# Neo gives Agent Smith the flipper **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 10, 2009, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neo-gives-agent-smith-the-flipper/492593 "2009-04-10T00:36:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neo-gives-agent-smith-the-flipper/492593/1 "2009-04-10T00:36:06Z")
The flipper? Really? I just got cable last month after not having it for about 2 years. I noticed an annoying synchronization of ads between channels fairly quickly, but overboard movie censoring just struck last night. I don’t post much in CS, but I was hoping to find out [ul][li]Does this happen a lot on cable?[/li][li]What the fuzz is wrong with the good old finger?[/li][/ul] In case it matters, this is some network I’d never heard of before called PeachTree. They also cut out the spoon, so there really _wasn’t_ one. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neo-gives-agent-smith-the-flipper/492593/2 "2009-04-10T01:26:36Z")
Yep- happens all the time. I personally hate that one, because I found that line hilarious- “Why don’t I give you… the _finger_… then you give me my phone call.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neo-gives-agent-smith-the-flipper/492593/3 "2009-04-10T01:30:39Z")
I picture a poorly matted seal flipper sliding on screen to cover Keanu’s hand when he says this. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neo-gives-agent-smith-the-flipper/492593/4 "2009-04-10T01:32:45Z")
I can pretty much guarantee that everyone involved in that edit knew how ridiculous it was. They knew the edited line was silly and knew that you’d know the edited line was silly. The censor who said, “Okay, that new line is fine for broadcast” knew it was silly though it was his job to say, “Hey, this might offend half a dozen nut jobs in Peoria so we have to cut it.” Such is the crazy world of commercial television. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neo-gives-agent-smith-the-flipper/492593/5 "2009-04-10T01:36:13Z")
BTW, Peachtree used to be WTBS. ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neo-gives-agent-smith-the-flipper/492593/6 "2009-04-10T02:22:19Z")
I just rented that for its annual airing at the lair; perhaps the reason Neo’s finger is at the bottom of the screen is to facilitate its inevitable editing. Thought it was always a little weird he flipped it from his lap. Or not. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neo-gives-agent-smith-the-flipper/492593/7 "2009-04-10T16:03:43Z")
“Give me the keys, you fairy godmother brother hugger lover mugger blah blah blah!” McManus - _The Usual Suspects_ ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neo-gives-agent-smith-the-flipper/492593/8 "2009-04-10T17:10:54Z")
Man! They always forget you at the drive thru! – Joe Pesci, Lethal Weapon #whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neo-gives-agent-smith-the-flipper/492593/9 "2009-04-10T17:16:27Z")
> [@JSexton](#): > > “Give me the keys, you fairy godmother brother hugger lover mugger blah blah blah!” “You motherfather Chinese dentist!” -Mr. Show ---
**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:** [April 10, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neo-gives-agent-smith-the-flipper/492593/10 "2009-04-10T18:22:26Z")
> [@Manduck](#): > > BTW, Peachtree used to be WTBS. According to [Wikipedia,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WPCH-TV) Peachtree, or WPCH, is an over-the-air station, formerly Atlanta’s WTBS, and still broadcasting on Channel 17. Though owned by Turner Broadcasting, it is separate from TBS’ nationwide cable feed. As a broadcast station, it is subject to F.C.C. rules and enforcement, whether it is subsequently rebroadcast on a cable system or not. ---
**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:** [April 10, 2009, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neo-gives-agent-smith-the-flipper/492593/11 "2009-04-10T18:30:28Z")
Watch **Casino** on TBS sometime. It’s hilarious. “Freak you, you freakin’ mother freaker!!” ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neo-gives-agent-smith-the-flipper/492593/12 "2009-04-10T18:32:46Z")
I saw [Quick Change](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100449/) on an airplane. I think it’s a funny movie, and it actually added a certain amount of amusement to hear a tough mobster tell the other mobster to “Open the viking door.” ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neo-gives-agent-smith-the-flipper/492593/13 "2009-04-10T18:36:59Z")
According to [IMDB](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118715/trivia) > [@](#): > > When Comedy Central was attempting to edit the scene where Walter is destroying the car which he thinks belongs to Larry Sellars they didn’t know how to cut Walter saying “do you see what happens when you fuck a stranger in the ass” without having to do severe editing which would ruin any flow in the scene. To solve this they decided just to re-dub it, and the phrase they chose? “Do you see what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps?”. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neo-gives-agent-smith-the-flipper/492593/14 "2009-04-10T19:23:31Z")
The censored version of the Beezleboss song from The Pick of Destiny is atrocious fun. Whoever thought \*that \*movie, of all things, could be made kiddie friendly, when it’s basically built on crass humor and profanity for profanity’s sake (not to mention matter-of-fact satanism), should be committed. But quite obviously, Jack Black just ran with it. [Enjoy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ng8te4HdJM). Kiddie friendliness achieved ? Only if you’re fudging stoned, mother trucker 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neo-gives-agent-smith-the-flipper/492593/15 "2009-04-10T19:30:12Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > “You motherfather Chinese dentist!” > > -Mr. Show It’s not the same without the thumbs-up. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neo-gives-agent-smith-the-flipper/492593/16 "2009-04-12T23:54:26Z")
FYI, I emailed them about this (pointing out that 10 seconds after the incident in question, Neo gets his mouth erased and is injected with a robo-insect-tracker), and got this back: > [@someone cutting and pasting](#): > > […]Peachtree TV broadcasts over-the-air and has to abide by the stricter broadcast standards imposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on conventional broadcast services. Our editing policies follow long-standing criteria of television programming that have generally been accepted by the viewing public. Even after editing, we still receive complaints about curse words, gore and sex included in the occasional program or commercial that we air and this trend is quite likely to continue. Which means it’s society, man. Maybe they should have started making people sign a waiver before selling them an HD aerial… it’s probably too late now. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Tyrrell\_McAllister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tyrrell_mcallister/32/16772_2.png) [@Tyrrell\_McAllister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tyrrell_McAllister)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neo-gives-agent-smith-the-flipper/492593/17 "2009-04-13T10:40:21Z")
For those who’d like to compare the pre- and post-edited versions of the finger/flipper scene: With finger: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evyS0colujs](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evyS0colujs) With flipper: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX6LynBm90M](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX6LynBm90M) ---
**Author:** ![paffinity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ec9cab/32.png) [@paffinity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paffinity)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neo-gives-agent-smith-the-flipper/492593/18 "2009-04-13T14:33:25Z")
The flipper one became a running gag in my house about five years ago. My favorite is on the special features of _Shawn of the Dead_: “It’s four in the funking morning! I’ve got to to funking work in four funking hours, because everyone in my funking department is funking ill. Now can you see why I’m funking angry!?” ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neo-gives-agent-smith-the-flipper/492593/19 "2009-04-13T15:24:59Z")
This Tuesday, on FX. Snakes on a Plane. Just the commercials have already butchered Jackson’s line. :dubious: