# If TV censorship had been less restrictive back in the day... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 24, 2015, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-tv-censorship-had-been-less-restrictive-back-in-the-day/735613 "2015-10-24T13:33:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-tv-censorship-had-been-less-restrictive-back-in-the-day/735613/21 "2015-10-24T21:30:33Z")
We would have seen Sam The Butcher _really_ giving Alice some sausage! ---
**Author:** ![Dante\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@Dante\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante_G)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-tv-censorship-had-been-less-restrictive-back-in-the-day/735613/22 "2015-10-24T21:31:39Z")
I think there would have been alot more fighting amongst the Brady Bunch and I bet the Addams Family and The Munsters would be a lot darker and more creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-tv-censorship-had-been-less-restrictive-back-in-the-day/735613/23 "2015-10-24T21:45:32Z")
I’m picturing Daniel Craig’s first kill bathroom scene performed by Don Adams. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-tv-censorship-had-been-less-restrictive-back-in-the-day/735613/24 "2015-10-24T21:59:39Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > It would have been much plainer that Gunsmoke’s Miss Kitty was running a brothel. This occurred to me also. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-tv-censorship-had-been-less-restrictive-back-in-the-day/735613/25 "2015-10-24T22:44:54Z")
James T Kirk, Male Prostitute A lot more bloodshed in the Munster’s house. Gomez and Morticia arrested for “Outraging Public Decency” . ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-tv-censorship-had-been-less-restrictive-back-in-the-day/735613/26 "2015-10-24T22:53:40Z")
I’m not sure Danny Kaye’s _Game of Thrones_ would have had the same gravitas… ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-tv-censorship-had-been-less-restrictive-back-in-the-day/735613/27 "2015-10-24T23:21:23Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Jeannie’s belly button. I was always happy just to watch her boobs jiggle whenever she crossed her arms. :o ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-tv-censorship-had-been-less-restrictive-back-in-the-day/735613/28 "2015-10-24T23:24:02Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > It would have been much plainer that Gunsmoke’s Miss Kitty was running a brothel. So _that’s_ what all those rooms at the top of the stairs were for! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-tv-censorship-had-been-less-restrictive-back-in-the-day/735613/29 "2015-10-24T23:26:24Z")
The bathroom the six Brady kids shared would have had a toilet. They would have referred to Lucy’s condition as “pregnant” before she had Little Ricky. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-tv-censorship-had-been-less-restrictive-back-in-the-day/735613/30 "2015-10-25T00:01:03Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > So _that’s_ what all those rooms at the top of the stairs were for! :smack: The clever part was that could pass as that the saloon was at the same time the diner and inn, and more wholesome minds would be none the wiser. > [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > The bathroom the six Brady kids shared would have had a toilet. > They would have referred to Lucy’s condition as “pregnant” before she had Little Ricky. Right. The really ridiculous part of old TV censorship was that it often involved cutting out things that would otherwise not raise an eyebrow in everyday life but were supposed to be “private”. Avoidance of gratuituous profanity/gore/prurience is different, that _is_ what one \*would \*expect; but avoidance of acknowledging the existence of the toilet commode or the usage of the word “pregnant”, comes across as just trying too hard, a sign that they felt the pressure of how TV was suspected of being a corrupting force. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-tv-censorship-had-been-less-restrictive-back-in-the-day/735613/31 "2015-10-25T00:08:33Z")
> [@Catamount](#): > > Gilligan’s Island would have been a lot more interesting. The Skipper and Gilligan would have finally been able to express their love, and the Professor would be involved in a threesome with Ginger and Mary Ann. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-tv-censorship-had-been-less-restrictive-back-in-the-day/735613/32 "2015-10-25T00:08:55Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Uncle Arthur might have become TV’s first openly gay character. Or are there gay warlocks? There was no doubt, even in those days, that both Paul Lynde and the character he played were confirmed bachelors. These days they might give him a boyfriend, but really, even before my hormones kicked in, it was obvious that Uncle Arthur was “different”. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-tv-censorship-had-been-less-restrictive-back-in-the-day/735613/33 "2015-10-25T00:12:41Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > I’m picturing Daniel Craig’s first kill bathroom scene performed by Don Adams. Would you believe I slapped him really hard? OK, would you believe I prodded him with my finger? ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-tv-censorship-had-been-less-restrictive-back-in-the-day/735613/34 "2015-10-25T00:16:47Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > The costumes on _ **Star Trek: TOS** _ would have been far more revealing than they already were. One of the scripts for **Star Trek: Phase II** featured nudity (IIRC Roddenberry though Earth would be a clothing optional paradise by the 23rd century. Moving forward to the 1980s; the Visitors in **V** would’ve stripped their victims naked before freezing them or using the torture beam. The flesh coloured unitards we saw instead were clearly meant to evoke nudity. Also we would’ve seen the Visitors eating things larger than mice onscreen. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-tv-censorship-had-been-less-restrictive-back-in-the-day/735613/35 "2015-10-25T00:27:20Z")
In _Car 54, Where Are You?_ Toody and Muldoon would have been on the take. On _Alfred Hitchcock Presents_, Hitch wouldn’t have to come on at the end to say the murderers eventually paid for their crimes. Some would get away with it. On _Happy Days_, the Fonz would be boosting cars and selling them for parts. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-tv-censorship-had-been-less-restrictive-back-in-the-day/735613/36 "2015-10-25T00:28:37Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Would you believe I slapped him really hard? > > OK, would you believe I prodded him with my finger? **[Voice of 99]:** Max… Ooooooooooooh, Max! :o ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-tv-censorship-had-been-less-restrictive-back-in-the-day/735613/37 "2015-10-25T00:30:30Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > The clever part was that could pass as that the saloon was at the same time the diner and inn, and more wholesome minds would be none the wiser. Hey, it didn’t dawn on me until I was 20! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-tv-censorship-had-been-less-restrictive-back-in-the-day/735613/38 "2015-10-25T00:43:25Z")
You would have heard the sound of a toilet flushing offscreen in the Kramdens’ apartment. Alice would be going through “that time of the month.” Ed would have complained that the sewer smells better than one of Ralph’s farts. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-tv-censorship-had-been-less-restrictive-back-in-the-day/735613/39 "2015-10-25T02:05:08Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Uncle Arthur might have become TV’s first openly gay character. Or are there gay warlocks? Nah, Zelda Gilroy and Jane Hathaway would have beaten him to the punch. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-tv-censorship-had-been-less-restrictive-back-in-the-day/735613/40 "2015-10-25T04:01:48Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > … how might your favorite shows been different? > > But would the Ricardos and the Mertzes have swapped partners?? :eek: > > Whaddaya think? [I think Vivian Vance would have been okay with that.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeAWr1xXFdg)I read somewhere that Vivian had a thing for Desi and made no secret about it. Happy Days would have resembled a cheesy softcore porn. Laverne and Shirley would have “experimented”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-tv-censorship-had-been-less-restrictive-back-in-the-day/735613.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-tv-censorship-had-been-less-restrictive-back-in-the-day/735613.md?page=3)