Ok, I’ve heard that the TV rating system was designed to be confusing. I’ve never belived it until now. I was watching an episode of (god help me) The Brady Bunch with a friend and it said TV-PG. (As an aside, it was the Joe Namath episode)
There was no violence, nothing that could concievably be considered bad language, certainly no sex.
So why the rating? If something as mayo-on-white bread as The Brady Bunch gets a PG, what in the world would get a G?
Fenris
Well, PG means Parental Guidance is recommended, doesn’t it? I can see how that might apply to the Brady Bunch:
“No dear, orange and chocolate is not an acceptable colour for wallpaper”.
“Yes dear, people really did dress like that, but we don’t do it anymore and it’s not really polite to talk about flares in public”.
It’s actually a movie, not TV as you asked, but “Planet of the Apes” (the one with Chuck Heston) was released rated G. So was its first sequel. Today, they’d be either PG-13 or R. And if they got an R for the violence, they’d then throw in some gratuitous swearing. :rolleyes:
Maybe PG meant “pretty groovy”.
The Brady Bunch is rated PG, but the Dukes of Hazzard is rated G.
The Dukes of Hazzard has gunfire, fistfights, explosions, and car crashes, but it is far tamer than the Brady Bunch.
It was the part where Alice asked Sam the butcher for the biggest sausage he sold and well… one thing led to another.
All very funny, but I really did want to know about how the TV ratings system classifies stuff.
Fenris
Doesn’t anybody use Google anymore? 
The first reference on the list was http://www.tvguidelines.com, The TV Parental Guidelines
Three’s Company episodes are routinely rated “G” and that is full of suggestiveness.
But each episode is rated differently.
Maybe the PG in the Joe Namath episode was for lying.
Remember it was the SECOND time a Brady Fibbed. Marcia Brady said she KNEW Davy Jones. Well not exactly the same thing but kind of.
I’d guess that the Brady Bunch is dated so much that the presence of a parent is required to translate some of the “groovy” terminology.
The Dukes of Hazzard is rated “G” because everyone understands the phrase “Hang on, y’all.” Plus, only the bad guys carried guns, this is a message counter to violence so actually counts twice on the good side.
Isn’t the Joe Namath episode the one where Bobby is talking about famous athletes of his day and Kareem Abdul-Jabar comes up in the conversation. Bobby says,
Maybe the TVPG rating was given because the topic of race (however tangentially) comes up in this episode.
I don’t know–wouldn’t anything with Marcia in it be at least TV14?
There was an episode where Bobby develops this Jesse James obsession, and at one point dreams Jesse James guns down his family during a train robbery. I don’t remember the specifics, but it did disturb me when I was about five or six years old. Those Bradys are dark, man.
[Roscoe P Coletrain]
Just like my little fat buddy planned it! Them Brady Kids is gonna fall right of the tele-vision when they get slammed with that rating! GyuhGyuhGyuhGyuh!
[/Roscoe P Coletrain]
Easy. In the BB film, there is a scene between the two oldest kids that seemed rather sexual.
However, if you had looked at not just the rating ‘PG’ but also the new rating that explains it, it should have a ‘D’ which = discussion, as in that sort of sexual discussion scene above. Next time check the ratings that say why it got PG…thats my WAG.
Was it, perchance, a pop-up video episode of the Brady Bunch
on Nickelodeon?
I know they did the Joe Namath episode as a pop-up video
one, and maybe some of the behind-the-scenes stuff they
put up garnered the rating.
If you read the guidelines I quoted above, the answer should be obvious. Brady Bunch received the TVPG rating not because of suggestive situations or violence. The show simply cannot be easily interpreted by young children without parental guidance. Themes like lying, dealing with bullies, sibling rivalry, and stealing demand the attention of parents and dialog with young viewers. It’s not rocket science, folks. Sure the themes may seem tame by today’s standards, but responsible parents will want to discuss these issues with their children. (Irresponsible parents aren’t paying attention to the guidleines anyway). The rating isn’t an absolute, either. Note the qualifier “may”.
But…but then what could get a “TV-G” rating? Sesame Street’s dealt with stealing. Mr. Rodgers has dealt with lying. Bugs Bunny has dealt with falling anvils.
I can’t think of any TV show that, by that definition, would get a TV-G or below. Including Barney.
I’m not arguing with you, but if you’re right, then the people claming these ratings are meaningless are right.
Fenris
That, and why an architect would have six kids and one bathroom. My parents could never explain that to me…
evilhans, I have to wonder how much the ratings organization follows its own guidelines. I was watching the opening of “Mannix” this morning on TV Land, and I saw it was rated G! Now, “Mannix” had the reputation in its day of being the most violent show around. Not an episode went by without a fist fight, shooting and a car chase/crash. I realize that, compared to, say “Walker, Texas Ranger”, “Mannix” isn’t as violent, but I still say it should be rated PG.
As they say in the 'hood, “That is wack!”