md95065

Biggest culture shocks:

• the fact that so many ordinary people owned guns
• the fact that religion plays such a big role in society
• the fact that words like "f**k" could not be said on broadcast radio or television (or written on an internet forum such as this)
• that people really said "the N word" when discussing the word "nigger"
• how over regulated everything in California was (and still is)

SultanOfSwing

Interesting thing about saying 'f***' on TV - I heard recently that cable networks aren't governed by the FCC in the same way that the terrestrial networks are, so there are actually no restrictions on the words they can say (which is why on shows like Archer and The Walking Dead you'll hear things like 'shit', and Breaking Bad was allowed a handful of 'f***s' throughout their run). It's actually because of the advertisers that you don't hear the stronger words as often as you would on commercial free stations like HBO. Apparently they don't want their products to be associated with bad words, even though I'd say a good 90+% of the people who use, make and sell them in the real world use those words on a daily basis.

It's a weird place here, for sure. Lots of great things about it, but it's very weird.

RoadWarriorFromLP

You forgot The Wire (video is NSFW):


These days, most movies include at least some degree of profanity because a G-rating will depress ticket sales. PG-13 is the minimum, R is often preferable.

The "pro-family" groups do have an impact on FCC regulations that restrict broadcasting, but there is plenty of material on cable that could not be shown unedited on terrestrial TV.

SultanOfSwing

I haven't seen the Wire, apologies for the omission. I also seem to remember watching uncensored movies on IFC from time to time as well.

That being said, some of the funniest instances of censorship was in the Big Lebowski, when John Goodman re-recorded the dialogue in the '**** a stranger in the ass' scene to things like 'find a stranger in the Alps' and 'feed a stoner scrambled eggs'.

I'm glad that cable stations have that freedom and that they exercise it, though. I'm not very pro-censorship in general. Put a warning up before the show, if someone doesn't want to hear bad words, they don't have to watch it but this is the real world and real people say ****.

livinginnyc

I'd assume this one is pretty universal.

In UK terms, swearing pre-watershed *can* lay you in deep doo doo with Ofcom (depends on who/anyone complains, and other factors), where they *can* choose to fine you per swear word used (though AFAIK it's not happened).

The get-out-of-jail card on a live broadcast is for the presenter/host to immediately make an apology for a member of the public's (shouting over a mic/phone-in) choice of words -or- on a live celeb interview. Failing to blank out something pre-recorded is a different story though.

In the UK if you are a broadcaster (Sky/Freeview/OTT.etc), you're expected (and checked up on), to record 100% of your output 24/7/365 with logging so that you can send it to Ofcom if a dispute arises.

I've heard something like this too - which is why SiriusXM can also get away with more than a standard FM station (though most of the stations I listen to still block out swear words). I believe it's something to do with the way a channel is licensed. I'm out of the loop on how the US operates with this stuff though!

RoadWarriorFromLP

Remember that this is the country that freaked out when John Lennon claimed that he belonged to a musical ensemble that was more popular than a mythical figure of a major religion.

While Lennon was wrong on the facts -- Christianity seems to be doing pretty well, perhaps even too well -- this shouldn't have upset anyone, yet it did.

This country has long catered to the squeaky wheels of politics, just as long as those squeaky wheels have been white.

SultanOfSwing

Memories of Shaun Ryder on TFI Friday, there

You'll know better than I do, but aren't a lot of 'live' shows are now actually broadcast with a couple of seconds of delay so that an errant 'f***' can be beeped or muted as the need arises?

I know the time zones in the US make a 9pm watershed hard to implement but I'd like to see cable channels at least have more leeway. I mean, watching Negan skirting around the kind of things he'd say in the comics on TWD is kind of sad, even though on the Blu-Ray/DVD and hopefully Netflix, they'll be uncensored. That being said, even I was surprised by

SultanOfSwing

I know, I know. Especially since Lennon was taken out of context, he was making the observation that people seemed like the Beatles more than Jesus (obviously, Jesus couldn't sing worth shit), yet it didn't stop the Klan getting all erect over the possibility of burning some records and beating people up.

As I said, it's a lovely, but weird place, the US ...

chawkins99

I remember watching a broadcast version of Independence Day on TV.

Will Smith while evading the alien ship:

"You did not shoot that green cr@p at me"

The DVD version was:

"You did not shoot that green sh!t at me"

Made me laugh that one is acceptable but the other isn't.

Pulaski

Americans generally stick to the "drive on the right" rule when walking too, whether it is an office corridor, a mall, a sidewalk or a hiking trail. I notice when back in Britain that British pedestrians are all over the place!

livinginnyc

Oh you'd be surprised. Most of the sketchy cable/sky channels back in the UK (like the naughty chat ones), wont run a time delay.

And i'm sure that some of the regional/local channels here are the same (after all the staffing costs/equipment is expensive).

In fact on GMA today, Jeremy Irons was swearing like a sailor. I'm sure the gallery control room was thrilled with that.

Again, I have no idea - I suspect it will be handled locally by affiliates/stations in that locale as to which version gets aired

mrken30

Who watches commercials these days? Maybe on Hulu free, I think you are forced to watch commercials and when I watch those damn shows where fast forward is disabled. 5 minutes of commercials every 10 to 15 minutes it seems.

Anian

It's something like two swear words are allowed if they aren't aimed at anyone, so everyone does it and gets the higher rating. In nearly all action films you can usually count them out, but with the success of Deadpool there are now going to be a lot more R-rated movies. Funny how much swearing there was in 80s movies compared to the last 20-30 years. Even pointless gratuitous boob shots are making a comeback.

SultanOfSwing

Good old Jeremy Irons. Though I suppose it doesn't surprise me that there isn't a delay on certain ones but I'm sure on BBC or C4 or something, they'd run a delay on an early evening chat show just in case someone's wankered and lets a few swears slip.

After 9, it's game on

Cable stations (like TBS, AMC etc) are nationwide, so there are no affiliates to worry about. There's nothing to stop a character in one of their shows saying c***, other than they don't want to upset the advertisers.

SultanOfSwing

I don't, we use the DVR, nonetheless the cable stations do rely on advertising revenue. As much as I disagree with censorship and excessive commercial breaks, my cable bill is high enough as it is.