CENSORSHIP

    Conceptions of censorship derive from Roman practice in which two officials were appointed by the government to conduct the census, award public contracts and supervise the manners and morals of the people. Today the scope of censorship has been expanded to include most media and involves suppressing any or all parts deemed objectionable on moral, political, military and other grounds.

    With regard to television in the United States, censorship usually refers to the exclusion of certain topics, social groups or language from the content of broadcast programming. While censorship has often been constructed against the explicit backdrop of morality, it has been implicitly based on assumptions about the identity and composition of the audience for American broadcast television at particular points in time. Different conceptions of the audience held by broadcasters have been motivated by the economic drive to maximize network profits. At times, the television audience has been constructed as an undifferentiated mass.

    During other periods, the audience has been divided into demographically desirable categories. As the definition of the audience has changed over time, so has the boundary between appropriate and inappropriate content. At times, different sets of moral values have often come into conflict with each other and with the economic forces of American broadcasting. The moral limits on content stem from what might be viewed as the social and cultural taboos of specific social groups, particularly concerning religious and sexual topics.

    During the 1950s and 1960s, the networks and advertisers measured the viewing audience as an undifferentiated mass. Despite the lumping together of all viewers, broadcasters structured programming content around the "normal," dominant, values of white, middle-class Americans. Therefore, content centered around the concerns of the nuclear family. Topics such as racism or sexuality which had little direct impact on this domestic setting were excluded from content. Indeed, ethnic minorities were excluded, for the most part, from the television screen because they did not fit into the networks' assumptions about the viewing audience. Sexuality was a topic allocated to the private, personal sphere rather than the public arena of network broadcasting. For example, the sexual relationship between Rob and Laura Petrie in The Dick Van Dyke Show during the mid-1960s could only be implied. When the couple's bedroom was shown, twin beds diffused any explicit connotation that they had a physical relationship. Direct references to non-normative heterosexuality were excluded from programming altogether. In addition, coarse language which described bodily functions and sexual activity or profaned sacred words were excluded from broadcast discourse.

    However, conceptions about the viewing audience and the limits of censorship changed drastically during the early 1970s. To a large degree, this shift in censorship came about because techniques for measuring the viewing audience became much more refined at that time. Ratings researchers began to break down the viewing audience for individual programs according to specific demographic characteristics, including age, ethnicity, education and economic background. In this context, the baby boomer generation--younger, better educated, with more disposable income--became the desired target audience for television programming and advertising. Even though baby boomers grew up on television programming of the 1950s and 1960s, their tastes and values were often in marked contrast to that of their middle-class parents. Subjects previously excluded from television began to appear with regularity. All in the Family was the predominant battering ram that broke down the restrictions placed on television content during the preceding twenty years. Frank discussions of sexuality, even outside of traditional heterosexual monogamy, became the focal point of many of the comedy's narratives. The series also introduced issues of ethnicity and bigotry as staples of its content. Constraints on the use of profanity began to crumble as well. Scriptwriters began to pepper dialogue with "damns" and "hells," language not permitted during the more conservative 1950s and 1960s.

    While the redefinition of the desirable audience in the early 1970s did expand the parameters of appropriate content for television programming, the new candor prompted reactions from several fronts, and demonstrated larger divisions within social and cultural communities. As early as 1973 the Supreme Court emphasized that community standards vary from place to place: "It is neither realistic nor constitutionally sound to read the First Amendment as requiring that people of Maine or Mississippi accept public depiction of conduct found tolerable in Las Vegas or New York City." Clearly such a ruling leaves it to states or communities to define what is acceptable and what is not, a task which cannot be carried out to everyone's satisfaction. When applying community standards, the courts must decide what the "average person, in the community" finds acceptable or not and some communities are clearly more conservative than others. These standards are particularly difficult to apply to television programming which is produced, for economic reasons, to cross all such regional and social boundaries.

    In part as a result of these divisions, however, special interest or advocacy groups began to confront the networks about representations and content that had not been present before 1971. For some social groups which had had very little, if any, visibility during the first twenty years of American broadcast television, the expanding parameters of programming content were a mixed blessing. The inclusion of Hispanics, African-Americans, and gays and lesbians in programming was preferable to their near invisibility during the previous two decades, but advocacy groups often took issue with the framing and stereotyping of the new images. From the contrasting perspective, conservative groups began to oppose the incorporation of topics within content which did not align easily with traditional American values or beliefs. In particular, the American Family Association decried the increasing presentation of non-traditional sexual behavior as acceptable in broadcast programming. Other groups rallied against the increased use of violence in broadcast content. As a result, attempts to define the boundaries of appropriate content has become an ongoing struggle as the networks negotiate their own interests against those of advertisers and various social groups. Whereas censorship in the 1950s and 1960s was based on the presumed standards and tastes of the white middle-class nuclear family, censorship in the 1970s became a process of balancing the often conflicting values of marginal social groups.

    The proliferation of cable in the 1980s and the 1990s has only exacerbated the conflicts over programming and censorship. Because of a different mode of distribution and exhibition--often referred to as "narrowcasting--cable television has been able to offer more explicit sexual and violent programming than broadcast television. To compete for the viewing audience that increasing turns to cable television channels, the broadcast networks have loosened restrictions on programming content enabling them to include partial nudity, somewhat more graphic violence and the use of coarse language. This strategy seems to have been partially successful in attracting viewers as evidenced by the popularity of adult dramas such as NYPD Blue. However, this programming approach has opened the networks to further attacks from conservative advocacy groups who have increased the pressure for government regulation, i.e. censorship, of objectionable program content.

    As these issues and problems indicate, most Americans, because of cherished First Amendment rights, are extremely sensitive to any forms of censorship. Relative to other countries, however, the United States enjoys remarkable freedom from official monitoring of program content. Negative reactions are often expressed toward imported or foreign programs when they do not reflect indigenous norms and values. "Cutting of scenes" is practiced far more in developing countries than in western countries. And Americans may find it interesting to note that even European countries consider exposure to nudity and sex to be less objectionable than abusive language or violence.

    Head et al. (1994) point out that the control of media and media content is also related to the type of government in power within a particular country. They identify four types of governmental philosophy related to the issue of censorship; authoritarian, paternalistic, pluralistic and permissive. Of the four types, the first two are more inclined to exercise censorship because they assume they know what is best for citizens. Anything that challenges this exclusive view must be banned or excluded. Since most broadcasting in such countries is state funded, control is relatively easy to impose. Exclusionary methods include governmental control of broadcast stations' licenses, jamming external broadcasts, promoting indigenous programming, imposing restrictions on imported programs, excluding newspaper articles, cutting scenes from films, shutting down printing presses, etc.

    Pluralistic and permissive governments allow for varying degrees of private ownership of broadcasting stations. Such governments assume that citizens will choose what they consider best in a free market where competing media companies offer their products. Such an ideal can only be effective, of course, if the competitors are roughly equal and operate in the interests of the public. To maintain this "balance of ideas" in the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) established rules which control the formation of media monopolies and require stations to demonstrate they operate in the interests of their audiences' good. Despite such intentions, recent deregulation has disturbed the balance, allowing powerful media conglomerates to dominate the market place and reduce the number of voices heard.

    Pluralistic and permissive governments also assume that competing companies will regulate themselves. Perhaps the most well known attempt at self regulation is conducted by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which rates motion pictures for particular audiences. For example, the contents of "G" rated movies are considered suitable for all audiences, "GP" requires parental guidance, "R," "X," and NC17 are considered appropriate for adults. These standards are offered as a guide to audiences and have never been strictly enforced. Parents may take children to see X-rated movies if they so desire.

    In the past one of the arguments against censorship has been freedom of choice. Parents who object to offensive television programs can always switch the channel or choose another show. Unfortunately, parental supervision is lacking in many households. In the 1990s this problem, coupled with political and interest group outrage against media producers has opened the possibility of a self imposed television rating system similar to that of the MPAA. To counter conservative criticism and government censorship, producers and the networks have agreed to begin a ratings system which could be electronically monitored and blocked in the home. Thus, parents could effectively censor programming which they found unsuitable for their children while still allowing the networks to air adult-oriented programming.

    In the 1970s an early attempt at a similar sort of regulation came when the FCC encouraged the television industry to introduce a "family viewing concept," according to which television networks would agree to delay the showing of adult programs until children were, presumably, no longer among the audience. The National Association of Broadcasters willingly complied with this pressure but in 1979 a court ruled that the NAB's action was a violation of the First Amendment.

    In the late 1990s, as networks relaxed corporate restrictions on content in their competition with cable and satellite programming, the early evening hours once again took on special importance. In mid-1996 more than 75 members of the U.S. Congress placed an open letter to the entertainment industry in Daily Variety. The letter called on the creative community and the programmers to provide an hour of programming each evening that was free from sexual innuendo, violence, or otherwise troublesome material. Clearly, the question of censorship in television continues to vex programmers, producers, government officials, and viewers. No immediate solution to the problems involved is apparent.

    However, the debate and struggle over censorship of programming will more than likely continue into the next century, as social groups with diverse values vie for increased influence over program content.

    -Richard Worringham and Rodney Buxton

     

    FURTHER READING

    Brown, Les. Television: The Bu$iness Behind the Box. New York: Harvest Book/Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1971.

    Cowan, Geoffrey. See No Evil: the Backstage Battle over Sex and Violence on Television. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1979.

    Cripps, Thomas. "Amos 'n' Andy and the Debate Over American Racial Integration." In O'Connor, John E., editor. American History/American Television: Interpreting the Video Past. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1985.

    Head, Sydney, Christopher Sterling, and Lemuel Schofield. Broadcasting in America: A Survey of Electronic Media. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1972.7th Edition, Princeton, New Jersey: Houghton Mifflin, 1994.

    Marin, Rick. "Blocking the Box." Newsweek (New York), 11 March 1996.

    Montgomery, Kathryn C. Target: Prime Time: Advocacy Groups and the Struggle over Entertainment Television. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.

    Thumbnail of Agnes Nixon

    Agnes Nixon on wanting to write socially relevant stories for soap operas -- writing her first cancer story for Guiding Light and getting resistance from sponsor Procter & Gamble

    04:48
    Thumbnail of William Clotworthy

    William Clotworthy on how standards changed from the '70s to '90s

    02:18
    Thumbnail of George Carlin

    George Carlin on the origin of his famous routine "Seven Dirty Words"

    04:09
    Thumbnail of Barbara Eden

    Barbara Eden on the belly button controversy on I Dream of Jeannie

    02:14
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    William Tankersley on CBS Standards & Practices' work with Carnation on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show

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    Norman Lear on how William Tankersley, then head of Standards & Practices at CBS, fought him over a line on Maude

    02:56
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    Host Bob Eubanks on the true story behind The Newlywed Game urban myth, "in the butt, Bob"

    01:44
    Thumbnail of Alan Alda

    Alan Alda on the connection between the Korean War setting of M*A*S*H and the then-contemporary conflict in Vietnam

    01:23

    Andy Ackerman

    Andy Ackerman on censorship on Seinfeld

    00:55

    Alan Alda

    Alan Alda on about Standards & Practices' objection to the use the word "virgin" in an episode of M*A*S*H

    01:15

    Alan Alda on the "family hour" concept of the 1970s

    01:38

    Alan Alda on the network's objection to the sight of a jock strap on an episode of M*A*S*H

    01:47

    Steve Allen

    Steve Allen on network involvement with Tonight

    01:08

    Steve Allen on censorship on The Tonight Show

    02:59

    Steve Allen on creating Meeting of Minds and running into censorship problems

    07:54

    Steve Allen on censorship on Meeting of Minds

    03:23

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    Editor Janet Ashikaga on whether advertisers and Standards & Practices took issue with "The Contest" episode of Seinfeld

    02:59

    Larry Auerbach

    Larry Auerbach on William Morris signing Elvis Presley

    06:53

    Hank Azaria

    Hank Azaria on censorship issues on The Simpsons

    01:56

    Reza Badiyi

    Reza Badiyi on network interference while directing The Trials of Rosie O'Neill

    01:49

    Alan Ball

    Alan Ball on censorship on Cybill and Grace Under Fire

    01:23

    Alan Ball on censorship issues on True Blood

    01:31

    Chuck Barris

    Chuck Barris on obscene answers on The Newlywed Game

    00:42

    Chuck Barris on censorship on The Newlywed Game and creating the term "making whoopee"

    01:52

    Chuck Barris on censorship on The Gong Show and the problematic Popsicle Twins

    04:00

    Anne Beatts

    Anne Beatts on a Saturday Night Live sketch about Patty Hearst (with guest host Lily Tomlin) that was objected to by Standards and Practices

    00:40

    Anne Beatts on two Saturday Night Live sketches that had Standards and Practices issues— a Jesus sketch and a "Nerds" Christmas pageant sketch

    03:25

    Anne Beatts on Standards and Practices' concerns over slang expressions on Saturday Night Live

    00:40

    William Bell

    William Bell on NBC executives trusting him with storylines on Days of Our Lives

    02:39

    Shelley Berman

    Shelley Berman on coming up with new material for his 22 Ed Sullivan Show performances and on dealing with censors on live television

    06:22

    Shelley Berman with Emerson College

    Shelley Berman on creatives ways comedians used to get around language or subject restrictions in the early days of television, and on Janet Jackson's Super Bowl "nipplegate"

    10:51

    Shelley Berman on the importance in comedy of the audience relating to the comedian, and on the evolution of comedy in terms of explicit language

    07:07

    Allan Blye

    Allan Blye on conflicts between the Smothers and CBS Standards & Practices on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

    01:30

    Steven Bochco

    Steven Bochco on negotiating how much language and nudity could appear on his series NYPD Blue

    03:59

    Steven Bochco on "pushing the envelope" on NYPD Blue

    01:15

    Steven Bochco on pushing the boundaries on NYPD Blue and the negotiating it entailed

    08:02

    Paul Bogart

    Paul Bogart on fighting Standards and Practices

    02:50

    Paul Bogart on fighting Standards and Practices on The Defenders

    01:49

    Paul Bogart on directing the All in the Family episode "The Draft Dodger" (airdate: December 25, 1976)

    02:39

    Anthony Bourdain

    Anthony Bourdain on the impact of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, the end of the show, and moving to CNN

    03:54

    Kevin Bright

    Kevin Bright on an objection from executive Don Ohlmeyer to "Monica" sleeping with her date on the first episode of Friends

    00:52

    Bernie Brillstein

    Bernie Brillstein on censorship Lorne Michaels faced on Saturday Night Live

    01:47

    Alton Brown

    Alton Brown on one scene Food Network asked him to remove from Good Eats

    01:17

    Allan Burns

    Allan Burns on running the story idea of "Mary Richards" being divorced on The Mary Tyler Moore Show by CBS (response - American audiences won't tolerate 4 things on TV: people from New York, divorce, Jews, and mustaches)

    07:49

    Allan Burns on placing the main setting of The Mary Tyler Moore Show in a newsroom and "Mary Richards" not being a married woman

    04:58

    Ken Burns

    Ken Burns on producing the WWII documentary The War: A Ken Burns Film

    07:38

    James Burrows

    James Burrows on NBC Executives being concerned about Cheers being set in a bar

    01:46

    James Burrows on Standards and Practices having issues with some jokes on Will & Grace

    03:18

    Sid Caesar

    Sid Caesar on standards and practices in 1950s TV 

    00:54

    Vince Calandra

    Vince Calandra on controversy over a Rolling Stones performance on The Ed Sullivan Show

    01:54

    Vince Calandra on controversy over Jim Morrison not changing his lyrics for a performance on The Ed Sullivan Show

    00:48

    George Carlin

    George Carlin on the material he was forced to censor when appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show

    03:29

    George Carlin on the origin of his famous routine "Seven Dirty Words"

    04:09

    Glenn Gordon Caron

    Glenn Gordon Caron on tricks he used on Moonlighting to try to get around the censors; on how you can't say "frig" on television

    03:02

    Nancy Cartwright

    Nancy Cartwright on Sam Simon and James L. Brooks not allowing the network to interfere with scripts

    01:15

    Dick Cavett

    Dick Cavett on interviewing John Lennon and Yoko Ono and problems with the network

    02:54

    Richard Chamberlain

    Richard Chamberlain on dealing with taboo subjects on Shogun

    01:34

    Glen Charles

    Glen and Les Charles on dealings with the network and Standards & Practices on Taxi

    00:58

    Les Charles

    Glen and Les Charles on dealings with the network and Standards & Practices on Taxi

    00:58

    Margaret Cho

    Margaret Cho on network notes she got on All-American Girl -- that she was too fat

    04:51

    Ron Clark

    Ron Clark on working with Tom and Dick Smothers on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour  and the censorship the show faced

    02:19

    Ron Clark on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour  tackling current events and the language on the show

    05:13

    William Clotworthy

    William Clotworthy on language he was allowed to use in an episode of General Electric Theater that he wrote, dealing with therapeutic abortion

    03:04

    William Clotworthy on the importance of context for Standards and Practices; on censorship on Saturday Night Live

    28:12

    William Clotworthy on his style as a Standards Executive for Saturday Night Live

    00:56

    William Clotworthy on how standards changed from the '70s to '90s

    02:18

    William Clotworthy on joining Standards & Practices at NBC

    07:58

    Henry Colman

    Henry Colman on an incident early in his career when he was working on The Colgate Comedy Hour (Jimmy Durante)

    01:06

    Hal Cooper

    Hal Cooper on censorship issues on I Dream of Jeannie and in his career

    03:49

    Ken Corday

    Ken Corday on censorship on Days of Our Lives

    01:32

    Pierre Cossette

    Pierre Cossette on dealing with Standards and Practices with The Grammys  and how the show has changed over the years

    02:48

    Ron Cowen

    Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman on working with NBC Standards & Practices when they were writing the made-for-television movie An Early Frost, which depicted the AIDS crisis,

    02:24

    Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman on a scene in their made-for-television movie An Early Frost, which the network wanted to be cut out because it depicted a grandmother kissing her grandson who had AIDS

    02:05

    Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman on being told by NBC that they could find another network for Sisters if they made one of the main characters gay, and on another incident of the network pushing back against a storyline involving the father having an affair with an African American woman

    02:46

    Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman on how a scene on Sisters where the main characters were discussing orgasms was dealt with by the network

    02:38

    Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman on their battles with Standards & Practices on Sisters

    01:26

    Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman on the difference between what they could depict in their 1985 made-for-television movie An Early Frost and on Queer as Folk, both of which centered on gay characters

    02:02

    Walter Cronkite

    Walter Cronkite on the question of whether he found it difficult to report the news during the Quiz Show scandals and the Watergate scandal; how Richard (Dick) Salant negotiated a compromise between the network and the White House

    03:01

    Billy Crystal

    Billy Crystal on the cancellation of Soap being partially due to its controversial subject matter, and on the legacy of the show

    03:59

    Bill Dana with Emerson College

    Bill Dana on evolving standards for subject matter and language in comedy

    04:47

    Michael Dann

    Michael Dann on being ordered by Program Practices to intervene with The Smothers Brothers

    01:48

    Michael Dann on taking The Smothers Brothers' Comedy Hour off the air

    02:31

    Michael Dann on Herbert Brodkin not being censored on The Defenders

    00:33

    Richard Dawson

    Richard Dawson on censorship on The New Dick Van Dyke Show

    06:28

    Fred de Cordova

    Fred de Cordova on issues with standards and practices on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

    01:21

    Milton Delugg

    Milton Delugg on the censorship issues on The Gong Show

    02:27

    Sam Denoff

    Sam Denoff on interference from censors on The Dick Van Dyke Show

    00:14

    Phil Donahue

    Phil Donahue on how syndication allowed him to cover more controversial topics than if he aired as a network owned show

    02:51

    Phil Donahue on the controversial topics covered on Donahue and complaints by individual stations

    04:35

    Phil Donahue on not believing in censorship

    01:03

    Mike Douglas

    Mike Doulgas on the story Zsa Zsa Gabor told on The Mike Douglas Show that turned it from a live to taped program

    01:28

    Hugh Downs

    Hugh Downs on Jack Paar's famous walk out on The Tonight Show on February 11, 1960 and the censored joke that provoked it

    07:18

    Rebecca Eaton

    Rebecca Eaton on the controversy surrounding the Masterpiece Theatre program "Portrait of a Marriage", which featured love scenes between two women

    03:03

    Dick Ebersol

    Dick Ebersol on censorship issues on Saturday Night Live

    05:21

    Barbara Eden

    Barbara Eden on the controversy over showing her belly button on I Dream of Jeannie

    01:09

    Barbara Eden on the belly button controversy on I Dream of Jeannie

    02:14

    Ralph Edwards

    Ralph Edwards on the effect of the Quiz Show scandals on Truth or Consequences

    02:17

    Bob Eubanks

    Host Bob Eubanks on the origin of The Newlywed Game's euphemism "makin' whoopee"

    01:05

    Host Bob Eubanks on the true story behind The Newlywed Game urban myth, "in the butt, Bob"

    01:44

    Jeff Fager

    Jeff Fager on resistance from the network on CBS Evening News reporting on certain stories, with the example of a story about Palestinian refugee camps

    01:53

    Jeff Fager on a conflict between then-CEO of CBS Laurence Tisch and 60 Minutes creator Don Hewitt over the story of tobacco industry whistleblower Jeffrey Winger, who alleged that the tobacco industry knew the addictive and deadly nature of cigarettes

    04:02

    Jeff Fager on network input into 60 Minutes stories

    00:56

    Jamie Farr

    Jamie Farr on difficulties with the original format of The Gong Show

    02:08

    Jamie Farr on memorable episodes of The Gong Show with Jaye P. Morgan

    01:35

    Norman Felton

    Norman Felton on his experiences with sponsor censorship on Robert Montgomery Presents  

    02:32

    Norman Felton on censorship on Playhouse 90's "Judgment at Nuremberg"

    03:06

    Dorothy C. Fontana

    Dorothy Fontana on the minimal censorship issues on Star Trek

    00:41

    Tom Fontana

    Tom Fontana on dealing with censorship issues and the head of Broadcast Standards at NBC during his time on Homicide: Life on the Street

    03:14

    Tom Fontana on writing Oz  with no network censorship 

    01:26

    Richard Frank

    Richard Frank on the ever-changing landscape of television and dealing with Standards and Practices

    03:03

    Tom Freston

    Tom Freston on MTV's Standards & Practices

    02:20

    Gerald Fried

    Gerald Fried on censorship in his music

    00:44

    Chuck Fries

    Chuck Fries on how television changed during his career regarding censorship of content

    04:16

    Greg Garrison

    Greg Garrison on dealing with the network and Standards & Practices on The Dean Martin Show

    03:15

    Mitzi Gaynor

    Mitzi Gaynor on her final television special, Mitzi... What's Hot, What's Not and dealing with censors

    01:32

    Larry Gelbart

    Larry Gelbart on the differences between television in the UK versus the US in the '60s

    01:45

    Larry Gelbart on balancing CBS's concerns and censorship issues on M*A*S*H -- specifically with the "virgin" episode 

    01:54

    Larry Gelbart on an infamous script written by Stanley Ralph Ross that was the only one to get rejected by CBS in the entire run of M*A*S*H

    00:44

    Vince Gilligan

    Vince Gilligan on his interaction with Standards & Practices and what he was able to show on The X-Files versus Breaking Bad - he couldn't show a gun held to a head during a game of Russian Roulette

    04:42

    Lesli Linka Glatter

    Lesli Linka Glatter on directing nude scenes on NYPD Blue

    01:27

    Lesli Linka Glatter on directing the Freaks and Geeks episode "Kim Kelly Is My Friend," and on the issues Standards & Practices had with the episode

    04:39

    Leonard Goldberg

    Leonard Goldberg on issues with Standards & Practices and complaints from the lead actresses on Charlie's Angels

    02:09

    Leonard Goldberg on censorship issues on Charlie's Angels

    01:16

    Leonard Goldberg on fighting Standards & Practices on the incest in the TV movie Something About Amelia

    03:14

    Whoopi Goldberg

    Whoopi Goldberg on not being allowed to tell Moms Mabley jokes on the American Comedy Awards

    02:09

    Julian Gomez

    Julian Gomez on Big Brother and CBS Standards and Practices

    04:10

    Carl Gottlieb

    Carl Gottlieb on Tom Smothers battling CBS Standards & Practices department over the content of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

    04:57

    Carl Gottlieb on Tom Smothers holding back the master tapes of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour so that they could not be censored by CBS

    04:08

    Walter E. Grauman

    Director Walter Grauman on finding a way to appease the censor in filming a massacre scene for The Untouchables episode "The White Slavers"

    03:21

    Walon Green

    Walon Green on NYPD Blue and ABC Standards and Practices

    01:07

    Larry Hagman

    Larry Hagman on the "navel" controversy on I Dream of Jeannie

    01:37

    Hugh Hefner with Emerson College

    Hugh Hefner on the then-current state of censorship in media, and on the government's role

    07:06

    Skitch Henderson

    Lyle "Skitch" Henderson on the popularity of Steve Allen's Tonight, and on network interference or censorship with the show

    05:28

    Winifred Hervey

    Winifred Hervey on censorship on The Golden Girls

    01:06

    Arthur Hiller

    Arthur Hiller on the list of "don't dos" they had from the sponsors and the network on NBC Matinee Theater, and a near-controversy when he cast an African American actor as a doctor

    01:41

    Felicity Huffman

    Felicity Huffman on ABC's hands-off approach to American Crime

    00:46

    Al Jean

    Al Jean on broadcast standards and The Simpsons

    02:54

    Charles Floyd Johnson

    Charles Floyd Johnson on the "Did You See the Sunrise?" episode of Magnum, P.I. -- an episode that Standards & Practices and sponsors had concerns about

    01:00

    Charles Floyd Johnson on issues with Standards & Practices on The Rockford Files

    00:33

    Charles Floyd Johnson on notes from Standards & Practices and the Navy on JAG

    01:16

    Robert Justman

    Robert Justman on notes from Standards & Practices for Star Trek

    01:41

    Irma Kalish

    Irma and Rocky Kalish on the origin of The Flying Nun as a jewish girl; but the network said they couldn't use the word Jewish

    01:44

    Rocky Kalish

    Irma and Rocky Kalish on the origin of The Flying Nun as a jewish girl; but the network said they couldn't use the word Jewish

    01:44

    Hal Kanter

    Hal Kanter on the big success of The George Gobel Show, and on some standards and practices issues with the show

    04:14

    Hal Kanter with Emerson College

    Hal Kanter on the rise of "blue" humor

    03:41

    Elodie Keene

    Elodie Keene on Steven Bochco dealing with network censorship issues surrounding the language and nudity on NYPD Blue

    03:00

    H. Wesley Kenney

    H. Wesley Kenney on controversial Days of Our Lives storylines and dealing with Standards and Practices

    03:37

    Michael Patrick King

    Michael Patrick King on the lack of censorship on Sex and the City

    02:02

    Marty Krofft

    Sid and Marty Krofft on problems with Standards & Practices on H.R. Pufnstuf

    04:31

    Sid Krofft

    Sid and Marty Krofft on problems with Standards & Practices on H.R. Pufnstuf

    04:31

    Mort Lachman

    Mort Lachman on writing for network shows, like the Bob Hope Specials , and the restrictions from the network S&P

    03:12

    Jack LaLanne

    Jack LaLanne on censorship on The Jack LaLanne Show and words he could not say; on how standards have changed over the years

    02:11

    Lucy Lawless

    Lucy Lawless on the action scenes and censorship of Spartacus

    05:13

    Lucy Lawless on censorship of Xena: Warrior Princess

    02:07

    Norman Lear

    Norman Lear on how William Tankersley, then head of Standards & Practices at CBS, fought him over a line on Maude

    02:56

    Norman Lear with Emerson College

    Norman Lear on choosing his battles with Standards & Practices and sponsors on All in the Family

    01:20

    Jim Lehrer

    Jim Lehrer on drafting a new code of Standards and Practices for PBS news

    02:49

    Sheldon Leonard

    Sheldon Leonard on network censorship issues with The Dick Van Dyke Show

    01:06

    Jerry Lewis

    Jerry Lewis on creative control on The Colgate Comedy Hour

    00:57

    Richard Lewis

    Richard Lewis on testifying to Congress about violence in television Westerns

    02:33

    Hal Linden

    Hal Linden on dealing with Standards & Practices on Barney Miller

    03:55

    William Link

    William Link on writing and producing That Certain Summer

    07:55

    Barry Livingston

    Barry Livingston on a My Three Sons storyline that co-worker Don Grady disagreed with - separate beds for his married character and his wife

    01:50

    Barry Livingston on censorship issues with cursing on My Three Sons

    00:59

    Chuck Lorre

    Chuck Lorre on how Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction at the Superbowl changed things on Two and Half Men; on dealing with censorship

    01:57

    Julia Louis-Dreyfus

    Julia Louis-Dreyfus on there not being censorship issues in "The Contest" episode of Seinfeld

    00:35

    Bob Mackie

    Bob Mackie on censorship of designs

    03:25

    Loring Mandel

    Lorning Mandel on dealing with censorship in his career on the CBS Playhouse episode "Shadow Game"

    01:11

    Abby Mann

    Abby Mann on dealing with the network over the content of Playhouse 90: "Judgement at Nuremberg"

    02:11

    Abby Mann on the process of writing, and on sparring with the network over a line about "gas chambers" in Playhouse 90: "Judgement at Nuremberg"

    03:11

    Anita Mann

    Anita Mann on dealing with censorship on Solid Gold, and on witnessing bigotry towards African-American dancers

    05:35

    Delbert Mann

    Delbert Mann on sponsor interference on Tad Mosel's "The Haven" production on Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse

    01:00

    Martin Manulis

    Martin Manulis on network and sponsor objections to the Playhouse 90 episode "A Town Has Turned to Dust" (written by Rod Serling), and how they got around them

    04:18

    Garry Marshall

    Garry Marshall on Jack Paar walking off the set of the Tonight show in 1960

    00:20

    Garry Marshall on network censorship experienced writing the I Spy episode "No Exchange on Damaged Merchandise" (airdate: November 10, 1965)

    02:04

    Garry Marshall on network censorship on Happy Days

    02:04

    Dick Martin

    Dick Martin on dealing with the censors on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In

    04:38

    Richard Matheson

    On being censored from using the word "God" in his scripts on The Twilight Zone, despite the fact that Rod Serling did in his scripts

    00:42

    Barney McNulty

    Barney McNulty on cue card professionals dealing with censorship

    01:24

    S. Epatha Merkerson

    S. Epatha Merkerson on censorship on Law & Order

    01:19

    Burt Metcalfe

    Burt Metcalfe on CBS's edicts about showing blood in M*A*S*H

    02:07

    David Milch

    David Milch on dealing with the network on NYPD Blue

    03:51

    David Milch on network interference with NYPD Blue

    01:20

    JP Miller

    JP Miller on dealing with censorship in his career

    03:51

    John Moffitt

    John Moffitt on censorship of The Rolling Stones on The Ed Sullivan Show

    01:25

    Paul Monash

    Paul Monash on dealing with Standards & Practices on Peyton Place, and on planning the stories of the show

    04:24

    Mary Tyler Moore

    Mary Tyler Moore on restrictions including the objection to her wearing pants on The Dick Van Dyke Show

    01:14

    Mary Tyler Moore on CBS refusing to allow her character to be a divorcee on The Mary Tyler Moore Show

    01:20

    Tad Mosel

    Tad Mosel on dealing with network censorship on an NBC adaptation of All the Way Home

    01:55

    Robert Mott

    Robert Mott on sound effects that couldn't be used on television 

    08:42

    Michael Moye

    Michael Moye on network notes on The Jeffersons

    01:59

    Michael Moye on the pilot, initial testing, and network notes for Married...With Children

    08:09

    Michael Moye on "the Rakolta incident" (so called because a woman named Terry Rakolta complained about content on Married...With Children) and FOX withholding fan mail; on subsequent problems with the network

    14:01

    Michael Moye on "the lost episode" ("The Camping Episode") of Married...With Children

    07:29

    Michael Moye on the second "lost episode" of Married...With Children

    03:50

    Michael Moye on FOX's reaction to his proposed spin-off and leaving Married...With Children

    08:41

    Jonathan Murray

    Jonathan Murray on censorship on The Real World

    02:06

    Laraine Newman

    Laraine Newman on the on-air personas of the Not Ready for Prime Time Players on Saturday Night Live  and dealing with NBC Standards and Practices 

    03:08

    Agnes Nixon

    Agnes Nixon on wanting to write socially relevant stories for soap operas -- writing her first cancer story for Guiding Light and getting resistance from sponsor Procter & Gamble

    04:48

    Bill Nye

    Bill Nye on censorship on the program - the evolution episode and other run-ins with studio executives

    00:50

    Ed O'Neill

    Ed O'Neill on censorship issues on Married...With Children and the Terry Rakolta campaign

    02:06

    Bernie Orenstein

    Bernie Orenstein on issues with Standards and Practices on Sanford and Son

    00:43

    Marty Pasetta

    Marty Pasetta on directing the controversial final season of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

    02:10

    Frederick S. Pierce

    Frederick S. Pierce on his relationship with ABC Standards and Practices 

    02:16

    Jeff Probst

    Jeff Probst on hosting The Jeff Probst Show

    11:22

    Tim Reid

    Tim Reid on writing the WKRP in Cincinnati episode "A Family Affair" which dealt with race

    05:39

    Carl Reiner

    Carl Reiner on censorship on Caesar's Hour

    00:54

    Carl Reiner on problems from Standards & Practices regarding an episode of The New Dick Van Dyke Show in which the daughter walks in on her parents making love

    03:27

    Carl Reiner on difficulty from Standards & Practices regarding an episode of The New Dick Van Dyke Show about a daughter who walks in on her parents making love

    02:01

    Rob Reiner

    Rob Reiner on the biggest laughs from the studio audience on All in the Family and on censorship issues with the show

    02:52

    Del Reisman

    Del Reisman on working with Rod Serling on Playhouse 90, and how censorship there led to his creation of The Twilight Zone

    03:07

    Del Reisman on how CBS Standards & Practices influenced or shaped the content of Playhouse 90

    01:46

    John Rich

    John Rich on Procter & Gamble and CBS having issues with the "That's My Boy?" episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show

    03:51

    John Rich on problems with Standards & Practices on All in the Family

    03:23

    Joan Rivers

    Joan Rivers on dealing with censorship on television

    02:00

    Pat Robertson

    Pat Robertson on the Standards & Practices of The Family Channel

    02:21

    Stanley Ralph Ross

    Stanley Ralph Ross on having trouble with ABC Standards & Practices over a Batman script involving "Catwoman," then played by Eartha Kitt

    01:17

    Stanley Ralph Ross on having an issue with one of the actors and Standards & Practices on The Kallikaks

    03:59

    Jay Sandrich

    Jay Sandrich on dealing with network interference on The Mary Tyler Moore Show

    01:48

    Bob Schiller

    Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf on network interference on Maude

    01:04

    Herbert S. Schlosser

    Herbert S. Schlosser on Saturday Night Live dealing with NBC standards and practices

    04:25

    Alfred Schneider

    Alfred Schneider on the difference between how news and entertainment are handled in terms of censorship

    02:31

    Alfred Schneider on why ABC was able to take a risk on Soap and how the network dealt with the show's depiction of controversial topics

    03:03

    Alfred Schneider on the decision not to allow two men to kiss on Thirtysomething

    01:34

    Alfred Schneider on the power of advertisers in decisions made by Standards & Practices

    02:19

    Alfred Schneider on negotiating the depiction of the controversial subject matter of That Certain Summer

    01:43

    Alfred Schneider on meeting with special interest groups and handling their concerns about portrayals of certain groups and depictions of controversial topics on television

    02:15

    Alfred Schneider on regulating portrayals of violence in Roots versus S.W.A.T. and The Six Million Dollar Man

    01:55

    Alfred Schneider on Producer Danny Arnold throwing him off the set of Barney Miller

    01:10

    Alfred Schneider on working with Steven Bochco versus working with Aaron Spelling

    02:48

    Alfred Schneider on how and why portrayals of sexuality and other controversial topics have become more acceptable over time on television

    01:49

    Alfred Schneider on the role of the government in regulating television content

    01:29

    Alfred Schneider on the criticism he received over the course of his career and being the "conscience of the company"

    01:19

    Alfred Schneider on the establishment of the Television Code and its contents

    05:58

    Alfred Schneider on working in Standards & Practices at ABC

    03:11

    Alfred Schneider on working with Producer Leonard Goldberg on his TV movie Something About Amelia, which dealt with incest

    01:52

    Alfred Schneider on his pride in his work on The Day After

    01:24

    Alfred Schneider on allowing nudity to be shown in The Winds of War

    00:43

    Alfred Schneider on a controversial episode of Bus Stop ("A Lion Walks Among Us") and how it led to further inquiries into the effects of violence on television

    04:13

    Ralph Senensky

    Ralph Senensky on censorship when directing Breaking Point and "The Bull Roarer" episode in which a young man thinks he might be gay

    02:27

    Paul Shaffer

    Paul Shaffer on becoming a castmember on Saturday Night Live and accidentally swearing during a live broadcast

    05:24

    Esther Shapiro

    Richard and Esther Shapiro on writing the made-for-TV movie Intimate Strangers

    02:19

    Richard Shapiro

    Richard and Esther Shapiro on writing the made-for-TV movie Intimate Strangers

    02:19

    Mel Shavelson

    Mel Shavelson on writing around NBC Standards and Practices for Bob Hope

    03:02

    Mel Shavelson on censorship on Bob Hope's radio show

    01:28

    Sidney Sheldon

    Sidney Sheldon on the lack of network interference when he was working in TV versus what he sees in the industry today (2000); on the status of the business

    04:02

    Cybill Shepherd

    Cybill Shepherd on problems with ABC Standards & Practices on Moonlighting

    00:38

    Fred Silverman

    Fred Silverman on M*A*S*H  and how Standards and Practices reacted to the show, and how the concerns differed from those directed at All In The Family

    01:02

    Fred Silverman on the "family hour" rule, which drove shows like Maude out of the 8:00 PM hour, and on its disruptive effect on the networks' scheduling

    02:03

    Fred Silverman on Soap causing as much controversy at ABC as All in the Family had caused at CBS

    01:00

    Sam Simon

    Sam Simon on censorship issues on The Simpsons

    04:36

    Doris Singleton

    Doris Singleton on censorship on I Love Lucy

    00:30

    Robert Smigel

    Robert Smigel on the genesis of the Late Night with Conan O'Brien sketch "Masturbating Bear" which writer Brian Reich developed, and on the bear bit being funnier due to the limitations put on it by Standards & Practices

    01:40

    Robert Smigel on his "TV Funhouse" animated sketch on Saturday Night Live skewering NBC's parent company GE; on getting notes from Standards & Practices at NBC to tweak his "Conspiracy Theory Rock!" sketch; on the sketch airing on SNL just as NBC president Bob Wright happened to be watching; on this sketch never re-airing; on SNL assistant director Robert Caminiti letting Smigel know the sketch had been pulled; on Lorne Michaels' continued support for Smigel's sketches despite the backlash; on the sketch's continued popularity; on J. J. Sedelmaier getting original artists who had worked on the original Schoolhouse Rock to animate "Conspiracy Theory Rock"

    05:26

    G.E. Smith

    G.E. Smith on the infamous Sinead O'Connor "Pope ripping" incident on Saturday Night Live

    02:00

    Yeardley Smith

    Yeardley Smith on censorship issues (or the lack thereof) on The Simpsons

    02:45

    Dick Smothers

    Tom and Dick Smothers on some of the confrontations they had with CBS and unions regarding the material on The Smothers Brothers' Comedy Hour

    05:45

    Tom and Dick Smothers on their dealings with CBS, their firing, and their thoughts about the larger political issues which may have contributed to the demise of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

    17:37

    Tom and Dick Smothers on CBS' cancellation of The Smothers Brothers' Comedy Hour for breach-of-contract

    03:23

    Tom and Dick Smothers on some censored portions of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

    03:12

    Tom and Dick Smothers on the variety show genre and  working with CBS executives on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

    03:13

    Tom and Dick Smothers on the free speech of The Smothers Brothers' Comedy Hour

    02:09

    Tom Smothers

    On some of the confrontations they had with CBS and unions regarding the material on The Smothers Brothers' Comedy Hour

    05:45

    Tom and Dick Smothers on their dealings with CBS, their firing, and their thoughts about the larger political issues which may have contributed to the demise of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

    17:37

    Tom and Dick Smothers on CBS' cancellation of The Smothers Brothers' Comedy Hour for breach-of-contract

    03:23

    Tom and Dick Smothers on some censored portions of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

    03:12

    Tom and Dick Smothers on the variety show genre and  working with CBS executives on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

    03:13

    Tom and Dick Smothers on the free speech of The Smothers Brothers' Comedy Hour

    02:09

    Aaron Spelling

    Aaron Spelling on network interference when writing for Sammy Davis, Jr. on Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater

    03:03

    Aaron Spelling on fighting the network to get storylines on Dynasty

    01:54

    Aaron Spelling on creating one of TV's first regular gay characters on Dynasty

    01:07

    Frank Stanton

    Frank Stanton on his relationship with Senator John O. Pastore, and dealing with censorship

    04:58

    Darren Star

    Darren Star on controversial storylines on Beverly Hills, 90210, including "Brenda Walsh" sleeping with "Dylan McKay" in the first season's "Spring Dance" episode

    04:17

    Darren Star on the censorship issues that arose on Melrose Place, particularly involving the character "Matt Fielding," who was gay

    03:16

    Darren Star on a Sex and the City gag that HBO objected to

    01:33

    Johnny Stearns

    Mary Kay and Johnny Stearns on incorporating Mary Kay's pregnancy into Mary Kay and Johnny; on what they could and couldn't say on the show

    03:02

    Mary Kay Stearns

    Mary Kay and Johnny Stearns on incorporating Mary Kay's pregnancy into Mary Kay and Johnny; on what they could and couldn't say on the show

    03:02

    Jeremy Stevens

    Jeremy Stevens on Charles Rocket saying an expletive live on the air on Saturday Night Live

    02:20

    Bob Stewart

    Bob Stewart on the Quiz Show Scandals and how it affected game show producers

    04:49

    George Sunga

    George Sunga on CBS's reaction to The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

    01:15

    George Sunga on Harry Belafonte's controversial performance on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

    01:24

    George Sunga on diversity and discrimination in television

    07:08

    George Takei

    George Takei on co-starring in the controversial Twilight Zone episode "The Encounter" (airdate: May 1, 1964)

    05:43

    William Tankersley

    William Tankersley on becoming the Director of Program Practices at CBS Television City

    01:34

    William Tankersley on his process as Director of Program Practices at CBS Television City

    02:52

    William Tankersley on Frank Stanton and William Paley's input on Program Practices at CBS Television City

    02:57

    William Tankersley on Program Practices' involvement with table reads

    01:05

    William Tankersley on instances when shows went against the advice of CBS Program Practices

    01:30

    William Tankersley on how CBS Program Practices handled pregnancy storylines on TV shows in the 1950s

    01:00

    William Tankersley on how CBS Program Practices handled personal hygiene commercials and storylines on TV shows in the 1950s and '60s

    01:12

    William Tankersley on how CBS Program Practices handled Civil Rights storylines on TV shows in the 1950s

    02:04

    William Tankersley on Washington D.C.'s interest in violence on television and dealing with an AFTRA strike

    03:59

    William Tankersley on how CBS Program Practices handled religious storylines on TV shows in the 1950s

    03:43

    William Tankersley on how CBS Program Practices handled storylines involving drugs on TV shows in the 1960s

    01:34

    William Tankersley on CBS' expected limitations of violence on television

    07:04

    William Tankersley on CBS' guidelines for current affairs and politics on TV in the 1950s

    01:35

    William Tankersley on his involvement with the CBS loyalty oath and the Hollywood Blacklist

    04:59

    William Tankersley on CBS Standards & Practices not having many issues with daytime soap operas

    02:01

    William Tankersley on CBS Standards & Practices having issues with shows paying for commercial plugs

    03:16

    William Tankersley on CBS Standards & Practices' workings with early TV sponsors

    03:05

    William Tankersley on how the Quiz Show scandals (which started with NBC shows) affected CBS Standards & Practices

    04:29

    William Tankersley on being promoted to Vice President of Program Practices at CBS and dealing with advertisers

    02:10

    William Tankersley on CBS Standards & Practices' problems with advertisers' competitive complaints and false advertising

    05:43

    William Tankersley on CBS Standards & Practices' workings with Playhouse 90 and The Twilight Zone

    06:02

    William Tankersley on CBS Standards & Practices' problems with The Smothers Brothers' Comedy Hour

    06:00

    William Tankersley on CBS Standards & Practices' interactions with news programs 

    02:35

    William Tankersley on CBS Standards & Practices work with Norman Lear on All In The Family, (contd.)

    06:13

    Marlo Thomas

    Marlo Thomas on ABC wanting to change things in That Girl

    01:01

    Marlo Thomas on the rules for sexuality on That Girl

    02:13

    Marlo Thomas on bringing Free to be... You and Me to television and issues of censorship with "William Wants a Doll"

    02:14

    Tony Thomas

    Tony Thomas on dealing with Standards and Practices regarding Soap

    00:49

    Tony Thomas on battles with Standards and Practices over The Golden Girls

    00:59

    Stanford Tischler

    Stanford Tischler on censorship issues on M*A*S*H and how decades earlier in the 1950s the word "condominium" was deleted from a script

    00:55

    Ret Turner

    Ret Turner on how network Standards and Practices affected his wardrobe decisions

    03:20

    Tony Verna

    Tony Verna on censorship issues with live television

    02:23

    Malcolm-Jamal Warner

    Malcolm-Jamal Warner on dealing with Standards and Practices on The Cosby Show

    02:11

    Keenen Ivory Wayans

    Keenen Ivory Wayans on dealing with censorship on In Living Color and getting around the censors

    02:42

    Keenen Ivory Wayans on the lost "Colt 45" sketch parodying Billy Dee Williams on In Living Color and on censors

    08:39

    Bob Weiskopf

    Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf on network interference on Maude

    01:04

    Dawn Wells

    Dawn Wells on proper attire and behavior for the characters on Gilligan's Island according to Standards & Practices

    00:40

    Tucker Wiard

    Tucker Wiard on dealing with network interference and censorship

    00:52

    Fred Willard

    Fred Willard on Fernwood 2-Night  "going too far"

    03:56

    Andy Williams

    Andy Williams on not having interference from Standards & Practices on The Andy Williams Show

    01:00

    Larry Wilmore

    Larry Wilmore on standards and practices notes for The PJs, and on leaving the show after it switched networks

    03:41

    Ethel Winant

    Ethel Winant on Playhouse 90's productions of "Portrait of a Murderer" and "Judgement at Nuremberg", and on network and sponsor censorship

    09:49

    Dick Wolf

    Dick Wolf on dealing with Standards and Practices on Hill Street Blues and his other shows

    05:48

    David L. Wolper

    David Wolper on fighting for key scenes in Roots

    02:15

    Frederic Ziv

    Frederic Ziv on standards he used for the content of his programs

    01:26

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