Language on network TV in prime time

Oh, the one from months ago?

That's relevant.

Why did you come back?

 

To upset the likes of you. Or because I'll do whatever the fuck I want. One or the other. Good to see you're not taking this personally.

And I posted that because it's funny and ironic in and of itself, not because of the irony of this thread.

 

Well, if the majority of your posts on this thread didn't directly involve me, I wouldn't.

Anyway, I'm in the minority. Fair enough. Just jumped out to me.

 

I was addressing the questions you posed. If I have questions about your questions or answers, who else am I supposed to ask?

 

For what it's worth...

Until Regis or Kelly drops an F-Bomb, I doubt I'll even notice. Ever since South Park had the "Shit" episode, most curse words have lost their shock value to me and listening to Howard Stern isn't helping either.

Clearly as a society we've become much more laxed in our monitoring of what is and isn't allowed on network television and I think a lot of it has to do, in all honesty, with channels like HBO and Showtime which began broadcasting good, critically acclaimed shows that didn't hold back on profanity and mass audiences began to get used to it in their programming.

Killing, Cussing and Sex used to be taboo and when shows like the Sopranos and Sex and the City came around and got such huge followings, networks saw an opportunity to be a little more racy than before and still keep their viewers.

Yes, shows like NYPD Blue started the relaxed standards, but those HBO programs begot hard-hitting shows like The Shield, Rescue Me and all of the other dozens of TV-MA products we have now.

On the other hand, I have no problem with them. I feel that the rating system does what it's suppose to and people should have a right to choose what they want to watch. Would I let my seven year old watch Dexter? Nope. Would I let my 15-year old? That depends. There comes a time when you have to be responcible and you can't blame everything on TV. After all, if America stopped watching these gritty programs and started tuning in to more tame options, there would be a lot of tamer choices coming out.

Until that happens, get used to it. Profanity and the like are here to stay and for those of you in the minority, re-read the first letter of every paragraph I've written. Because it won't be long until you hear that on television either.

 

I believe IJAG was referring to the shows on ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox. The ones that are free (depending on where you live) and accessible by anyone with a tv and rabbit ears.

 

Thank you, clever. Apparently my original post with the use of "NBC" a couple times confused him.

 

No doubt. But without the Shield, Sex and the City and Rescue Me, you wouldn't have things like Grey's Anatomy, Lost, My Own Worst Enemy, Heroes, HIMYM, and the like.

Hey, I was actually trying to say I agree with you.

 

Um...how in the world did The Shield lead to Heroes?

 

A more acceptable level of violence. Granted, the Shield is far worse but by comparison, Claire getting scalped doesn't seem so bad, does it?

 

What if you don't have cable and have never seen an episode of The Shield?

 

And what makes watching Claire get scalped more palatable is a three-fold answer. One, she can heal herself. Two, she can't die. Three, she's a main character and the face of the show, so intrinsically you know nothing really, truly bad is going to happen to her. Except for not being able to feel pain and thus not able to feel alive, but what can you do?