What about the s#)t episode?

July 30, 2004 2:36 PM

'South Park' Drawn to SyndicationSex and the City is one thing and being shown on cable anyway, and I understand they've been shooting a syndication-friendly version of the Sopranos, but how will they clean up these cartoon freaks enough to appear on broadcast TV?
posted by billsaysthis (26 comments total)

Simple: they'll make it 2 minutes long and only show every third episode.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 2:38 PM on July 30, 2004

They'll *bleep* the *bleep* out of the *bleep*, that is *bleep* the *bleep* that hasn't been *bleep* *bleep* *bleep* and *bleep* the *bleep* to satisfy the *bleep* *bleepity-bleep-bleep-bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeep*!

That's how. I mean, it's not like that had any giant talking *bleeps* in it or anything like that. Now suck my jagon.
posted by WolfDaddy at 2:44 PM on July 30, 2004

Probably won't be doing the aristocrats bit, that's for sure.

And they'll have to get rid of Towelie, mr. Hanky, mr. Slave, the Alien TV producers, Lemmiwinks ...
yup, most of it's going to have to go.
posted by milovoo at 2:45 PM on July 30, 2004

All of these shows have previously been in syndication in Canada because neither HBO nor Comedy Central air here. None of them have been edited for content, but I suppose things might be different in America.
posted by Evstar at 2:50 PM on July 30, 2004

Lord, I can't imagine. "Ah made you eat your parents, ah made you eat your parents!"
posted by GaelFC at 2:56 PM on July 30, 2004

Whatever they do, it'll probably suck. And without Lemmiwinks, what is South Park?

Evstar, but I suppose things might be different in America. might just be the understatement of the century.
posted by fenriq at 3:57 PM on July 30, 2004

SP was broadcast free-to-air in the UK until Sky (Murdoch's UK sat/cable tentacle) paid more to show them.

In the UK, US TV certain shows will get popular on terrestrial & then Sky will pay more to broadcast them sooner.
posted by i_cola at 3:59 PM on July 30, 2004

Can someone translate the whole point of this post into English for me, please?
posted by salmacis at 4:00 PM on July 30, 2004

how will they clean up these cartoon freaks enough to appear on broadcast TV?

I think they'll have to shut their fucking faces, unkle fuckers.
posted by Peter H at 4:10 PM on July 30, 2004

The 'fucks' get bleeped on south park anyway, don't they?
posted by Evstar at 4:23 PM on July 30, 2004

Maybe they're just optimistic that Michael Powell will be gone after November.


... wish I were.
posted by RavinDave at 4:39 PM on July 30, 2004

evstar, the 'fucks' are only bleeped on Comedy Central during the day and early evening. When new epidsodes run at 10 Eastern time, it's "unbleeped."

Presumably, that's how they plan to run it on broadcast stations - just bleep-bleep-bleep-bleepin'-bleep...
posted by JollyWanker at 5:14 PM on July 30, 2004

Thanks, jollywanker. I'm pretty sure in Canada the 'fucks' are bleeped but nothing else. I've seen the 'shit on tv' episode on canadian networks and they let shit slide 300 or so times without one shitty bleep.
posted by Evstar at 5:40 PM on July 30, 2004

In New Zealand we get Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Sex and the City, South Park, Curb Your Enthusiasm etc - all on free-to-air telly and mostly unedited. The "cunt" episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm had a pretty extensive warning beforehand, though.
posted by meech at 5:51 PM on July 30, 2004

It just doesn't seem like it would be funny. Cartman bleeped out? That sort of ruins the whole point of the show.
We gonna get high?
posted by sixdifferentways at 7:03 PM on July 30, 2004

meech: It's funny... I make TV in NZ for NZ TV some of which broadcasts to similar audiences that those overseas shows do, and we are required by TVNZ and TV3 to censor things that they allow in overseas shows and some other local productions.

I am still never really sure where we can leave the shits, fucks and occasional cunt in. I think we tend to leave shits, but we beep or mute most fucks, and I've only seen two cunts get through and that was in pay TV.

As far as I can tell the local networks will exhert some control over shows they have a stake in, but will leave other shows alone more or less.

Our broadcasting standards are pretty reasonable, you can swear in programming (after G hours) hours as long as the context is reasonably justifiable.
posted by sycophant at 7:15 PM on July 30, 2004

Now that we intellectuals have our internet, I see no reason not to hand TV over to the masses and their shits, fucks, and cunts.
posted by Kwantsar at 7:38 PM on July 30, 2004

Metafilter: we beep or mute most fucks, and I've only seen two cunts get through.
posted by WolfDaddy at 8:01 PM on July 30, 2004

Evstar, the shit episode was unbleeped in the US too. Well actually, all the "shit"s were unbleeped, the other swears were still bleeped out. Which was cute.

And that points to the interesting fact that there are very little actual standards for cable in the US. No governing body, nothing. You can't be obscene, but that's a pretty standard prohibition that just stops hardcore porn (I think). The only thing that keeps it clean at all is advertiser pressure.

Case in point: FX has a new show Rescue Me that has language as bad as anything on HBO.
posted by smackfu at 8:55 PM on July 30, 2004

You can't be obscene, but that's a pretty standard prohibition that just stops hardcore porn (I think)

Nah, you can show hardcore porn if you want to. Some cable systems have that on their PPV. I know that I've seen plenty of scrambled gynecology-level close-ups of The Old In-Out going by on the remote in my day.

You presumably couldn't show stuff that's illegal in any form, like kiddie-porn or snuff-porn. Maybe bestiality too.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:29 PM on July 30, 2004

Wait, are you kidding me? The language on South PArk, at least on Comedy Central in the US, is, at its very worst, PG-13...I have NEVER heard a "fuck" on a televised South Park episode.
posted by ghastlyfop at 10:04 PM on July 30, 2004

the other swears were still bleeped out. Which was cute.

Except that no one could say "faggot" unbleeped but for Mr. Garrison. Which was even cuter.
posted by WolfDaddy at 10:10 PM on July 30, 2004

Don't forget Jimbo. I wouldn't call that cute, personally.

Hey. There. ah-Shitty shitty fag fag. Shitty shitty fag fag, how do you do?
posted by Evstar at 10:27 PM on July 30, 2004

evstar, the 'fucks' are only bleeped on Comedy Central during the day and early evening. When new epidsodes run at 10 Eastern time, it's "unbleeped."

uh.. it never airs during the day or the early evening, to begin with. and it's never "unbleeped", except in special circumstances which i don't care to list.
posted by jimmy at 10:49 PM on July 30, 2004

I wasn't just thinking of the curse words but also the plots of any number of episodes, such as the aforementioned Mr. Hanie and Towlie, Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls, all the episodes with Mr. Slave, Cartman/NAMBLA, all in all a pretty high percentage that I can't see being allowed on American broadcast TV. Because we're wussies, wussies I tell ya!
posted by billsaysthis at 10:30 AM on July 31, 2004

it's never "unbleeped", except in special circumstances which i don't care to list

I assure you that the movie, at least, is unbleeped when shown after 10pm or so. Unclefucks galore.

AFAIK, the shows themselves are bleeped in the "original" recordings. At least back when I'd rent copies on VHS, the episodes remained bleeped.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 12:20 PM on July 31, 2004