# Television Censors **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 29, 2016, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-censors/773339 "2016-11-29T00:12:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-censors/773339/21 "2016-11-29T20:29:49Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I think it’s one thing to have somewhat oblique references to things which are inappropriate for broadcast TV (as defined by the FCC), and another to have direct depictions or discussion of those things. > > In essence, I get the impression that they’re applying a sort of “Disney movie” rule, where if it’s something that a kid might understand to be naughty, or that might pique their interest in something, it’ll generate complaints and censure, but if it’s something that sails right over a kid’s head via the use of clean language and oblique references, then it’ll probably slip right by. this was part and parcel of a lot of gags on _Animaniacs._ “Okay Dot, check for prints!” “Found him!” (_camera shows Dot holding the singer Prince in her arms._) “No, _finger_ prints!” (_Dot gives camera a sly look_) “I don’t think so.” and that was actually a _kid’s_ show. > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Where are those good old-fashioned values on which we used to rely? went away after “The Side-Boob Hour.” ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-censors/773339/22 "2016-11-29T20:58:09Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > [Here’s a good, wholesome number that the censors must have enjoyed.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8tdmaEhMHE) Beat me to it. Definitely should file this one under censors being clueless about pop culture. > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I remember “glory hole” and “golden showers”, [“You did it, Nibbles! Now, chew through my ball sack!”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI2sy3i5Rvc) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-censors/773339/23 "2016-11-29T20:59:06Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > [Here’s a good, wholesome number that the censors must have enjoyed.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8tdmaEhMHE) Ah, not quite what I was expecting. Posted by Tom Shipley himself, I notice. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-censors/773339/24 "2016-11-29T21:09:05Z")
I just watched the FG episode “PTV”, part of the plot is about FCC censorship. It had all sorts of scandalous tidbits like: > [@](#): > > His chin looks like balls, you want me to cover that, too? > [@](#): > > ``` > Lois: [tackles Peter to the floor] Now, are you going to play tonight? > Peter: [cries] Yes! > Lois: You like eating red carpet, tough guy?! > Peter: [cries] Yes! > [Outside. Quagmire hears Peter and Lois while fetching the paper] > Lois: Say you like eating red carpet! > Peter: [cries] I like eating red carpet! [Quagmire faints] > Quagmire: ...Giggity. > > ``` > [@](#): > > …we also have a girl from Omaha who’s hiding a banana. We’ll find out where. Giggity giggity. > [@](#): > > And they’ll make you call fellatio a trouser-friendly kiss! ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-censors/773339/25 "2016-11-29T21:22:44Z")
Watching _Conan_ is a trip in terms of weird censorship. Apparently, the main limit is that you can’t say a few words at all: the f-bomb, the c-bomb, etc. But you _can_ say s\*\*t. But only for a certain number of times in one episode, 6? So you hear people saying it over and over then the bleeps start in. Okaaay. (And using it as an allegory rather than the actual act/item seems to be required.) Also, as long as you don’t use the actual F-bomb, you can describe all the usual sex acts using every slang language all you want. Every few days we hear something on TV and comment on how TV has changed. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-censors/773339/26 "2016-11-30T02:15:34Z")
There was a Sesame Street episode in which the characters were dressed for a costume party, getting onto a bus. Someone, I think it was “David,” was dressed as a Christmas tree and was having trouble fitting through the bus door, so someone gives him a push. “Watch it! You’re breaking my balls!” The children watching didn’t notice, but I nearly suffocated trying to stifle my laughter so I wouldn’t have to explain what I was laughing at. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-censors/773339/27 "2016-11-30T04:28:29Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Watching _Conan_ is a trip in terms of weird censorship. Apparently, the main limit is that you can’t say a few words at all: the f-bomb, the c-bomb, etc. > > But you _can_ say s\*\*t. But only for a certain number of times in one episode, 6? So you hear people saying it over and over then the bleeps start in. Okaaay. (And using it as an allegory rather than the actual act/item seems to be required.) > > Also, as long as you don’t use the actual F-bomb, you can describe all the usual sex acts using every slang language all you want. > > Every few days we hear something on TV and comment on how TV has changed. Conan is not on network TV so no FCC. Any censorship is self imposed. ---
**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:** [November 30, 2016, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-censors/773339/28 "2016-11-30T04:49:27Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Watching _Conan_ is a trip in terms of weird censorship. Apparently, the main limit is that you can’t say a few words at all: the f-bomb, the c-bomb, etc. > > But you _can_ say s\*\*t. But only for a certain number of times in one episode, 6? So you hear people saying it over and over then the bleeps start in. Okaaay. (And using it as an allegory rather than the actual act/item seems to be required.) > > Also, as long as you don’t use the actual F-bomb, you can describe all the usual sex acts using every slang language all you want. > > Every few days we hear something on TV and comment on how TV has changed. As has been explained, the FCC doesn’t regulate cable, only OTA broadcast television. Networks such as HBO and Showtime are subscription networks and operate on the principle that subscribers know what the content of the networks is and won’t be shocked by what they see and hear. Other networks have advertisers and may restrict themselves in the daytime, but allow harsher language in the evening. Comedy Central often shows uncensored material after 1:00 a.m. They will show movies and stand-up comedy full of “shits” and “fucks” without bleeping them out. I once saw _Clerks 2_ on the network and it was intact except for the addition of commercials and they once ran a _South Park_ episode that used the word “shit” about 168 times with a counter on the screen keeping track of how many times the word was used. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-censors/773339/29 "2016-11-30T13:25:23Z")
**cochrane** , **Loach** : Um, why do you mention something that we all know??? The famous _Lebowski_ line “… friend in the Alps” _is from cable TV_, not OTA. And on and on. This thread is _full_ of censorship examples from cable TV. And the FCC? The FCC had nothing to do with classic examples such as married people sleeping in twin beds, etc. The OTA network standards are not the same as FCC rules. Each network sets it’s own rules. These rules are very peculiar in many cases and can lead to humorous results. ---
**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:** [November 30, 2016, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-censors/773339/30 "2016-11-30T14:39:14Z")
One of the weirdest bits of censorship I saw was on Dirty Jobs when Mike was at a dog groomer’s shop and she was giving a male dog a haircut. When the dog was belly-up, they pixellated his little doggy wee-wee! Seriously!!! ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-censors/773339/31 "2016-11-30T14:57:12Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > this was part and parcel of a lot of gags on _Animaniacs._ > > “Okay Dot, check for prints!” > > “Found him!” (_camera shows Dot holding the singer Prince in her arms._) > > “No, _finger_ prints!” > > (_Dot gives camera a sly look_) “I don’t think so.” > > and that was actually a _kid’s_ show. Oh, kids shows did worse back in the 1990s. Here’s one that actually stepped over the line a little bit, but was shown in an episode of [_Cow and Chicken_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_and_Chicken): > [@](#): > > “Buffalo Gals” (season two, 1998), which was paired with the segment “Cow and Chicken Reclining,” was banned by Cartoon Network after receiving a complaint from a parent about the episode’s liberal visual and verbal innuendo about the titular biker group being lesbians (the Buffalo Gals break into people’s homes and literally chew on the carpet, one of the bikers is named Munch Kelly and has a carpet swatch for a calling card, and when Dad freaks out over the Buffalo Gals in the house, Mom says, “They’re not after you.”)[7] In addition, the Buffalo Gals play baseball and talk about pitching and catching. Although it was only shown on air once, it was replaced by “Orthodontic Police” in future airings, including on Netflix streaming and reruns on Boomerang. The infamous episode was also discussed on an installment of Rob Paulsen’s Talkin’ Toons special featuring Cow and Chicken creator David Feiss and voice actor Charlie Adler when an audience member asked why “Buffalo Gals” only aired once. And, yes, _Cow and Chicken_ was on Cartoon Network, which was a cable/satellite channel. However, _it was a children’s channel_. And then there was _Rocko’s Modern Life_, on Nickelodeon. Another cable/satellite channel, another children’s channel: [ul] [li]The title character ate fried chicken at the Chokey Chicken.[/li][li]The title character had a job as a phone sex operator. Not mentioned in so many words, but he said “Oh baby, oh baby” on-screen, and a sign on the wall behind him said “Be Hot, Be Naughty, Be Courteous”.[/li][li]His friend, a bull named Heifer (another little thing which might qualify for this list to some people), was brought to a fairly obvious orgasm by a completely idiotic farmer with a milking machine.[/li][li]Rocko once picked a berry that belonged to a bear. A bear’s berry. A testicle. He tweaked a berry and a bear came out from behind the bush clutching its crotch in pain.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-censors/773339/32 "2016-11-30T18:09:24Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > **cochrane** , **Loach** : Um, why do you mention something that we all know??? > > The famous _Lebowski_ line “… friend in the Alps” _is from cable TV_, not OTA. And on and on. > > This thread is _full_ of censorship examples from cable TV. > > And the FCC? The FCC had nothing to do with classic examples such as married people sleeping in twin beds, etc. The OTA network standards are not the same as FCC rules. > > Each network sets it’s own rules. These rules are very peculiar in many cases and can lead to humorous results. You reading the same thread? This thread is about TV sensors. Almost all of the examples that were given before yours (Family Guy, Simpsons etc) are from network TV which do fall under the FCC. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-censors/773339/33 "2016-11-30T18:11:51Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > You reading the same thread? This thread is about TV sensors. Almost all of the examples that were given before yours (Family Guy, Simpsons etc) are from network TV which do fall under the FCC. Ha. Now that I’m looking at it I do think you are confusing two threads. The Big Lebowski line is from the funniest edited for tv lines thread not this one. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-censors/773339/34 "2016-11-30T18:22:27Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > You reading the same thread? This thread is about TV sensors. Unless you’re taking about RF receivers, the only censors TV shows have are _network_ Standards and Practices people, which cable and satellite networks also have. The FCC doesn’t censor anything, it only hands out fines after the fact. The Supreme Court has roundly rejected prior restraint, which is what FCC censorship would amount to, and people throughout the centuries didn’t die face-down in the muck so the Federal government could say what a TV station could or could not show prior to it going to air. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-censors/773339/35 "2016-11-30T18:36:28Z")
What sort of a show is Family Guy assumed or expected to be, for what sort of audience? A double entendre like the OP’s example would be nothing unusual in no end of coarse comedy in the UK (and indeed Ireland, where exactly that joke appeared in a Father Ted episode\*) - but it’s confined to “after the watershed” (9pm) when it’s assumed children won’t be watching. \*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3Oc0ctpI94](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3Oc0ctpI94) And OP would probably need a lot of forewarning about this sort of gag: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et1y2XJzKjs](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et1y2XJzKjs) ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-censors/773339/36 "2016-12-01T01:08:33Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > What sort of a show is Family Guy assumed or expected to be, for what sort of audience? Prime-time cartoon for a general audience, because the kids are expected to still be up and awake. OTOH, it’s on FOX, which has pushed the envelope since the network as a whole launched in the 1980s. > [@](#): > > A double entendre like the OP’s example would be nothing unusual in no end of coarse comedy in the UK (and indeed Ireland, where exactly that joke appeared in a Father Ted episode\*) - but it’s confined to “after the watershed” (9pm) when it’s assumed children won’t be watching. _Family Guy_ is pre-watershed. ---
**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:** [December 1, 2016, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-censors/773339/37 "2016-12-01T01:24:37Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Unless you’re taking about RF receivers, the only censors TV shows have are _network_ Standards and Practices people, which cable and satellite networks also have. The FCC doesn’t censor anything, it only hands out fines after the fact. The Supreme Court has roundly rejected prior restraint, which is what FCC censorship would amount to, and people throughout the centuries didn’t die face-down in the muck so the Federal government could say what a TV station could or could not show prior to it going to air. OK, yeah, strictly speaking. But the FCC has _guidelines_ that determine what they’ll fine a station for violating, and they don’t act on complaints about cable TV. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-censors/773339/38 "2016-12-01T03:20:42Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > I once wandered in the Christian music section in a book store. They had a CD player (to buy for your kids I guess) that filtered out profanity real time as the song played, and could be set to replace the words with alternates. The box had numerous examples listed, like, “F–k becomes duck”. Are you sure they didn’t have a censored disc playing? Just technologically it would be a nightmare to create such a thing back in the days when people still used CD players. Hell, it would be tough now. There would have to be significant delay, and it would work very spotty at best. > [@edwards\_beard](#): > > IIRC The Simpsons had a reference to “Lemon Party”\* > > \*Do Not Google this while at work > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I remember “glory hole” and “golden showers”, but must have missed “lemon party”. I think it was one of the very recent seasons. I vaguely recall it. Glory hole is highly memorable, in the dolphin uprising segment in a treehouse episode when Homer lists off mankind’s accomplishments. > [@Derleth](#): > > Prime-time cartoon for a general audience, because the kids are expected to still be up and awake. OTOH, it’s on FOX, which has pushed the envelope since the network as a whole launched in the 1980s. > > > [@](#): > > > > A double entendre like the OP’s example would be nothing unusual in no end of coarse comedy in the UK (and indeed Ireland, where exactly that joke appeared in a Father Ted episode\*) - but it’s confined to “after the watershed” (9pm) when it’s assumed children won’t be watching. > > _Family Guy_ is pre-watershed. Family Guy in fact usually airs at 9pm, not that this “watershed” stuff is really a thing in the US where it first runs (especially not under that term, it’s literally unheard of unless someone from another country brings it up). Last time anything similar to that happened was some fines over something like saying “bullshit” or partial nudity (I forget the exact hubub) on an episode of NYPD Blue where a few stations in the central time zone got fined for airing it before 10pm. Note that FCC fines are on stations, not networks, not studios. Local stations. Family Guy’s not intended for a general audience. It usually carries a TV 14 rating, the highest content rating you’re likely to see on a broadcast network. TV G, two levels lower, is for general audiences. TV MA, the only higher rating, is usually reserved for cable and premium. TV ratings are self applied by the channel or network so it goes directly to their intent as much as their content… ---
**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:** [December 1, 2016, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-censors/773339/39 "2016-12-01T17:06:13Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > This thread is about TV sensors. > **[Definition of SENSOR](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sensor)** > > a device that responds to a physical stimulus (such as heat, light, sound, pressure, magnetism, or a particular motion) and transmits a resulting impulse (as for measurement or operating a control); sense organ… See the full definition > **[Definition of CENSOR](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/censor)** > > a person who supervises conduct and morals: such as; an official who examines materials (such as publications or films) for objectionable matter; an official (as in time of war) who reads communications (such as letters) and deletes material... ---
**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:** [December 1, 2016, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-censors/773339/40 "2016-12-01T17:12:07Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > [Here’s a good, wholesome number that the censors must have enjoyed.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8tdmaEhMHE) Nothing topped Lawrence Welk introducing his token Negro tap-dancer around the same time as “… a fine gentleman, and a credit to his race!” (In other words, “He \*\*knows \*\*his **place**!”) :eek: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-censors/773339.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-censors/773339.md?page=3)