PBS vs. Comedy Central

Thursday night on the local PBS station in Philadelphia there was a Canadian show called Newsroom. The only reason I bring this up is why can a PBS station on regular broadcast TV use foul language and a cable network can't. Newsroom used asshole, shit and fuck. It was a pretty good show but I was kind of surprised to hear those words on PBS. Anybody else seen this show? I think they showed 2 episodes thursday night from 11pm-12midnight.

[email] once had the notion to say:

I once watched some cheezy French movie on PBS and damned if they didn't show a bare-chested lady. Not just like where you say "Hey rewind it and play it back in slow-mo. I think I saw a nipple" But I mean a full bare chest, full view, for atleast 10 seconds. I couldn't believe they showed it. Apparently since PBS is payed for by John Q. Taxpayer, and the FCC is payed for by that same guy, the FCC kinda turns it's back on what PBS does.

I was suprised to see Comedy central play words that usually don't make it past the censors. You'll never hear a God Damn on regular broadcast before 11:00PM, but CC played it durring Prime-Time, not to mention they threw in asshole and Dick. Dick usually can squeak by, and Ass is used all the time, but asshole is usually bleeped out.

I believe that if it came to a court case, Basic Cable Could play the same type of stuff that HBO plays, but as a service to the community and to avoid new legislation, Basic Cable systems moderate themselves. Apparently CC is pushing the envelope. Good for them.

Also, every year the day after Comic Relief, Comedy Central plays it in it's entirety, un-censored. Not the 30 minute clips they push every day, but this is a once a year thing. I know it's uncensored, and I know it's CC since, I don't have HBO.

Steve
----

Something tells me that the first mousetrap wasn't designed to catch mice at all, but to protect little cheese "gems" from burglars.

Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey

[email] wrote:

the answer is simple.

Comedy Central	  =   Entertainment
PBS		  =   Art

moo tem

Well, I think one reason that PBS isn't censored is that nobody watches it. If nobody watches it, there's nobody to offend.

(Of course, that's not the truth -- for you stupid people out there.)

--T

Thursday night on the local PBS station in Philadelphia there was a

Well, that's not really true. PBS can show quite a bit of nudity of a sexual nature. For example, a few years ago, there was the PBS programme, "Tales of the City", which contained many ribald elements. My local PBS station played Almod�var's "Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down", which received an MPAA rating of 'NC-17' in the US. Commercially funded TV will tend to be less offensive in that censorship groups will take it into their hands to protest. I doubt there is any organisation that cares more about free speech than profits. The censorship organisations would look even sillier than they do now if they said that the US taxpayers were morally repugnant. The TV-M/TV-MA rating for South Park is obviously meant as an attempt by the creators to stigmatize the programme anyway. (stigmatize is meant in a good way) Could someone please tell me what the hell the difference is between the TV-M and TV-MA rating?

Wormer, he's a dead man! Marmalard: dead! Ahnooie4:

Unfortunately, they also protest PBS as well. While PBS was extremely permissive with 'Tales of the City', various groups complained about the themes and the nudity. As a result, when 'Tales of the City 2' came about, PBS declined to run it.

And they were forced to take a much more lucrative deal with Showtime or someone.... aww, too bad :)

PBS needs to realize that avoiding controversy and unconventional programming is the A-#1 way to go out of business these days. They certainly can't compete with the big four (or five) networks, and all these cable channels are popping up to suck away PBS's audience for all that genteel stuff.

Rob

[email] - http://darkknight.net/~raindog

smiling faces everywhere humble folks without temptation

In article , [email] (Ahnooie4) wrote:

An 'A'. :)

Actually, I've never seen TV-MA on the official list of ratings. Most of the other ratings are just three letters, and TV-PG was used because PG is already part of society's consiousness.

Aaron

Adding fuel to the fire, thePBS mini series based on Armistead Maupin's "Tales of the City" had swearing, rampant drug usage, and bare breasts. The "Great Performances" version of "Moll Flanders" was even more graphic. Neither of these really seemed to bother anybody.

As long as you call it art, I suppose....