Yes, it’s probably been going on for a while, but I’ve only recently just noticed many basic cable shows, such as “Rizzoli and Isles” saying “shit,” :eek: and maybe other curse words I haven’t seen yet, during prime time. Any reasons for this, beyond trying to be more like HBO, such as looser industry regulations?
Here’s a thread from 2001 discussing them saying shit on cable and broadcast TV:
It has been a long time but I’d say it is becoming more and more common as shows flex the limits, internal standards & practices teams adjust their requirements.
On Rizzoli & Isles it is usually used in such a clunky manner I can almost picture they said it and some PA shouts out “That’s our one time!”
The FCC oversees (and enforces) obscenity / profanity rules on broadcast television. It does not do any such enforcement on cable networks, such as TNT (which airs “Rizzoli & Isles”).
From the FCC itself:
In other words, there’s no official regulation of the cable networks in this regard, and so, there are no recent changes which have loosened things. Whether or not shows on those networks choose to drop S-bombs, F-bombs, or any other sort of bombs is (and always has been) entirely a decision made by those networks’ Standards and Practices people. (Note that, when Ted Turner owned the Turner networks, they would bleep out “goddamn” in movies and shows, Mr. Turner not being a fan of blasphemous language.)
And, yes, it’s become increasingly likely to hear profanity on non-premium cable channels over the past few years, but it’s not a new trend, as that old thread demonstrates.
It’s in more and more shows.
South Park managed to say it 162 times in one episode. 14 years ago. On basic cable.
I’ve heard f-bombs dropped on Comedy Central for movies running way past midnight.
Heck, I’ve seen performances by George Carlin doing his 7 words monologue or later versions of it on HBO. And that was back in the 80s. You can say the heavy 7 on cable and not on broadcast. This is news now?
I have noticed “fart” sneaking in on broadcast lately.