# What words are censored on television in the United States? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 4, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-are-censored-on-television-in-the-united-states/495327 "2009-05-04T19:58:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-are-censored-on-television-in-the-united-states/495327/41 "2009-06-11T16:40:28Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > You need to get out of NYC more often. You need to read my location more closely. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-are-censored-on-television-in-the-united-states/495327/42 "2009-06-11T17:20:26Z")
Thanks **Exapno Mapcase** , that was really illuminating. I’ve never actually thought about what allows a network to have total control over a frequency in a city. Such a thing must be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, perhaps a billion (anybody know how much, say, NBC pays for New York City broadcast rights?) Taking that into account, it does seem simple common sense that the networks try to safeguard it at all costs. People might complain about bleeps, even irrelevent ones like “god” or “Jesus” or “beaver”, but nobody’s going to organize a campaign to stop a show because of extra censorship (then again maybe it has happened, I don’t know). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-are-censored-on-television-in-the-united-states/495327/43 "2009-06-11T18:46:49Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Thanks **Exapno Mapcase** , that was really illuminating. I’ve never actually thought about what allows a network to have total control over a frequency in a city. Such a thing must be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, perhaps a billion (anybody know how much, say, NBC pays for New York City broadcast rights?) NBC pays zero. The license is given to the best qualified applicant. Free of charge. In real world terms today it probably costs a lot of lawyers’ fees to put together a decent application, but remember that most stations got their licenses more than 50 years ago when television was in its infancy. The important cities’ licenses were filled up by around 1947. You could get one for the asking, especially if you had any political clout. ([Read about](http://www.slate.com/id/2170481/) how Lyndon Johnson got the only license in Austin, Texas and how many years it took for any competitor to be allowed in.) Only a few visionaries understood how valuable they were going to be in a nation that then only had a few hundred thousand sets total. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-are-censored-on-television-in-the-united-states/495327/44 "2009-06-11T22:52:42Z")
Well then, how much would it be worth? ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-are-censored-on-television-in-the-united-states/495327/45 "2009-06-12T00:03:26Z")
> [@Arkcon](#): > > As a semi-aside, my sister routinely uses “bugger”, she thought it had something to do with cute, little, beetles. Heh. I explained to her it has meant sodomy for 'bout 100 years. She was aghast, she thought it was bowdlerized profanity, not archaic profanity. Hehe… for your viewing pleasure the (somewhat infamous) NZ [Toyota Hi-lux “Bugger” advert](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKnPSJE6Qoc). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-are-censored-on-television-in-the-united-states/495327/46 "2009-06-12T01:50:59Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Well then, how much would it be worth? Whatever somebody would be willing to pay for it. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-are-censored-on-television-in-the-united-states/495327/47 "2009-06-12T02:31:30Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Well then, how much would it be worth? Have I got a deal for you. [56 stations for $1.2 billion](http://www.nypost.com/seven/04212007/business/clear_channel_sells_radio__tv_stations_for_1_5b_business_zachery_kouwe.htm). None in New York City, though. But you make it up in volume. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-are-censored-on-television-in-the-united-states/495327/48 "2009-06-12T04:33:53Z")
I remember first hearing the word “damn” on TV in 1967 on the show “Judd For the Defense”. Of the show was on the air way past our bedtime in the so-called adult hours. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-are-censored-on-television-in-the-united-states/495327/49 "2009-06-12T04:41:05Z")
I have a copy of _Destiny, West!_, a live television drama on NBC from 1960 in which an explorer looks down from a mountain pass and shouts, “Damn! Damn!” ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-are-censored-on-television-in-the-united-states/495327/50 "2009-06-12T06:10:04Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > I have a copy of _Destiny, West!_, a live television drama on NBC from 1960 in which an explorer looks down from a mountain pass and shouts, “Damn! Damn!” Are you sure? I was always told that such profanity would bring on the world’s end. Yet here we are. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-are-censored-on-television-in-the-united-states/495327/51 "2009-06-12T06:29:06Z")
I’m sure. The actor was [James Daly](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Daly_(actor)), father of Tim Daly and Tyne Daly. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-are-censored-on-television-in-the-united-states/495327/52 "2009-06-12T22:10:39Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > As others have noted, cable is not regulated by the FCC. Censorship is done by the individual networks and the shows’ producers. Matt Stone and Trey Parker have said that Comedy Central doesn’t censor South Park, that they censor it on their own because they think it sounds funnier with the bleeps. Comedy Central has even run the movie uncensored, abeit after 1:00 in the morning. Comedy Central also runs other movies uncensored during hours when adults are more likely to be watching. They are only uncensored with regard to language, at least going by the time I watched Not Another Teen Movie “uncensored” on CC. The language was intact but the boobs were blurred. I specifically watched to see how uncensored uncensored was on CC. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-are-censored-on-television-in-the-united-states/495327/53 "2009-06-13T12:14:52Z")
> [@seosamh](#): > > Last week, an episode of The Simpsons was shown on Channel 4 in Great Britain at 6 o’clock in the evening which included the word “shite”, spoken by Groundskeeper Willie (if anyone can tell me which ep it was, I’d be grateful: he was referring to tractors, I think). “Shite” is a pretty well-known variant of “shit”. > > You wouldn’t normally hear that word on TV over here before the 9 o’clock “watershed”. I’m guessing that nobody in the US television censorship department recognised it a rude word. Without Googling (i.e. cheating) that was at the end of **The Red Dress Press** where Lisa prints her own newspaper, and eventually everyone does (including Willie!) The Simpsons has done this a couple times, using Brit-curses that mean nothing to us Americans. Better example was the one where Homer bowled a 300 game. U2 was in it and they used the insult “Wankers” twice! The American equivalent, calling someone a “jerk-off”, would never be allowed here. ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-are-censored-on-television-in-the-united-states/495327/54 "2009-06-13T13:07:24Z")
**Hail Ants** - thanks, that was the one. To make matters worse, they even had the word on the subtitles (what USAers call “closed captions”, I think): I’m a bit mutton so I usually have them on most of the time in case I miss anything. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-are-censored-on-television-in-the-united-states/495327/55 "2009-06-13T16:38:53Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Better example was the one where Homer bowled a 300 game. U2 was in it and they used the insult “Wankers” twice! The American equivalent, calling someone a “jerk-off”, would never be allowed here. _Scrubs_, “My Jiggly Ball” (2006), Dr. Perry Cox: > [@](#): > > Jerk-Off of the Year. No, Bastard of the Year! Uh, don’t you tell me! Guy I Despise So Much, I’d Pay Someone To Kill Ya and Stuff Ya and Leave you by my Bed, So That When I Wake Up in the Morning, I Could Roll Over and Punch You in the Face… of the Year. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-are-censored-on-television-in-the-united-states/495327/56 "2009-06-13T22:33:38Z")
> [@seosamh](#): > > I’m a bit mutton so I usually have them on most of the time in case I miss anything. That’s a colloquialism I’m not familiar with. Does it mean deaf or hard of hearing? ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2009, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-are-censored-on-television-in-the-united-states/495327/57 "2009-06-14T00:22:40Z")
Wasn’t _Moonlighting_ the first prime-time-ish show to have a man call a woman a “bitch” to her face? Willis and Shepard were having an argument, insulting each other as usual, but the insults got more and more serious until Willis looked her right in the eye and said “Bitch” with lots of venom. Then she hauled off and smacked him. _NYPD Blue_ regularly had characters saying shit, ass, asshole, god damned, prick, and a bunch of others. ---
**Author:** ![PsychoNoddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e36b37/32.png) [@PsychoNoddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PsychoNoddy)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2009, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-are-censored-on-television-in-the-united-states/495327/58 "2009-06-14T03:01:23Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > That’s a colloquialism I’m not familiar with. Does it mean deaf or hard of hearing? Mutt and Jeff - rhyming slang for deaf ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2009, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-are-censored-on-television-in-the-united-states/495327/59 "2009-06-16T03:44:43Z")
I meant calling someone a ‘Jerk-Off’ would never be allowed _on The Simpsons_. Worst I can remember is when Lisa asked Homer: _“Dad, what if I told you you could lose weight without dieting or lifting a finger?”_ To which he replied: _“I’d say you’re a lying **scumbag** , why sweetie?”_ ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2009, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-are-censored-on-television-in-the-united-states/495327/60 "2009-06-16T06:39:27Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > That’s a colloquialism I’m not familiar with. Does it mean deaf or hard of hearing? Yes, **PsychoNoddy’s** correct. Apologies for slipping that in. I’ve recently noticed that American TV censors gestures as well as words. If anyone extends the middle finger (even in a cartoon like Family Guy), it gets blurred out. How paranoid is that?? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-are-censored-on-television-in-the-united-states/495327.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-are-censored-on-television-in-the-united-states/495327.md?page=4)