# "Happy F\*\*\*ing New Year" on the Tonight Show? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 1, 2005, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-f-ing-new-year-on-the-tonight-show/282531 "2005-01-01T05:16:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-f-ing-new-year-on-the-tonight-show/282531/21 "2005-01-02T21:34:55Z")
I think the reasoning behind laxer rules after midnight is just that young, impressionable kids are probably asleep. On New Years, they’re more likely to still be up, so **Sample\_the\_Dog** may be wrong in this particular case. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-f-ing-new-year-on-the-tonight-show/282531/22 "2005-01-02T22:06:42Z")
> [@The Great Zamboni](#): > > Don’t underestimate the Offendees. Some people actually troll for these things. I did hear it too. I tell ya’ I thought my ears were burning. My Goodness, I couldn’t sleep. :rolleyes: The trauma! Probably an UL, but supposedly the pron channel got swapped out with a basic channel on a cable system in NYC, and it stayed like that for some hours before the cable company caught their mistake. One of the “outraged citizens” interviewed about the matter is said to have stated, “It was terrible, we watched it for six hours.” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-f-ing-new-year-on-the-tonight-show/282531/23 "2005-01-02T22:06:52Z")
> [@TeaElle](#): > > I hope Vince Neil has invested well. Why? It would be the station that gets fined, not him. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-f-ing-new-year-on-the-tonight-show/282531/24 "2005-01-02T22:08:58Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Why? It would be the station that gets fined, not him. In light of the Teat of Terror incident, the Feds have changed the rules, so that the “artist” can be fined as well. That’s one of the reasons Stern’s leaving broadcast radio. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Zamboni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@The\_Great\_Zamboni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Zamboni)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-f-ing-new-year-on-the-tonight-show/282531/25 "2005-01-02T22:32:45Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > Probably an UL, but supposedly the pron channel got swapped out with a basic channel on a cable system in NYC, and it stayed like that for some hours before the cable company caught their mistake. One of the “outraged citizens” interviewed about the matter is said to have stated, “It was terrible, we watched it for six hours.” I guess they wanted to make sure that all of the programming was porn before they complained, lest their complaints go unfounded. :rolleyes: Isn’t that kind of like _Casablanca_?: “I’m outraged! Outraged that there could be gambling here.” I’m paraphrasing, of course. I don’t know the actual line. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-f-ing-new-year-on-the-tonight-show/282531/26 "2005-01-02T22:41:08Z")
> [@The Great Zamboni](#): > > I guess they wanted to make sure that all of the programming was porn before they complained, lest their complaints go unfounded. :rolleyes: > > Isn’t that kind of like _Casablanca_?: “I’m outraged! Outraged that there could be gambling here.” I’m paraphrasing, of course. I don’t know the actual line. IIRC, it’s “I’m shocked! Shocked to discover that there’s gambling going on here!” At which point, one of Rick’s employees scurries up and says, “Your winnings, sir.” ---
**Author:** ![soulburnz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@soulburnz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulburnz)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-f-ing-new-year-on-the-tonight-show/282531/27 "2005-01-03T00:30:08Z")
> [@Sample\_the\_Dog](#): > > Yup, Bono was [cleared](http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/12/23/findlaw.analysis.hilden.indecency/). > > About 15 years ago when I was living in Florida, a local radio station used to play any-and-every-thing between midnight and some wee hour. They aired a disclaimer before the free-wheeling began, stating that these hours were not regulated by the FCC. That doesn’t work anyway… it aired Live… between 10:30-11:30pm here in Central Time Zone. And I would assume the same regs don’t apply to radio as TV, or there would be all kinds of raunchy shit on after midnight. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-f-ing-new-year-on-the-tonight-show/282531/28 "2005-01-03T00:44:38Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > In light of the Teat of Terror incident, the Feds have changed the rules, so that the “artist” can be fined as well. That’s one of the reasons Stern’s leaving broadcast radio. Ah, great. I’m glad we invented these media so somebody could censor them. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![CapnPitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/edb3f5/32.png) [@CapnPitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CapnPitt)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-f-ing-new-year-on-the-tonight-show/282531/29 "2005-01-03T02:32:31Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > In light of the Teat of Terror incident, the Feds have changed the rules, so that the “artist” can be fined as well. That’s one of the reasons Stern’s leaving broadcast radio. Do you have a cite by any chance? I’m ashamed of myself for missing that gem of information. Thanks in advance. I’ll resume weeping for my country elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Sample\_the\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sample\_the\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sample_the_Dog)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-f-ing-new-year-on-the-tonight-show/282531/30 "2005-01-03T02:58:20Z")
> [@CapnPitt](#): > > Do you have a cite by any chance? [Here you go](http://www.hillnews.com/daily_features/may4.aspx). > [@](#): > > While well-intentioned, this legislation could significantly chill provocative and creative expression on the airwaves by subjecting broadcasters and performers to inordinate fines for violations of vague and ambiguous indecency standards… The legislation under consideration by the Senate (S. 2056) would increase the existing fines on individual performers or announcers by almost 5,000 percent (from $11,000 to $500,000) for an initial indecency violation while increasing fines for broadcast licensees by 1,000 percent for the first violation (from $27,500 to $275,000). ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-f-ing-new-year-on-the-tonight-show/282531/31 "2005-01-03T03:12:30Z")
> [@CapnPitt](#): > > I’ll resume weeping for my country elsewhere. [It’s a good day for that.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=294841) ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-f-ing-new-year-on-the-tonight-show/282531/32 "2005-01-03T07:10:33Z")
[Federal Communications Commission](http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/obscene.html): > [@](#): > > Like indecency, profane speech is prohibited on broadcast radio and television between the hours of 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. ---
**Author:** ![Sample\_the\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sample\_the\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sample_the_Dog)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-f-ing-new-year-on-the-tonight-show/282531/33 "2005-01-03T07:41:58Z")
> [@FCC](#): > > Obscene speech is not protected by the First Amendment and cannot be broadcast at any time. To be obscene, material must meet a three-prong test: > > - An average person, applying contemporary community standards, must find that the material, as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest; > > - The material must depict or describe, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by applicable law; and > > - The material, taken as a whole, must lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. Only sex is obscene. Not violence. Not bigotry. Not hate. \ I love this country, but sometimes it’s got its head in the wrong place. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-f-ing-new-year-on-the-tonight-show/282531/34 "2005-01-03T16:53:56Z")
> [@Sample\_the\_Dog](#): > > Only sex is obscene. Not violence. Not bigotry. Not hate. \ I love this country, but sometimes it’s got its head in the wrong place. The last thing we need is the government deciding MORE things are obscene or trying to figure out what hate or bigotry is. It wouldn’t improve anything, trust me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-f-ing-new-year-on-the-tonight-show/282531.md?page=1)