# South Park - how do they get around the censors? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 11, 2003, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-how-do-they-get-around-the-censors/212584 "2003-11-11T10:36:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2003, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-how-do-they-get-around-the-censors/212584/21 "2003-11-11T19:51:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > \*\*…unless someone wanted to broadcast a TV special that portrayed a former Republican President in a less-than-glowing light – then the RNC will come in with guns a’blazin’! 😃 \*\* Of course, the RNC is not the government and there was no legislation passed, nor introduced, that would have any impact whatsoever on CBS because of that special. Just an interest group lobbying to get its way. Par for the course. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2003, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-how-do-they-get-around-the-censors/212584/22 "2003-11-11T19:54:55Z")
Whoops, I gotta learn to read…the RNC, etc. objection to the recent film was more that it was being presented as serious, solemn, and historical, and therefore the inaccuracies DID matter. Our Supreme Court has protected satire very widely. In the US, in theory, the airwaves belong “to the people”, and therefore the FCC has some leeway to make rules; cable TV OTOH is free and open and theoretically, if you don’t like it, you can drop the channel or boycott it or whatever. That’s why the rules are so different and why SOUTH PARK can go its merry way while even a serious network drama like NYPD BLUE gets every curseword scrutinized. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2003, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-how-do-they-get-around-the-censors/212584/23 "2003-11-11T20:53:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Neurotik \* > Of course, the RNC is not the government and there was no legislation passed, nor introduced, that would have any impact whatsoever on CBS because of that special. Nah, they’re just the _political party_ that currently controls the White House, the Supreme Court, Congress, and the FCC… not the same thing at all! 😉 Why, the local Kiwanis Club could’ve done the same thing, really… ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-how-do-they-get-around-the-censors/212584/24 "2003-11-12T15:05:25Z")
Don’t forget the 10pm to 6 am exemption–between those hours, the indecency rules don’t apply, even on over-the-air broadcasters. ---
**Author:** ![DaPearl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@DaPearl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaPearl)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-how-do-they-get-around-the-censors/212584/25 "2003-11-12T17:02:08Z")
As for the bleeping of words on South Park, I think I heard that they can say anything they want but Matt Stone and Trey Parker think its funnier to have the words (or at least some of them) bleeped out. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-how-do-they-get-around-the-censors/212584/26 "2003-11-12T17:17:02Z")
**friedo** expanded what I said to include the advertisers. That’s the deal. There’s big money from soft-drink folks, video game folks and… the rest. A friend just messaged me about ‘NEW SOUTH PARK TONIGHT 10PM’ I sent him 162 'shit’s He sent it again! I sent a clever rejoinder: Stick em in your mouth and suck em! Suck on my Chocolate Salty balls BTW, there’s a new SP tonight. 10 PM. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-how-do-they-get-around-the-censors/212584/27 "2003-11-12T17:36:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > \*\*Nah, they’re just the _political party_ that currently controls the White House, the Supreme Court, Congress, and the FCC… not the same thing at all! 😉 > > Why, the local Kiwanis Club could’ve done the same thing, really… \*\* Actually, they could have. Unless the RNC said that it will order the FCC to fine CBS or revoke their broadcasting rights then it’s a non-issue. The RNC didn’t forfeit its right to squak as loudly as it wants on whatever issue it wants as long as didn’t advocate government censorship. Your comment was in response to government censorship. I realize it was a joke, but it was a lame and inaccurate one. There was no government censorship of the Reagan movie. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-how-do-they-get-around-the-censors/212584/28 "2003-11-12T18:00:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by 1920s Style Death Ray \* > \*\* > …at one point Ben Affleck falls in love with Cartman’s hand (still dressed as J Lo) and even gets oral sex from it … \*\* Did you see the episode where Cartman is on a search for semen and he finds a guy in an alley, and Cartman says, “He said I could have all I wanted, all I had to do was close my eyes and suck it out of a hose”? I’ll never eat tapioca again! ---
**Author:** ![CaptBushido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@CaptBushido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptBushido)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-how-do-they-get-around-the-censors/212584/29 "2003-11-12T18:07:07Z")
> [@](#): > > The Federal Communications Commission has decided that the most common, if also most crude, four-letter synonym for the sex act may be uttered on television—if, that is, it is used properly… That reminds me of something I saw on… why the South Park Episode of 163 Shits, oddly enough! Teacher: Alright, children, in lieu of the common usage I’m supposed to clarify the school’s position on the word “SHIT” Kyle: Wow! We can say “SHIT” in school, now? Teacher: Yes, but only in the figurative noun form or in the adjective form. Cartman: Huh? Teacher: You can only use it in the non-literal sense. For instance, “That’s a shitty picture of me,” is now fine. However the literal noun form “This is a picture of shit,” Is still naughty. Cartman: I don’t get it. Kyle: Me neither. Teacher: The adjective form is also acceptable, for example: “The weather outside is shitty.” However, the literal adjective is not appropriate. For example, “My bad diarrea made the inside of the toilet bowel shitty, and I had the clean it with a rag which then also became shitty.” That’s right out! ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-how-do-they-get-around-the-censors/212584/30 "2003-11-12T20:34:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Neurotik \* > \*\*Your comment was in response to government censorship. I realize it was a joke, but it was a lame and inaccurate one. \*\* If it was accurate, it wouldn’t be funny at all. It would be scary. It’s the fact that it is inaccurate, yet close enough to the truth that makes it funny. ---
**Author:** ![prisoner6655321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f8ce5/32.png) [@prisoner6655321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/prisoner6655321)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-how-do-they-get-around-the-censors/212584/31 "2003-11-13T00:11:50Z")
You think that **SOUTH PARK** is bad? You really shouldn’t be asking this question about South Park. You should be asking this question about **Family Guy**. As some stated earlier, South Park can get away with these things because it is shown on an advertiser-supported cable tv channel, which isn’t restricted by the FCC. But what did Fox at one period of time show regularily at 8:00 pm??? **FAMILY GUY!!!** And Family Guy was shown on a network TV station, which IS restricted by the FCC. Now that it is being shown on Cable, it is shown after 10:00, though I think I remember seeing it **IN THE AFTERNOON** once or twice. Plus, Family Guy is MUCH more controversial. I mean, one show they actually showed Quagmire having sex with some girl!!! On FOX!!! At 8:00!! The first time I saw that my eyes popped out of my head and I thought, “how did they get away with THAT?!” South Park didn’t actually show Cartman’s hand around Ben’s thing. Sure it was pretty clearly implied by the context. But it was pretty freaking OBVIOUS what Quagmire was doing on Family Guy. You didn’t have to be listening to the show to understand what was happening there. In the South Park episode, I think you had to be actively watching the show to understand that J-Lo/Cartman was giving Ben a blow/hand job. Family Guy makes South Park look like The Simpsons. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-how-do-they-get-around-the-censors/212584.md?page=1)