What happened to "regular" TV channels?

[Millie]

I'm watching "Baywatch" (2017 movie) on FX and I'm hearing words I never heard except on the movie channels like HBO and others.
I mean, it's fine with me, I say some words here and there that some might not like, but wow! Obviously I haven't watched "regular" tv in a LONG time.
It's pretty awesome to hear.

 

[McDirkale]

TV is all about language these days. I have always thought that those who use it fluently and frequently feel it empowers them...to me, it just makes them look like an idiot.

My wife watches "Shameless"....about every 3rd word I don't care to hear.

 

[Gator]

I'm watching "Baywatch" (2017 movie) on FX and I'm hearing words I never heard except on the movie channels like HBO and others.
I mean, it's fine with me, I say some words here and there that some might not like, but wow! Obviously I haven't watched "regular" tv in a LONG time.
It's pretty awesome to hear.

If you're watching FX, you're not watching what my wife calls "regular" TV. "Regular" TV is what we watch, no Directv, no cable, just an antenna in the window.

.

 

[Jerzsubbie]

Agree with @Gator. FX is a poor example, they’re more of a wannabe premium channel that happens to be included with most cable packages. I’d say regular TV is broadcast channels like ABC, NBC, etc. you could also lump into that group TNT and TBS.

Same rules for radio but for me it’s more apparent with music. The FCC rules for language have loosened up quite a bit over the past 20yr. They can say damn, b*tch, and a$$, but can’t say gun. There actually aren’t clear set in stone rules about which words are censored and which aren’t, the context and what is generally considered offensive in current culture dictates that.

 

[noway2]

Like before the Janet Jackson stuperbowl incident it was becoming common for shows to have brief nudity. That changed in a flash.

The FCC rules for language have loosened up quite a bit over the past 20yr. They can say damn, b*tch, and a$$, but can’t say gun. There actually aren’t clear set in stone rules about which words are censored and which aren’t, the context and what is generally considered offensive in current culture dictates that.

I believe the same rules apply regarding ham radio, in which case obscenity is what is prohibited, not profanity. This is fortunate because the number of people on the radio while driving guarantees that every once in a while a word or two will slip out.

 

[two fingers]

Mrs.Fingers and I were watching a movie not long ago on one of the "basic cable" channels (synonymous with "regular TV" to me) the other night. F bombs everywhere. Brief nudity. We had seen the movie before so the language isn't what shocked us. The fact that it wasn't a premium channel did. I get that it's a weird dichotomy that one should have to "pay for obscenity". But still....

Of course, in this age of everything is OK I really shouldn't be shocked.

We're about to drop cable anyway. All the introductory deals on streaming services got us hooked. No news worth watching on cable. The only sport I care about is baseball and we can get the MLB package for fifty bucks a season for that.

Last night I found Quigley Down Under about midway through on cable. I switched over to Amazon Prime and watched it from the beginning.

 

[Tailhunter]

Don’t have a tv, like I, you’ll never have to worry about what they say or show.

 

[DrScaryGuy]

FYI, the FCC doesn't have any power to regulate content on cable because they regulate public broadcast, not subscription based content distributed by private means.
Cable has had a kind of gentleman's agreement with the FCC to keep content on basic channels similar to broadcast tv and leave the uncensored stuff on premium channels like show-it-time and skin-emax. If you don't like what's on cable, you don't have to subscribe. But you can't not subscribe to the public airwaves funded by tax payer dollars.

And yes, once broadcast tv started getting away with nudity-but-not-obscenity on NYPD blue (e.g. boob or butt flashes when somebody is getting out of bed, possibly after implied sex, but generally not nudity DURING a sex scene) they pushed the limit until the FCC said "too far". The same is true for naughty words. Carlin's 7-words doesn't apply if the words are used in certain contexts. TV stations were always trying to push the limit, but the dam broke when Bono said "this is so f**ing great" during an award show. As long as you're not using them on kid-focused material, if your f-bomb isn't about actual f-ing, and your s-bomb isn't about actual poop you'll probably be okay

 

[fieldgrade]

Don’t have a tv, like I, you’ll never have to worry about what they say or show.

Mine is a 42 inch plasma I bought new 14 years ago. Wife watches Hallmark on it in the guest room. Period. Only TV in the house. My boys might watch it when visiting. Roku with Philo.

 

[Chuckman]

When I was in high school my mom, who never had two nickels to rub together (and when she did she spent them or lost them), didn't pay the cable bill, so they cut our cable. We went without for a few months. At first I was mortified, angry, but I came to love the peace. I read a ton. I would very much like to go back to no TV. We have Dish and we stream, but there's only a handful of shows I watch with any regularity.

 

[DrScaryGuy]

When I was in high school my mom, who never had two nickels to rub together (and when she did she spent them or lost them), didn't pay the cable bill, so they cut our cable. We went without for a few months. At first I was mortified, angry, but I came to love the peace. I read a ton. I would very much like to go back to no TV. We have Dish and we stream, but there's only a handful of shows I watch with any regularity.

no worries man. we never had cable growing up at all. the folks said there was too much garbage on it and considered taking me to church extra when i asked why we couldn't have it. We weren't even allowed to watch half the shows on broadcast tv. I spent a lot of time outside though, so i'm probably better off for it.