So I’m watching CSI (on CBS) and they have the standard warning, “Do to brief nudity and scenes of violence, parental discretion is advised.” I’m figuring “Okay, a couple of ass-shots, NYPD Blue has done that a few times lately, no big deal.”
Surprise, they find a naked woman/victim, sort of face down/on her side, so we are, indeed, treated to a very nice rump-shot. Then, the unexpected: a nipple. Panning across the body, a very perky, very nice nipple is clearly visible atop an equally perky and full breast. A few minutes later, as they are examining the body, they angle across the body again and, once again, there is a very nice, very erect nipple.
Now, call me confused, but I thought that was a no-no. Are they just figuring that since they are opposite the Victoria’s Secret show they can get away with a bit more flesh than normal or did I miss a recent FCC announcement?
Funny you should mention that. While watching a snippet of the Victoria’s Secret “Fashion” Show (and gnashing my teeth ) I noticed that they blurred the nipples on the bras that were sheer. So maybe the powers that be decided the nipple on CSI had artistic value. Of course a few nights ago you could watch men being shot through the head and looking for dismembered limbs on ABC, but TNT felt the need to edit out the words “horny” and “penis” when they aired Austin Powers.
Let’s not forget that comedy central seems to think that the charachter name Lily Von Schtupp is more offensive than the N word when they air Blazing Saddles.
What’s up with that?
Well, call me cynical, but I would not be at all surprised to find out that, according to the standards-and-practises folks, it was okay because it was a dead nipple. Y’know… violence (dead nipple) is okay, but s-e-x (nipple on a living woman) is right out.
At times like these I love it that I am from a country where breasts can be shown any time of the day on national TV. The endless hypocricy of banning nudity and promoting violence on TV never ceases to amaze me.
I was just about to start a thread on this exact same subject. Damn you thinksnow.
On a completely unrelated note, Tyra Banks was by far the hottest woman on the show all night. Yup.
Continuing on that unrelated note, was it just me or was that the most boring thing shown on teevee? OK, the interviews at the beginning was unintentionally humorous, but after about 5 minutes of the catwalk, I had to turn to CSI to combat the ennui.
I’d have thought that women prancing around half naked would be more entertaining.
Regarding editing, isn’t that done by the distributor? I don’t think the network, TNT or Comedy Central, have any say. That is all done ahead of time. The producers of the movie, or the distributor, decide at the time of release what the dubbing will be. That’s why older movies from the 80’s might have words like sonafabitch or godamn edited out when shown on TV.
Just a guess though.
bloody hell you yanks and nudity. nothing wrong with nipples is there? blimey it’s not as if they showed some hardcore anal sex antics or something is it? and blurring out nipples on sheer bras? crumbs. i thought us in UK were bad but that takes the biscuit.
Jeeze, they got over the full frontal nudity thing oh about ten years ago here in good old Kiwi Land.
As long as it has artistic merit, is a logical part of the program and is screened after 8.30pm it’s OK. However it will get a warning before the show.
The rest of the world is rather puzzeled by the sex is bad but violence is OK attitude that the US media seems (at least at a distance) to have.
Broadcast TV doesn’t seem to have any concrete rules about nudity…it’s really up to the individual shows and networks. For instance I remember on the Craig Kilborn show, he had Julie Warner on. The main topic was a brief bare bottom scene she did in “Family Law”. When they showed the clip on the Kilborn show the lower buttocks were edited out. Yet in the original, her rear endwas in full view.
Kilborn, in a rare moment of clarity, wondered out loud why it was perfectly fine to show Ms. Warner’s naked posterior at 9:00 or 10:00 PM, but forbidden to show the scene after midnight on the exact same network.
Also does anyone remember Meredith Baxter (from “Family Ties”) plopping hers out in “My Breast”? It was a very asexual clinical setting though. I suppose that’s how CSI got away with it.
Also PBS has nudity quite often…usually when showing imported British productions. It’s antenna TV, yet not blurred out. I remember “Moll Flanders” on TV and being actually surprised to see certain parts on an unscrambled channel.
well i never knew USA was like that about nudity. seems quite odd. you say things get censored again after 12 midnight??? in uk we have censor laws but they are a bit more relaxed and go from 9pm until i think it’s 4am is ok for sex stuff. do kids in USA wake up at 12 midnight to watch TV?
Actually, no. It’s much more random than that. The censoring is handled at each network by their Broadcasts Standards and Practices department. Basically it is their job to confound the viewers at home as to what is and isn’t allowed on TV.
For example, the Letterman show won an Emmy (fourth one for him). The show that was nominated included the “On Golden Pond” rant. CBS had run a live teevee movie–“On Golden Pond”-- where a character said ‘bullshit,’ and the profanity was not bleeped. However, CBS had let Letterman know that he couldn’t say the word without it being bleeped. *However (again), *Letterman was free to run the clip from “On Golden Pond” where the kid says ‘bullshit,’ and they won’t bleep that. So as a running gag, we have Letterman being censored for saying a naughty word, but a teenager is allowed to say that very word.
You mean they really killed that woman playing the victim, simply to be able to show her nipple?! Those wacky studio guys! They’ll do anything for ratings during sweeps month!
Tangent: As I was turning the channel after Survivor, I saw the CSI warning for “brief nudity”. I couldn’t resist turning to Mrs. watsonwil and remarking “You know? The only nudity I like better than brief nudity is extended nudity!” I got the slap!
This is a pet peeve because I would like to see the breast desexualized a little more. I mean, not that I don’t want Mr Cranky turned on by a shot of me sans bra, but I would like Cranky Jr to grow up without going through the period where he giggles when he sees “a booby.” The sooner we think that a bare breast on TV is no big deal (albeit a beautiful artistic thing to see), the better, in my book.
I used to think a bare breast was a big deal. Then I breastfed for 13 months, and hung out with people who are breastfeeding toddlers. I hate the way some of us had to skulk around in public because God Forbid Anyone Saw Some Titty And Got Offended.
Some broadcasts of RHPS have Columbia’s nipple area pixellated out. Why? The special airing that Fox did with the stage performance did not do this and I could not see anything peeking out from under that bustier anyway!
) I noticed that they blurred the nipples on the bras that were sheer. So maybe the powers that be decided the nipple on CSI had artistic value. Of course a few nights ago you could watch men being shot through the head and looking for dismembered limbs on ABC, but TNT felt the need to edit out the words “horny” and “penis” when they aired Austin Powers.