The Hallmark channel censors the word "butt"

[Revtim]

I've been watching 'Cheers' recorded from the Hallmark channel (it was one of my favorite shows), and they actually censor the word "butt".

[Mahaloth]

Originally Posted by Revtim

I've been watching 'Cheers' recorded from the Hallmark channel (it was one of my favorite shows), and they actually censor the word "butt".

They just silence it or what?

[Tony]

Same experience. I DVR'd a bunch of Cheers episodes and it recorded off of Hallmark and it's not isolated to just "butt." I was amazed at anything being censored actually, considering that the show was on network television to begin with. But there were whole lines taken out sometimes.

Other instances of censorship involved the words "broad" and "ass" (I think.) But the most blatant, and disappointing, was when Cliffy was recounting a story about a film he saw involving a mistake on the part of the US president who nuked a part of Russia. So the president nukes New York City to pre-empt any attack from Russia. Cliffy first disparages the Russians (including I think using the word "commies") and then puts down New Yorkers as loud mouth jerks (who probably deserved being nuked anyway). This part of the dialogue was all wiped out. Now, I'm from New York and I know a joke when I hear one and if anything upset me, it was only the censorship.

Maybe it's time to buy the DVDs.

[Tony]

Originally Posted by Mahaloth

They just silence it or what?

Yes, they just silence it, rather than dub in another word. But in the case of the New York/Soviet Russia slur I mentioned, the entire portion was taken out (maybe about forty seconds or so).

[Ellis Dee]

Axing the whole thing may not necessarily be censorship; I'll bet they trim out that much from every episode to make room for more commercials.


To quote Jon Stewart: "Hallmark Movie Channel. For people who find Lifetime too edgy."

[Revtim]

The sad thing is that likely somebody out there was watching 'Cheers' or some other show at 2:30am on Hallmark, heard the word "butt" and was so incensed that they fired off an angry letter demanding that such vile profanities be removed. Maybe several people did.

I would like to see that letter, actually.

[BigBertha]

I was surprised to find (not sure which channel) bleeped out penis and vagina(mispronounced even) on Family Guy.

[RealityChuck]

It's part of Hallmark's "no excuses" policy: You do it their way, no ifs, ands, or butts.

[panache45]

Originally Posted by Tony

Other instances of censorship involved the words "broad" and "ass" (I think.) But the most blatant, and disappointing, was when Cliffy was recounting a story about a film he saw involving a mistake on the part of the US president who nuked a part of Russia. So the president nukes New York City to pre-empt any attack from Russia. Cliffy first disparages the Russians (including I think using the word "commies") and then puts down New Yorkers as loud mouth jerks (who probably deserved being nuked anyway). This part of the dialogue was all wiped out. Now, I'm from New York and I know a joke when I hear one and if anything upset me, it was only the censorship.

I can understand it in the aftermath of 9/11, but not for any other reason. And anyway, unless Hallmark is our government, it's not censorship.

[Blank Slate]

Of course it's censorship. It's just not government censorship.

On the other hand, if the stations fear being fined by the F.C.C, the it's an indirect form of government censorship.

ETA: The FCC has no power over cable stations, so they have no excuse except being overly sensitive to loudmouth prudes.

[Walloon]

Just looked the monthly program list. Only one movie rated TV-14, the crime drama Stone Cold. The rest are all TV-G or TV-PG.

[TBG]

WGN airs Cheers without any such de-butting every night from 5pm to 6pm (Eastern).

This reminds me of when I used to watch Dave's World reruns on Pax, but then they were censoring "ass", not "butt". I don't know if they do any similar censoring of shows now that they're Ion.

I also recall ABC Family cutting out the name "Penthouse" on an Everwood rerun about little kids accidentally discovering adult materials, and completely blurring out the cartons of cigarettes in a convenience store in a 7th Heaven episode about kids trying to buy cigarettes to prove how it's too easy for kids to buy cigarettes. Made the scene look pretty odd, just a clerk surrounded by blurs.

[Revtim]

I just heard them censor "crap", as in "cut the crap".

[Malleus, Incus, Stapes!]

I can see why they'd bleep out something you'd write with an asterisk, butt this is just stupid.

[all_in_wonder]

Yes, watch Cheers and now watch Fraiser and you will hear "crap" and "butt" silenced out, not to mention other horrble words like "puke". And so happy that they censor them for those late night shows. After all, I don't want my kids who are watching the 2 am showing of Cheers to hear the word butt. But, thank god that when they come home from school they can watch Little House and hear the N-word used without any problem.
I guess the whitey folks at Hallmark find that word to be just fine for the kidos to hear in the afternoon, but not for the nostaligic old folks who watch late night TV to hear the word butt.
Maybe at the next Hallmark klan meeting they can discuss their use of the N-word.

[PSXer]

Originally Posted by all_in_wonder

Yes, watch Cheers and now watch Fraiser and you will hear "crap" and "butt" silenced out, not to mention other horrble words like "puke". And so happy that they censor them for those late night shows. After all, I don't want my kids who are watching the 2 am showing of Cheers to hear the word butt. But, thank god that when they come home from school they can watch Little House and hear the N-word used without any problem.
I guess the whitey folks at Hallmark find that word to be just fine for the kidos to hear in the afternoon, but not for the nostaligic old folks who watch late night TV to hear the word butt.
Maybe at the next Hallmark klan meeting they can discuss their use of the N-word.

wow are you really that butthurt over it

people take these things way too seriously

[all_in_wonder]

It's not a hurt, it would just be nice to see the shows in their normal run.
AND - the point was not about the words being removed as much as it was about the racial acts of Hallmark to NOT censor other racially motivative words that air during prime-time kid watching time.
Something tells me I'd rather explain to my 5 year old what a butt is (if he happened to even be up at 2 am) rather than explain what the N-Word was while he watched Little House after school.
But again, in the KlanMark world, that's probably not an issue.

[PSXer]

If they did take it out, they would have people complaining that they are trying to pretty up history and pretend racism never existed

[all_in_wonder]

So the point that censorship is a slippery slope. Cheers and Fraiser are now history too!
I'd much rather my kids go to school and say they got kicked in the butt rather than start spouting out the n-word.
Hallmark is a racist company that just wants to promote its agenda.

[PSXer]

Yeah when they showed MASH on Hallmark, they didn't censor out gook. They must be racist.

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

I wonder how Hallmark is going to handle it when they get to the episode titled "Sam Falls Off the Motherfucking Wagon".


mmm

[crowmanyclouds]

I don't remember what channel, but these lines from Gangs of New York,

Amsterdam Vallon: Would you back an Irish candidate of my chosing...
Boss Tweed: I don't think so.
Amsterdam Vallon: What if we get you all the Irish votes?
Boss Tweed: Mr. Vallon, that will only happen in the reign of Queen Dick!

had "Dick" edited out.

Which was mind numbingly stupid given the next set of lines,

Amsterdam Vallon: Beg your pardon?
Boss Tweed: That means it will never happen.

and silly things like Websters Dictionary.


CMC fnord!

[thursday next]

Personally, I think there is something wrong with a world where Betty White's character Rose can't say "bitch".

[silenus]

I noticed this last night when they bleeped a bunch of dialog from "Frasier." Really stupid.

[Revtim]

Originally Posted by all_in_wonder

But, thank god that when they come home from school they can watch Little House and hear the N-word used without any problem.

Was it actually the "standard" N-word? I recall once many years ago watching an episode of Little House, and there was a bunch of Klansmen (or maybe general racists) and the word they used was something like "nigra". It struck me and my friends as quite hilarious, for some reason.

[Marley23]

I can imagine it being seen as less bad, but "nigra" is certainly a racial slur. For all_in_wonder - does the Hallmark Channel edit out other racial slurs? I'm kind of surprised they air anything like that at all, but I've never watched the channel.

[redtail23]

Say what da hoo now? Last I knew, "nigra" was just a regional pronunciation of "negro", which was at one time a polite word.

[Revtim]

Originally Posted by Marley23

I can imagine it being seen as less bad, but "nigra" is certainly a racial slur. For all_in_wonder - does the Hallmark Channel edit out other racial slurs? I'm kind of surprised they air anything like that at all, but I've never watched the channel.

Absolutely it's a racial slur, I didn't mean to imply otherwise. I was just curious if that's what was being said in the episode all_in_wonder saw.

[BigT]

I had always assumed this was a regular feature of reairings, as it wasn't until I was an adult that I remember ever hearing even those mild swears on old shows. For example, I do not remember ever hearing Rose say "bitch," and I watched Golden Girls a lot (as, for some reason, it was always on before some other show I wanted to watch, and it grew on me.)

Also, I believe the female form of Negro is/was Negress.

[JohnT]

Originally Posted by all_in_wonder

It's not a hurt, it would just be nice to see the shows in their normal run.
AND - the point was not about the words being removed as much as it was about the racial acts of Hallmark to NOT censor other racially motivative words that air during prime-time kid watching time.
Something tells me I'd rather explain to my 5 year old what a butt is (if he happened to even be up at 2 am) rather than explain what the N-Word was while he watched Little House after school.
But again, in the KlanMark world, that's probably not an issue.

And knowing five year-old's familiarity with the concept of a "butt", explaining it to them is not an issue either.

I completely agree with you. They used the N-word in Little House?

[A_Forest_Lady]

I personally have a hard time watching stuff that is edited down. However, a few weeks ago I decided to watch the Scorsese's movie Taxi Driver on AMC. This was mid-afternoon. I thought it would be edited to pieces. Well, I'm not sure if it was edited at all. I'd seen the film years ago but I can't be sure if I saw ever single frame. There was a lot of hard dialogue unedited. I must admit, I was surprised.

[Patty O'Furniture]

PAX TV presents: The Sopranos (edited for content)

[TBG]

Just how man times did they say nigger on Little House? It certainly wouldn't be as common as "butt" would be on an 80's sitcom. And I bet the episode(s) in question had a "racism is bad" message to it that would be undercut by bleeping.

[Kyrie Eleison]

It's the Hallmark channel, Jake...

[Revtim]

I'm watching 'Cheers' on Netflix streaming, and I'm surprised to see that they are censoring 'butt' here too. But instead of silencing it out, they replace it with 'whorefucking arse'. Odd.

[sqweels]

I think it's funny that they display your grandmother's hypersensitivity.