First time you heard someone swear on TV

Started by bandit957, September 24, 2018, 12:56:34 PM

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abefroman329

Quote from: SectorZ on September 25, 2018, 11:17:33 AM
Quote from: abefroman329 on September 24, 2018, 05:14:45 PM
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on September 24, 2018, 05:02:50 PM
"Shit"  has become more common on cable.
I think it's used on basic cable more than it is in real life, probably to overcompensate for the fact that "fuck"  is still mostly forbidden (AMC seems to allow Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul one F-bomb per season).

Watching TBS a couple of weeks ago, they let the one f-bomb in 'San Andreas' slide through, along with all the other lesser profanity. I was kind of surprised there, even for a 10 PM Saturday airing.
Once I was watching Pineapple Express on TNT and they let an f-bomb slide, but I think that was a mistake on the part of the censor.


abefroman329

Quote from: Henry on September 25, 2018, 09:50:40 AM
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on September 24, 2018, 05:02:50 PM
"Shit"  has become more common on cable.
And yet they still can't say that on the air, which is why the euphemism "crap" is always subbed in. And even then, it still gets a laugh from me whenever it is said.
That's because broadcast television is subject to FCC restrictions and cable is not.

I remember reading a review of that 1960s miniseries on NBC, where they talked about protesters having to yell "Up against the wall, mothers!"

bandit957

Quote from: D-Dey65 on September 25, 2018, 10:15:04 AM
I know there were news interviews from the early-1960's where people said the F-word on the air.

Once in the early '90s, I thought for sure a character on 'All My Children' said it. It sounded like she was fumbling her lines.
Might as well face it, pooing is cool

jp the roadgeek

I remember when this ad drew a lot of giggles for the (supposed) swear in the first line of the song:

Interstates I've clinched: 97, 290 (MA), 291 (CT), 291 (MA), 293, 295 (DE-NJ-PA), 295 (RI-MA), 384, 391, 395 (CT-MA), 395 (MD), 495 (DE), 610 (LA), 684, 691, 695 (MD), 695 (NY), 795 (MD)

jakeroot

I've been watching HBO my entire life, so I have no idea.

At the rate things are progressing, even the F-bomb will be OK on network television soon enough. I think most censored words in the future will be racial expletives.

hbelkins

I remember a fine a few years ago for an f-bomb getting out on ESPN when the NASCAR broadcast team tapped into a crew chief's communications.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

plain

I think the first time for me was watching a rerun of that episode of Good Times when the family got home after burying James and Florida said "Damn, Damn, DAAMMNN".
Newark born, Richmond bred

PHLBOS

#32
Quote from: plain on September 25, 2018, 02:34:35 PM
Assuming your listed age profile is true/current; that episode was already a syndicated rerun when you first saw it.  By the time that episode first aired circa 1976, saying the word damn on network TV wasn't a big deal.  Earlier episodes of M*A*SH, All in the Family & Maude used it (as well as hell) fairly regularly.

In fact, one very early episode of Good Times (from 1974) had Florida yell, "Nothing in this building is working, DAMN!".

The original Star Trek series using hell and/or damn in a couple of episodes was more shocking.
GPS does NOT equal GOD

abefroman329

Quote from: hbelkins on September 25, 2018, 02:23:18 PM
I remember a fine a few years ago for an f-bomb getting out on ESPN when the NASCAR broadcast team tapped into a crew chief's communications.
That also happens during NFL games when they tap into communicafions between the coaching staff and the QB at the wrong time. And there's not much anyone can do when the crowd's chants of "bullshit, bullshit"  at sporting events are loud enough for the stadium mikes to pick up.

PHLBOS

Quote from: abefroman329 on September 25, 2018, 03:39:28 PMAnd there's not much anyone can do when the crowd's chants of "bullshit, bullshit"  at sporting events are loud enough for the stadium mikes to pick up.
I remember hearing that chant while watching either a Patriots or Eagles game back in the mid-1990s.
GPS does NOT equal GOD

formulanone

Quote from: PHLBOS on September 25, 2018, 04:09:47 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on September 25, 2018, 03:39:28 PMAnd there’s not much anyone can do when the crowd’s chants of “bullshit, bullshit” at sporting events are loud enough for the stadium mikes to pick up.
I remember hearing that chant while watching either a Patriots or Eagles game back in the mid-1990s.

...usually quickly followed by an announcer's understated tones of "the crowd is upset with the call/play" while the color commentator tries to awkwardly describe the subsequent action again.

abefroman329

Quote from: PHLBOS on September 25, 2018, 04:09:47 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on September 25, 2018, 03:39:28 PMAnd there's not much anyone can do when the crowd's chants of "bullshit, bullshit"  at sporting events are loud enough for the stadium mikes to pick up.
I remember hearing that chant while watching either a Patriots or Eagles game back in the mid-1990s.
Its also pretty common in college athletics.

1995hoo

I remember in high school the principal came on the PA one Monday to say "we ask that you not do the "˜BS Cheer.'"  Naturally, we did it even louder at the next home game.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

cjk374

Quote from: thenetwork on September 25, 2018, 09:57:28 AM

Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on September 24, 2018, 05:02:50 PM
"Shit"  has become more common on cable.

Watch an episode of Live PD on A&E -- They seem to be making up for lost time.  The first time I watched that show is when I realized that the word shit is now acceptable on Cable TV.


The person assigned to push the bleep button misses their mark quite often. It is funny.

The word "shit" was said, purposefully, during the very last episode of ER. The bald doctor (he also played "Goose" in Top Gun) was dying of cancer. He fell trying to get out of bed, and yelled "SHIT!" while lying on the floor.
Runnin' roads and polishin' rails.

txstateends

I don't remember exactly when I heard my first televised cussy-stuff, probably a movie on cable. 

I guess "Rackin-frackin!!" by the dog on Dastardly & Muttley (or Penelope Pitstop? >ugh< Can't remember) doesn't count?  ;-) ;-)

I was more surprised later on when I started hearing that the networks were phasing out "Standards & Practices" departments.  I'd heard cussing from my parent's fights, and from kids at school, and from strangers, enough that I wasn't completely shocked about the TV version.
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abefroman329

Quote from: cjk374 on September 26, 2018, 06:58:21 PM
Quote from: thenetwork on September 25, 2018, 09:57:28 AM

Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on September 24, 2018, 05:02:50 PM
"Shit"  has become more common on cable.

Watch an episode of Live PD on A&E -- They seem to be making up for lost time.  The first time I watched that show is when I realized that the word shit is now acceptable on Cable TV.


The person assigned to push the bleep button misses their mark quite often. It is funny.

The word "shit" was said, purposefully, during the very last episode of ER. The bald doctor (he also played "Goose" in Top Gun) was dying of cancer. He fell trying to get out of bed, and yelled "SHIT!" while lying on the floor.
ER used to really push the envelope during sweeps weeks.

Scott5114

It wasn't the first time, but I remember being seven-year-old me being shocked to hear Pat Sajak tell a Wheel of Fortune contestant to "just spin the damn wheel" once.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

Duke87

Quote from: formulanone on September 24, 2018, 04:25:11 PM
I think the one that kind of surprised me was watching Yosemite Sam say "I'll send him to Hell"; your beloved cartoon characters just don't swear.

There was another Looney Toons where Bugs Bunny, after stupidly running out the door of an airplane, is shown temporarily taking on a donkeylike form and the words "Jack-Ass" are written on his side. This was on a VHS I had, don't recall ever seeing it directly on TV - but noteworthy along the same lines.



If you always take the same road, you will never see anything new.

KEVIN_224

Quote from: Rothman on September 24, 2018, 02:59:31 PM
I remember a drunk Slash at an American Music Awards having to be cut off.  1990 or 1991 or something like that.

It was in 1989, I do believe. They cut away early. Slash or the man with him (Duff?), gave the camera the finger as it panned up and away.

I remember NYPD Blue using a word or two during it's ABC run. They always had a warning right at the beginning though.

english si

Quote from: Rothman on September 24, 2018, 02:59:31 PM
I remember a drunk Slash at an American Music Awards having to be cut off.
He was going to explain how he's make-believe based on the Dutch legend of Vünter Slauche. They didn't want to scare the kids.

Quote from: abefroman329 on September 25, 2018, 03:39:28 PMAnd there's not much anyone can do when the crowd's chants of "bullshit, bullshit"  at sporting events are loud enough for the stadium mikes to pick up.
Apologise "We're sorry for anything our stadium mikes picked up just then" and move on.

Here there's no blanket regulations against swearing. The s-word can be said after 8pm, the f-word after 9pm and the c-word after 10pm - within limits on usage and frequency (that get laxer with the hour). So mine will be the s-word, probably in a film around Christmas time, at a young age (say 6). It wasn't taboo to say it at that time of day so no one blinked an eye about it, and I wasn't old enough to know what it meant, so I don't remember it at all.

Henry

Quote from: Scott5114 on September 26, 2018, 10:24:00 PM
It wasn't the first time, but I remember being seven-year-old me being shocked to hear Pat Sajak tell a Wheel of Fortune contestant to "just spin the damn wheel" once.
Speaking of game shows, I remember an episode of The Price is Right from when I was 16, and a contestant who was playing the Shell Game tried to look under one of the shells before Bob Barker caught her in the act. Then, before he was finished revealing the location of the ball, Bob told her that "this would be exciting, but everybody knows the damn thing's not there!"
Go Cubs Go! Go Cubs Go! Hey Chicago, what do you say? The Cubs are gonna win today!

michravera

Quote from: bandit957 on September 24, 2018, 12:56:34 PM
I know the language on over-the-air network TV is almost always very mild, but occasionally a "damn" slips by. So what was the first time you ever heard swear words or cuss words on TV?

I remember playing in the living room when my mom was watching one of her soap operas. A character on the show was talking to someone on the phone and he said, "Damn you!" I thought that was so funny! I'd guess this was in the early '80s. I also remember a sitcom where a character complained that something got lost in "the damn Christmas mail."

Those probably weren't the first times I heard "damn" on TV, but they were among the first times I noticed.

"Dragnet" from the late 1960s used its allocations of 'two "Hell"s and a "Damn"' in just about every episode.

"South Park" began to use "Shit" unedited on a basic cable show in the early 2010s. In one episode they even had an on-screen counter for the number of times that they used it.

In the early 1980s, KTXL in Sacramento and KTLA in LA (WAY before either was a Fox affiliate) would run original theatrical video releases ("Movies") in a mode that one of my co-workers described as "Show everything and bleep the 'fuck's".

I heard Spencer Tracy say "Well, I'll be a Son of a Bitch" in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" which aired on a "Movie Night" in the late 1960s. No edit and no disclaimer.





PHLBOS

IIRC, the first f-bomb (& shit) utterance I heard on TV was when the 1978 movie The Deer Hunter (rated R) first aired on television circa 1980 or 1981 (I couldn't find the exact air date) on a UHF (WSBK TV-38) station serving the Greater Boston area. 

During the promotional advertising of the televised viewing, it was mentioned that the film would be shown in its original unedited format to show the full effects of the movie.  It was also mentioned that such would mean all the violent/graphic scenes and obscene language would be shown/heard.
GPS does NOT equal GOD

1995hoo

The "South Park"  episode notes above was called "It Hits the Fan."  The characters are excited because the word "shit"  is to be used, uncensored, on TV. Then everyone starts using it (162 times in the episode, IIRC) and it leads to over-the-top consequences in the show's usual style.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

briantroutman

On the other end of the spectrum, I recall seeing a late '70s episode of Card Sharks rerun on Game Show Network some years ago: The contestant was having a good run at the money cards, and seemingly frozen in disbelief at her ballooning jackpot, she kept saying "Oh my god!"  But the "god"  part was cut out...no bleep, no sound effect. Just a second of awkward dead silence–and I think she said the phrase about a half-dozen times.

That struck me as a bit puritanical by '70s standards.



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