So...how many more years of censorship of the "s" word and the "f" word will continue in American television?

Perhaps I am just weary of the ridiculuous dubs during TV movies...but other countries (GBR) have more permissive policies on profanity than we (The USA) do.

I remember when the words bit** , a** and basta** were not allowed...when will the "big ones" be heard on American television, if ever?

south park did a special episode to celebrate the fact the word **** can be said on tv. they said it some 184 or so times

Who cares? I can hear or say those words any time I'd like. I could care less if they say 'em on television.

In before the Jackskeleton.

YEAH MAN!!111 Why can't I watch What I want when I want to without any Suits up there in the networks screwing things up for our free speech!!!111



Uh yeah.. You do realize that this is a buisness. Networks aren't selling shows or entertainment. They are selling Ad Space. Now just like any movie, PG-13 films will always have a wider crowd and rake in more viewings because everyone can see it.. This is what advertisers want. The more the people watch the network, the higher the revenue is for the network. Now a lot of networks stood by a few Self appointed rules in order to get the FCC off there backs. One of these for example is the advertising of hard booze on network television. For the longest time you saw none of this. Just reccently a few networks put on some ad's for the booze late at night and were met with a backlash. This shows one thing, the networks don't want to piss the viewers off or else it translates to one thing.. Fewer viewers watching the ad space you offer.

Mostly these networks self regulate themselves in order to keep FCC pressaure off there backs. Is this a form of censorship? I don't think so since the networks wouldn't really want to limit the viewership down a great deal by removing some of those self regulated rules and showing more items that push the limits on what exactly is considered tasteful on television. The moment they do this they open themselves up for FCC ass kicking. Now mind you the FCC really stays off backs a great deal. Once they do though they can really screw a broadcaster over. Revoking license and in Radio's case they can just yank the freq. away from the orginization for not providing to the people.

Remember folks.. The Radio and Television waves are not owned by a group, the premission for them to use it is to serve the great public.. this includes everyone listening. That also means that even if you don't give a rats arse that cursing is going on, doesn't mean the guy next to you wants to hear it.

Hee hee, Roquer knows me too well..

I fear the television and news media networks more than I fear Bush and God.

I take you have never watched anything on HBO.

Well at least on usa network, we can now say god damn, and ass h*le.

I don't think this will end on network TV any time soon. As Jackskeleton pointed out this is a business. Ending the prohibition of these words would offend at the very least a vocal minority, who are well acquainted with the tactic of boycotting products featured on shows which might feature this profanity. Scare the advertisers and the show in question would almost certainly cave in to this pressure.

Well, I tend to be at odds with jack a lot, but the man can make a lot of sense and pretty much wrote what I would have.

I think it's about time to stop kissing the overly senstive peoples asses!

If you don't want to hear certain words,or get offended by every little thing. You have the option not to watch!

Now sure some of these overly senstive morons would stop viewing,thus losing some ratings. Yet a good majority could care less & find tv-censorship annoying when it comes to films & so on being drastically altered..& robbed of all the original material.

At least then maybe tv sitcoms could become more interesting & worth watching..once they stray from the safe forumala..& don't go by the book. Hence why i don't like a good majority of sitcoms today. They are boring & covering the same ground,done time & again.

Now i'm not talking about adding in profantity for profanties sake..which ifind very annoying. Yet a swear word here & there is really no bo big with myself.

Yet i guess thats why cable programing is more interesting since it does not have to be limited with the strict network guidlines. So shows like Arliss,Sex & The City,Queer As Folk among others can go all out with the material honestly,rather than shying away since "you can't say or do that!" screams the moral do gooder morons worried about every little thing aired on network tv.

So all the controvery over what is aired on network tv i find hilarious since it's so tame,despite what some people think. Also it proves that these morons can't be pleased at all..& would rather strip away all interesting material,to be as bland & monotone as possible without any entertainment value at all.


So a show like Will & Grace which some people actually think is 'groundbreaking' is very lame to begin with. It does'nt really go anywhere other sitcomes have not gone before,expect that some of the charecters are gasp...gay!

I find that hilarious & sad. People must be living in the dark ages to think that show is 'groundbreaking'.

So i prefer Queer As Folk instead which is groundbreaking for a US show anyway. Since it does not shy away from the material which the networks are so afraid of(hence W&G get no action or anything at all..for fear of people seeing two guys kiss other than for comic relief).

The only new sitcome i do like is George Lopez. At least it is funny & entertaining. Sure it's a family sitcome & may follow the forumla to a extent. At least it is done with more heart & style. Though try watching 8 Simple Rules,My Wife & Kids..i am bored with "ughh..i know whats going to happen next". Since they follow the same formula as every other family show before it from Family Ties to The Cosby Show. Then the attempts at humor are bleh as well. That i don't bother with all the other network shows. I really can't stand Darma & Greg,Everybody(hates) Raymond,Friends..& all the other very annoying shows that pollute the networks.

If they tryed to make the shows there own,while doing new things with old material. I would be more interested. Yet since they play it so by the numbers. It is boring as hell.


At least i don't watch much tv anymore thanks to the pretty lousy selection

Thank you networks! Now if you want real ratings to return. You will have to try something different..& maybe umm interesting!

Until then. I will be pretty much tv free besides Geoge Lopez & Queer As Folk. The only shows i watch regulary. Other sitcomes that get watched from time to time are the better stuff i grew up on as a kid. Family Ties,All in the Family & Sanford & Son. Other than that a ocasionally film on cable or alittle bit of the news networks get my attention.

Yet on the whole i may watch less than 5 hours of tv a week. dvds get watched more than tv..& i only watch a dvd once every so often. Sometimes weeks or months apart.


To think i used to be practically addicted to tv as a kid. Then it became boring once i saw how the sitcomes worked..& i slowly began to not watch. At least it worked..& appears the networks still have not learned.

Julie, the problem is Network stations aren't trying to catch Your attention. so when you say "Now if you want real ratings to return." You don't realize that you are saying if they want Your viewership to return they will have to go away with what they are doing. Seems odd since the ratings are still there in big forms. Even with the competition of Cable and video on demand Network Television is still getting great ratings. Especially with Reality television shows and the regular sitcoms that have grown an audiance which might not be targeted towards you to begin with.

Julie, I agree with almost everything you said. I think Will and Grace in incredibly lame and uninteresting. It subject does not appeal at all to me. It would never occur to me, though, that since its subject is not for me that it shouldn't be for anyone.

What I was maybe not clear about is network and advertiser intimidation. I do not think networks fear losing a few viewers which probably are not targeted by this more cable-like programming. What they fear is these self-chosen morality police boycotting products and letting these companies know what is going to happen if they advertise on shows which push the envelope. Then these companies usually pull there advertising and the show becomes less profitable. Make no mistake at the network level this is all about money not quality programmng.

There was a great show on Sunday afternoon on the Trio channel dealing with censorship on tv. It traced tv censorship from Amos and Andy to present day. Things don't change very much, there will always be people who will get offended and there will always be self-censorship. It was a very informative show. I don't know if they will repeat it or when but it is well worth watching.

I think we should have **** on every kids show on The Disney Channels, Nick, Cartoon Channel and Saturday morning shows.

Lets not forget about the 7 to 9 "Family Hour". We should not censore anything. we should have sex sceens everywhere on TV channel (cable or broadcast). We should also show people being rape and killed in every graphic manner we can think of.

Why try to keep this from those young minds. They need to grow up sometime, might as well sooner than later. Let them see everything now. If their parents do not want them to see it on TV, the parents can just sell their TVs.

How dare we keep this from all those people who really want to see it. Their rights are being slow taken away by not see this on every channel and at all times of the day.

Man, I am going to move my family to France where there is real TV and free of speach/thought. I can see anything I want and anytime I want.

What a horrible country we live in!!!!

I fear Tv in general. Do not get me started on the News.

A few weeks ago, one of the soap operas had some big promise of "the first lesbian kiss on day time tv!!" And with all the build up, it was just a good bye peck on the cheek

:Points and laughs: HA HA! you watch soap opera's :/points and laughs:

Some shows, like NYPD Blue on ABC, allow occasional use of the s-word and a-word.

No, i don't, the paper had some article about it, and of course, the entire episode was stupid anyway.

What I sometimes find funny is what gets censored in the TV version of a movie. For example, on one TV station in Blazing Saddles the only thing censored was the fart sound effect in the camp fire scene. You can still see them waving their hands, etc around like somebody farted but no fart noise! And all the other stuff they leave in. Go figure?

Well I am an adult. I have no kids. I would like to see entertainment that was more like what I hear every day. It is pretty silly when you have someone acting like a comlete jerk on TV, and the object of their behavior, instead of swearing says something which would not make third grader blink. I am not looking for gratuitous use of language. I would, however, appreciate more adult entertainment.

I am not sure how this is relevant to the debate except as hyperbole.

You want to protect your kids. I would do the same if I had chosen to have children. But TV would become a boring place for many adults if all programming was vetted by the question, what is appropriate for children? In the end it's still up to the big networks who have seen a steady decline in viewership due to the explosion in the number of channels and the quality of more adult content on cable.

That's called 'building interest'. They'd advertise the hell out of the "first animal castration" on daytime TV if they'd thought it grab some new eye balls.