# Should the word 'Fuck' be allowed into Primetime Cable Television? Poll **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 28, 2003, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-word-fuck-be-allowed-into-primetime-cable-television-poll/210020 "2003-10-28T14:20:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-word-fuck-be-allowed-into-primetime-cable-television-poll/210020/41 "2003-10-29T03:35:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ellis Aponte Jr. \* > \*\*Whom are we protecting? > People seem to be saying the children. > In my neighborhood the children are the main speakers of the word. \*\* Amen to that. Maybe once children hear it every thirty seconds on TV, they’ll stop believeing that using it every thrity seconds themselves makes them any more bold, daring, outrageous, and rebellious. ---
**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 29, 2003, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-word-fuck-be-allowed-into-primetime-cable-television-poll/210020/42 "2003-10-29T11:18:37Z")
For myself, I just don’t like hearing it. It’s not so much offensive or shocking as annoying. So, lots of people use it and you hear it everywhere you go - that doesn’t mean it’s any less annoying. Sometimes, I want to scream “Grow a vocabulary!!” ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-word-fuck-be-allowed-into-primetime-cable-television-poll/210020/43 "2003-10-29T14:23:42Z")
**[Doctor Phil]** - _“Now the reason your wife is having so much trouble sleeping is because you snore too fucking loud!”_ **[/Doctor Phil]** 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-word-fuck-be-allowed-into-primetime-cable-television-poll/210020/44 "2003-10-29T14:51:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by FairyChatMom \* > \*\*For myself, I just don’t like hearing it. It’s not so much offensive or shocking as annoying. \*\* Again, I can see that in real life. But which would you find more annoying to come out of the bad guy’s mouth on television: a) I’m going to kill your whole fucking family! or b) I’m going to kill your whole friggin’ family! The second one just annoys the shoot out of me, far more than the word “fuck” could ever annoy me. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-word-fuck-be-allowed-into-primetime-cable-television-poll/210020/45 "2003-10-29T15:21:35Z")
It will be nice to see Pat Robertson fly into yet another tizzy on the 700 Club. ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-word-fuck-be-allowed-into-primetime-cable-television-poll/210020/46 "2003-10-29T19:45:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SpectBrain \* > \*\*We need new forbidden words, words that when used will result in a whole new generation getting threatened with having their mouths washed out with soap. \*\* _crying_ No no no no no no! Poor Sleeping Beauty can’t prick her finger on the spinning wheel anymore! ☹ There should be discretion though, on when the word “fuck” would be used. I agree that it’s irritating to hear it censored out of a movie, but you wouldn’t want Kermit or Barney saying “fuck”. Unless it’s part of an SNL sketch. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-word-fuck-be-allowed-into-primetime-cable-television-poll/210020/47 "2003-10-29T21:43:07Z")
What sort of crazy asshole DOESN’T want to hear Barney saying “fuck”? _I love you, You love me, We’re a fucking family…_ I mean, sure, it’ll never happen, but a fella can dream. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-word-fuck-be-allowed-into-primetime-cable-television-poll/210020/48 "2003-10-30T14:29:09Z")
Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought the FCC rules on indecency only applied to broadcasters using over-the-air transmission–the radio and the major TV networks. Since you pay to have cable come into your house, the “intrusion” argument that the FCC has successfully used to defend its indecency rules doesn’t apply. The FCC web site is vague, but it seems like you can’t. [http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/obscene.html](http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/obscene.html) Didn’t they overturn restrictions on cable programmers in ACLU v. Reno, or was that case only aimed at the HBOs and such? I was under the impression that on cable TV (not just HBO or Cinemax or Showtime), they CAN say “fuck” or whatever they want. They just DON’T because they think it will anger too many people and thus be bad for their ratings. Can someone provide some more facts? ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-word-fuck-be-allowed-into-primetime-cable-television-poll/210020/49 "2003-10-30T17:44:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ElwoodCuse \* > \*\*I was under the impression that on cable TV (not just HBO or Cinemax or Showtime), they CAN say “fuck” or whatever they want. They just DON’T because they think it will anger too many people and thus be bad for their ratings. Can someone provide some more facts? \*\* This isn’t a definite cite, but that’s what my high school TV teacher told me. It makes sense, as A&E often doesn’t beep “shit” when it’s used on “Investigative Reports” and “American Justice.” I for one, don’t care either way about the OP, but I think it’s kind of strange that they jumped to “fuck” (or, to be more precise, “fucking” as a non-sexual adjective). It seems like there are a lot of words in between that would make more sense to allow, although certain shows like “NYPD Blue” do use these words. I’ll be sad if the art of dubbing disappears. My favorite was “said” by Samuel L. Jackson, I think in a televised version of **Pulp Fiction** : “Melon farmer!” ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-word-fuck-be-allowed-into-primetime-cable-television-poll/210020/50 "2003-10-30T18:23:25Z")
They even bothered to dub _Pulp Fiction_ into maiden-auntie-speak? WTF? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-word-fuck-be-allowed-into-primetime-cable-television-poll/210020.md?page=2)