it's baffling to me that a country like america... possibly the most vulgar nation in the world at the moment.... can at the same time be so prudish.

Dial Twister wrote:

splunge wrote:

it's baffling to me that a country like america... possibly the most vulgar nation in the world at the moment.... can at the same time be so prudish.

I couldn't agree more. A history of (largely unsuccessful) regime-change wars around the world; one-after-another extremely violent programs on TV; the glorification of guns at every turn; mass shootings on an almost daily basis; an administration that 'may' be conspiring with the Russians; I'm sure many of you can add to the list......but god forbid the word Schitt be spoken on the air.

Those whom the gods would destroy, they first drive mad.

P.S. I'm fortunate that my great-great-yada-yada-grandfather was killed for his loyalty to the Crown in NY State in  1777, causing my great-great-yada-yada-grandmother and her seven children to flee to the safety of Hamilton Ontario...the best damn country in the World. We've never looked back since.
 

"@ Dial Twister .... best damn country in the world" to be sure and props to your yada yada history. 

in terms of broadcast content, i think Canada is equally prudish with both visual and spoken word content vs the UK and Europe.  i find it interesting though that Canada chooses to be that way, whereas america has it forced upon them.

RadioActive wrote:

Dan Levy, one of the stars of CBC's "Schitt's Creek" was on CBS' Colbert Tuesday night and a very bizarre thing happened on the way to promoting it on that network. Every time either the host or the guest said the title, a lower third banner would pop up to indicate to the U.S. audience (it airs on a cable station down there) that they weren't saying a swear word. 

It continued endlessly through the entire nearly 7 minutes of the interview. 

I thought standards in late night were more relaxed...
     

I don't get it? Why be more relaxed when you can deliberately plug a sister station over and over?

This thread has devolved into something George Carlin might have enjoyed! Still, those seven words you can't say on TV are now down to about three or four! 

Mr. Jeffries is correct - the formerly taboo "pissed off" is so commonplace these days, you hear it on radio talk shows, in newspaper quotes and on TV shows. "Fart" is another four-letter word you would never have heard on broadcast media or in print a number of years ago. For some reason, it has now become commonplace everywhere and seems perfectly accepted. 

The other "F" word will almost always be a huge taboo, while the "S" word seems to be partially tolerated, as long as it isn't uttered until the last hour of primetime on the networks, and is only used sparingly and for a certain effect. And the jury seems to be out on "asshole," although it still gets used from time to time and was one of the big ones on the aforementioned "NYPD Blue."

I'm not exactly sure when this change happened, although it certainly came about with the expanded cable universe and its salty and uncensored language. The funny thing is I've always been told that British viewers couldn't care less about swearing or nudity on their public tellys - it's over-the-top violence that seems to offend them.

Oddly in the U.S., it's generally the exact opposite. And that, to me, speaks volumes. Even if it doesn't use four-letter words to say it. 

...and what about the time a certain toronto mayor banned a band (from scarborough) because of its name (and not a swear word could be seen or heard)? all was forgiven when the band became a "success".

Just when I thought this thread was done comes this. I don't know what's going on with CBS and Colbert, but during Thursday night's monologue, the late night host was doing a bit about the Jussie Smollett scandal. At one point, he came out with another formerly taboo TV word, noting the Empire actor was 'a dick.'

But what was really bizarre is that the closed captioning that accompanied the bit read 'he's a (bleep.)' So you can say it but you can't read it? How is that fair to the deaf or hard of hearing?

CBS likely hires out a company to do the CC, but what a strange set of rules the network operates by.