On South Park (Wednesday 04-10-02) when they were looking for a new friend to replace Kenny, I could have sworn that during the rose hand out scene Cartman said “The rest of you, thanks for coming. Now get the fuck out”.:eek:
Did he say that on prime time television, or did I hear wrong?
It sounded like “fudge” to me. I didn’t think they had language restrictions on CC anyway?
Sounded like “fuck” to me.
Unless I’m suffering a moment of delirium, I seem to remember them saying it a lot.
I also am 99% positive he was saying “fudge.” He said it quickly, so it sounded worse. But hey, they did have an episode where “Shit” was said over 100 times.
Comedy Central is a cable station just like HBO correct? As such, they have no responsibility to censor any of their shows even though I do notice that they dub over most naughty words in movies shown during the day. Because the appeal of South Park hinges on the fact that it is so obscene and shocking, I have no doubt that they have said “Fuck” and every other bad word on many different episodes.
I thought he said “fuck” too at first, but then he was clearly saying “fudge” later, so I’ll bet it was fudge from the beginning.
They made such a big deal when they said “shit”, I doubt they’d just start saying “fuck” without a bunch of fanfare.
I too thought he said “Get the f— out. . .” at first. I was reading at the same time as watching the show, so I wasn’t sure. I immediately backed it up (I have a ReplayTv device) and listened a couple of times, and he definately said “fudge”. But he said it very quickly, and not very clearly.
I think they were trying to get exactly the effect that they did. They wanted us to be surprised and wonder if he said what we thought he did. Later on in the show, it was a little clearer that he was saying “fudge” though. Anyway, there have been several times when I’m pretty sure that Kenny said the F-word and they relied on the muffled effect to get away with it.
I wonder why this matters.
South Park is an adult animation series. In Ireland and in the UK it is shown late at night on broadcast stations as well as cable and satellite. If its audience is adult, who cares if it Cartman says the word “fuck”? Why fudge this by saying “fudge” ?
Is American TV is highly censored for “bad language”? I have never watched much of it, as it seems to be low quality, boring stuff.
Over here, late at night you can have nudity and bad language, so long as it is limited. Regulators only clamp down if obscenity goes too far towards porn or if it is the point of the programme rather than incidental to it.
There is something more important to discuss. Is it correct that the first use of the word “fuck” in a live TV broadcast was in the 1970’s on the Irish Television programme the Late Late Show, by Christy Brown, the paraplegic author? (He wrote “Down All the Days” which was made into a movie a few years back.)
Can anyone suggest an earlier instance?
Cartman said “fudge.” It ties back to an earlier episode, “Chef’s Chocolate Salty Balls,” where Chef tries to see his new line of cookies during the South Park Film Festival:
[ul][li]Fudge 'Ems[/li][li]Fudge This[/li][li]Go Fudge Yourself[/li][li]I Don’t Really Give a Flying Fudge[/li][li]I Just Went And Fudged Your Momma![/ul][/li]I’m pretty sure that “fuck” is still not permitted on broadcast TV or basic cable.
While I don’t have cable, I do have all of the South Park DVDs, and I’m willing to bet they didn’t say it, as that word is bleeped out in all the episodes I’ve seen on DVD. Only in the movie have I ever heard it said without a bleep.
I saw the episode, and Cartman says “fudge” dozens of times. But I’m pretty sure that ONCE, only once, Cartman “slipped” and said the real cuss word, rather than fudge.
If I had the show on tape, I might find that I misheard, and that he only said “fudge.” But I suspect that Parker and Stone deliberately had Cartman say “fudge” repeatedly just so they could sneak in the F-bomb.
There are no restrictions on cable. The only reason it’s censored is because of the advertisers.
Are the advertisers the reasons why whenever CC shows a movie like “Stripes,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Bull Durham,” etc., all of the “naughty language” is dubbed out?
Cite? With the exception of the “shit” episode of South Park, I’ve almost never heard anything stronger than damn on basic cable. Although I haven’t reasearched the subject, I do have a friend in broadcasting who told me (some years ago) that the FCC will fine you for cussing on TV just as they’re always fining Howard Stern for cussing on the radio.
–Cliffy
Nope.
The FCC restricts “obscene and indecent” material on radio, television and basic cable television.
Obscene material
Indecent material
Kamandi, I don’t see anything in that link or your cite that mentions Cable TV at all, or differentiates between basic and premium channels.
I tend to agree with SmackFu; I believe that cable is censored only because of the advertisers.
After listening to it again on video tape, I now concur that he is saying “fudge”. However, when it was playing the first time on t.v., and I wasn’t watching/listening very closely, it really did sound like f*ck.
They have never clearly said “fuck” in an episode of South Park. However, in the bin Laden episode, you can pretty easily make out Kenny saying “No fuckin’ way dude” when they ask if he can keep the goat at his house.
My post immediately above yours specifically mentions that the FCC’s Media Bureau includes cable television in the media it oversees. The link and quoted material about obscene and indecent material (from my first post) is linked directly from the Media Bureau web page (right side of page, under MB Fact Sheets, “Obscene and Indecent Broadcasts”).
Elsewhere on the FCC’s site it’s made pretty clear (at least to me) that the FCC considers cable subject to the same rules that cover broadcast TV and radio. For example, here is a FAQ page dealing with broadcast TV and cable. It has an enlightening quote:
Admittedly, I couldn’t find anything on the FCC’s site that specifically differentiated basic cable (like Comedy Central) from “pay” cable channels like HBO and Playboy. Clearly, those channels are treated differently.
Isn’t it true that these channels are scrambled, and need a decoder device (and a subscription) to watch them? This must be sufficient to get past the restrictions on obscene and indecent content.