the market that is seeking and finding more risqué material on cable networks.

Still, the Times contends, apathy by the public is the major reason the networks are moving to lower standards.

This is the best news ever.

well maybe not ever, but definitely the most refreshing thing I've read all week.

A recent South Park episode comes to mind...

I missed your first three words, I thought you were complaining, but I guess not. But yeah, more power to them, its about time I say.

I'm a loss for the West Wing curse, my brain not working.
God damn??? That can't be it.

WI wasn't looking forward to Wolf Lake, but maybe I'll catch an episode or two.

I thought he was being sarcastic.

Matt

With the lowering of the decency standards I guess it is good that theThe Golden Girls are no longer on the air.

Shortly after this announcement, officials at Fox put out a press release that said that "Love Cruise: The Maiden Voyage" has dropped the facade and is now simply named "Gratuitous Sex and Nudity"

I think what they are doing is very good, and I think it's very honorable for them to allow freedom of expression, and shows like "The Sopranos" and "Sex and the City" could one day end up having competitors. As long as they keep the sleaze out, I don't want to watch trashy FOX specials with no point except to cause controversy. Kudos to them.

'Tis. You can say "God" and you can say "damn", but you can't say "God damn" without the FCC ripping out your throat.

This rules!

just what I need.. cussing and nudity on cable tv
now Ill never be able to leave the house
Ill just sit there all day, flipping channels waiting for someone to get naked

don't you mean someone else to get naked?



pervert

It's about $&#*ing time . I am still sure I heard the word sh!t on an episode of Booker on Fox, what, 10-14 years ago?

I agree up to a point, but the shows you mention don't necessarily "keep the sleaze out". Or are you trying to tell me that the 15 second shot of the Bada Bing girls is necssary in every episode?

The first thing this brought to my mind was that episode of South Park. And a prophetic line from an episode of the Simpsons...

"You know, Fox turned into a hardcore sex channel so gradually, I didn't even notice. Yeesh!"

But we still can't cuss on these boards. What the ****? See! See what I'm talking about? We're being oppressed! Mother ****er **** ******* **** bag!

I watching MTV and the Eminem video, "Stan" was on, and the ever-so-violent part where he describes murder, the word "die", the phrase "slit her throat", as well as whatever else in the song is censored. They have some high standards for the network that airs TRL...

I remember how surprised I was when NYPD blue came SOOOO close to uttering four letter words a couple of years ago. Said with a New York accent as one word in a sentence, "focker" sounds a LOT like what you think it does. Personally I've always found the hypocrisy of American broadcast tv to be ridiculous. Ok for kids to see horrible gory violence but sex between two married people in love, nah. Please. Let parents do their jobs and let adults choose what we want to see and hear. Cursing doesn't offend me and lends an air of authenticity to some shows (Sopranos, Sex and the City come to mind) - and shows like NYPD Blue will hopefully benefit in the Nielsons from this change.

you're kidding right? these words have *never* been heard on network TV station before? what about movies and dramas that use these words?

i'm really surprised by this. i never realised the level of self-censorship going on in the USA. in the UK we have a rule that pretty much anything goes after 9pm, and all parents are aware of this. if you're kids are watching after 9pm and hear profanities then that's your problem, not the networks.

And you must be kidding that you've never heard the phrase "edited for television". [sarcasm]God bless America[/sarcasm]!

of course i've heard of it. but there are some movies where it just isn't feasible to edit for TV without completely ruining a classic movie e.g. Goodfellas, Robocop (or any Verhoeven), Taxi Driver etc.

do the US networks just not bother showing these, or do they opt for a 7-minute edited for TV version is what i was asking.

The networks hit an all time low when they all started airing reality shows.

True in most cases, but didn't they air Schindler's List basically unedited on network?

They have shown Goodfellas on network television before. The overdubs are pretty crappy, though not "Yippee Ka Yay Mother Falcon" quality. When I saw it, it was preceded by a message form Martin Scorsese, saying while edited for television, it still retains the dramatic punch and message he was going for. And to think he was for the preservation of film as an art form