TV talk: The raunch is ramping up
In 1972, comedian George Carlin came up with his routine “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television.”
Today, that list would be “Four Words You Can Never Say on Television.”
All seven can be heard in R-rated movies that air on cable movie networks, but it’s a virtual lock that they’ll never be heard on the Big Three: NBC, CBS and ABC. But who knows when it comes to cable TV? The envelope already has opened a bit wider.
In their regular series, networks such as FX and AMC have incorporated three of the seven words into dialogue on a pretty regular basis. The newest one to break the wall, so to speak, is the word that’s a nastier synonym for excrement. (You figure out which one.) The word can often be heard on shows such as “Legion,” “The Walking Dead” and several others.
There’s even nudity these days on some series. At this point, it’s just backsides and it’s brief, but now that the door is open, who knows which hallways it will lead down.
For me, usage of those words or unveiling of hindquarters isn’t a big deal. After all, these are cable shows aimed at adults; letting a child watch them is a borderline dereliction of parental duty. And any adult who is shocked at these words — which are truly benign compared to the ones still on Carlin’s list — has led a very sheltered life. Doesn’t mean you have to like them, though.
But if anyone is alarmed or offended by these words, turn the TV off or switch to another channel. Why watch these shows if the language or visuals disturb you? Each of these shows has warnings at the beginning and during about what to expect, so there’s no excuse for saying, “I had no idea that (insert show name here) was going to be like that.”
Are the words and images signs of a coarsening of society? Yeah. Are they a sign that the apocalypse is near? No. Dirty words won’t bring an end to the universe, even if they’re on something as ever-present as TV.
It is a sign, however, that TV is jampacked with hundreds of channels, most of which are skipped over when scanning with the remote. You spend $100 million or so to start a cable network and you darned sure want to stand out or at least get some attention. Making your network a bit R-rated is something different that pulls eyes your way.
Or at least it does for a while. Then the ante must be upped again.
Will we ever hear the other four words on Carlin’s list on a TV series? Don’t bet against it.