Media Watchdog: Difference between revisions

[[File:ptcdog.jpg|link=Visual Pun|frame|<small>These dogs aren't good with kids.</small> ]]

In order to enforce these, governments set up media'''Media watchdogsWatchdogs'''. People (more often than not [[Moral Guardians]]) complain about a program, the body looks at it and rules whether their complaints are justified.

These [[Media Watchdogs]] are frequently subjected to [[Double StandardsStandard]]s. In the U.S, sex and nudity, no matter how mild, will be censored and critisized to hell, even though huge and over-the-top violence is left alone. In Europe, the opposite ([[Not So Different|and yet, similar]]) [[Double Standard]] happens: sex and nudity can be found easily, but any violence is censored to hell.

* In ''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]'', Miaka is told to remove her clothes as part of a test to see if she is worthy to receive an object of power; she starts stripping, but stops while still wearing a one-piece undergarment and says [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|"This is the limit of what the broadcast code allows."]]

* Notoriously, the final episode of ''[[Excel Saga (Animeanime)|Excel Saga]]'' was designed specifically to violate the standards of Tokyo Air Check (the Japanese version of the BS&P). Everything down to the length of the episode (one minute longer than normal) was designed to make it impossible to air. The episode was titled, appropriately, "Going Too Far". (And indeed, it didn't make the air in Japan; it ended up a [[Baker's Dozen]].)

* Head of the British Board of Film Censors at the time, John Trevelyan, didn't like the early [[James Bond (Filmfilm)|James Bond]] movies, making cuts to them. EON named the villain of ''[[GoldeneyeGoldenEye (Filmfilm)|GoldeneyeGoldenEye]]'' after him.

** A [[Villain Withwith Good Publicity]], no less, to the point that his [[Face Heel Turn]] was [[It Was His Sled|originally a spoiler.]]

* ''[[This Film Is Not Yet Rated (Film)|This Film Is Not Yet Rated]]'' is all about how this works for movies in the US.

* ''[[Team America: World Police]]'' had a scene where two ''non-anatomically correct'' marionettes simulate various sex acts. The censors made them cut two extreme examples (both involving bodily waste), but allowed the rest of it...along with scenes of puppets being blown up, decapitated, eaten by live cats, shot to pieces and defenestrated. Evidently that was okay, but puppet scat was a no-no.

* ''[[UHF (Filmfilm)|UHF]]'': The film ends with the villainous Channel 8 getting its broadcasting license revoked by the FCC. Partly because they had failed to file paperwork to renew, but mostly because a recording of Channel 8 manager [[Big Bad|R.J. Fletcher]] giving a slanderous and negative appraisal of the population of the city was [[Engineered Public Confession|secretly recorded and rebroadcasted publicly]]. ([[Do Not Adjust Your Set|''On'' Channel 8 no less]]) The FCC even tells Fletcher that they'd normally overlook a late filing, but considering his "latest comments", they're pulling the plug.

{{quote| '''FBI Agent''': Remember what we did to Jello Biafra?}}

* Painfully obvious in ''[[NCIS (TV)|NCIS]]'' which depicts borderline realistic, and often gruesome, autopsy scenes...but the corpse's genitals are always conveniently blotched out by what looks like glare from a high-powered lamp.

** She was also satirized in an episode of ''[[The Goodies (TV)|The Goodies]]''. It seems she wrote to the show to compliment them as being one of the few "clean" shows on TV. They didn't like that.

* A moment that should have been dramatic was turned almost [[Narm|narmynarm]]y in a recentan episode of ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined(2004 TV series)|the 2004 reboot of ''Battlestar Galactica]]'']] when Starbuck started dropping [[Cluster F-Bomb|fraks like nobody's business]]. We ''know exactly what she's saying''. Why do we have to have drama ruined by [[Unusual Euphemism|good but ultimately fruitless tries at alternate swearing]]?

** ''Brilliantly'' parodied in [http://www.milkandcookies.com/link/66708/detail/ this] ''[[Robot Chicken]]'' sketch, with most of the actual ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined(2004 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica]]'' cast.

*** "Frak" is the last remnant of [[Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series)|the Originaloriginal ''Battlestar BSGGalactica'']]'s habit of having alternate names for almost everything: seconds became centons, years became yahrns, fuck became frak. While the alternate time system was dropped, frak was specifically included as an homage to the original. Originally, there was some bowdlerization involved, but that's not the only reason its there.

* In early episodes of ''[[Lost (TV)|Lost]]'', ABC's Standards and Practices insisted that Charlie's heroin use could not be shown. Instead, it had to be implied with cutaway shots.

* The production staff for ''[[Star Trek: the Original Series (TV)|Star Trek theThe Original Series]]'' wanted to show a several-second blurb of (what was considered to be, at the time) excessive skin, but one member, knowing that the Media Watchdogs would disapprove, is reported to have told the rest of the staff to double the time of skin shown, so that they could "negotiate" the time down to half, thus keeping the amount of "Questionable Material" the same as they originally wanted, but also satisfying the Media Watchdogs.

** ''[[Star Trek: the Original Series (TV)|Star Trek theThe Original Series]]'' was subjected to what would today be considered a quite extraordinary degree of censorship. (You can still make old-line Trekkies laugh with the phrase "Avoid the open-mouth kiss", which NBC's Broadcast Standards department rubber-stamped onto ''any'' mention of kissing in a script.) In the episode "That Which Survives", Lee Meriwether wears a crop-top and harem pants -- withpants—with a rectangular tab about four inches by five extending up from the waistband to conceal the forbidden sight of her navel.

* In May 1970, a state commission in Mississippi voted to ban ''[[Sesame Street (TV)|Sesame Street]]'', because it [[Values Dissonance|portrayed characters of all races as equals]]. When the vote was leaked to the New York Times, the counter-[[Moral Guardians|guardians]] pressured Mississippi to release the ban after 22 days.

* After being repeatedly badgered by the Parents Television Council (PTC) for its raunchy programming, [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] (WWF at the time) lampooned the organization with a wrestling stable known as Right to Censor (RTC). Clad in business suits, the RTC would openly harass any wrestlers who acted too profane, sexy, etc. Of course, they weren't above using violence to get their point across. For the record, despite the parody, Right to Censor pretty much did exactly what the PTC wanted, and many of the edgiest elements of the WWE are gone to this day.

* ''[[The Goon Show (Radio)|The Goon Show]]'' opted to take the piss by putting in [[Orphaned Punchline|completely out of context punchlines]] [[Getting Crap Past the Radar|to dirty jokes]], then pointing out that anyone who got the joke had no right to be offended. And let's not even get started on the brandy.

* Similarly, the radio comedy ''[[Round the Horne (Radio)|Round the Horne]]'' (itself a victim of overzealous censorship) aimed a number of [[Take That|Take Thats]]s including one where a team of censors object to the title of a then popular TV Show 'Have A Go With Wilfred Pickles' (the joke being that it's not the obvious innuendo in 'have a go' but the name 'Pickles' was promoting alcohol abuse).

{{quote| '''Horne:''' Will you take my case?<br />

'''Julian:''' Well, it depends on what it is. We've got a criminal practice that takes up most of our time.<br />

'''Horne:''' Yes, but apart from that? I need legal advice.<br />

* Parodied by [[Stan Freberg (Creator)]] in his classic ''Elderly Man River'' sketch.

{{quote| "How about this? The FCC, the Federal Communications Commission, decided all by itself that radio and TV were the only two parts of American media not protected by the free speech provisions First Amendment to the Constitution. I'd like to repeat that because it sounds '''vaguely important'''. The FCC, an appointed body, not elected, answerable '''only''' to the President, decided all on its own that radio and TV were the only two parts of American media not protected by the free speech Amendment of the Constitution. '''Why''' did they do that? Because they got a '''letter''' from a '''minister''' in '''Mississippi!''' A Reverend Donald Wildmon heard something on the radio he didn't like. Well hey, Reverend, didn't anybody ever tell you that there are two '''knobs''' on the radio? '''[[ThisPunctuated! IsFor! SpartaEmphasis!|Two! Knobs! On the radio!]]''' However, I'm sure the Reverend isn't too comfortable with anything that has two knobs on it anyway. Anyway, Reverend, there are two knobs on the radio. One of them turns the radio off, and the other one, '''changes the station'''! Imagine that, Reverend! You can actually change the station! It's called freedom of choice, and it's one of the principles this country was founded upon. Look it up at the library, Reverend, if you have any left when you finish burning all the books!"}}

* ''[[Atelier Iris]] ~[[Eternal Mana~]]'' [[Playing Withwith a Trope|has a little fun with this]]: In one dialogue exchange, [[Verbal Tic|Verbally Ticked]] [[Catgirl]] Norn is afraid of monsters, so she asks the hero, Klein, to sleep with her. She thinks what she's saying is [[Innocent Innuendo|totally innocuous]], but a flustered Klein responds by saying: "[[No Fourth Wall|I can't! The ESRB would go nuts!]]"

* ''[[No More Heroes]]'' parodied the censorship issue by joking that putting anything more extreme into the game would get the game an AO rating. (An Adults-Only rating is suicide for a game, because [https://web.archive.org/web/20140122090944/http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_63/370-Wal-Mart-Rules a certain large retailer] refuses to stock games with the AO rating.) [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|In the dialogue before the final battle, no less]]. There's also the implication that the game would have to be re-edited if the plot point referenced was actually uttered, thereby delaying the game. To top it off, this is all followed by the line, "You don't want this game to become ''[[No More Heroes]] [[Duke Nukem Forever (Video Game)|Forever]]'', do you?" This line is in the original Japanese version as well, since CERO (Japan's equivalent of the ESRB) is similar in how they act.

* In [https://web.archive.org/web/20110423141412/http://bukucomics.com/loserz/go/325 this] ''[[Loserz]]'' strip. The [https://web.archive.org/web/20110423135427/http://bukucomics.com/loserz/go/326 next] runs with it beautifully.

* Ever subversive, American cartoons are rife with jabs at their resident network's [[Media Watchdog]]. A few examples:

** In the ''[[Futurama]]'' episode "Bender Should Not be Allowed on Television", Professor Farnsworth and Hermes form the TV watchdog group '''[[Fun Withwith Acronyms|'''F]]'''[[Fun With Acronyms|athers]] '''[[Fun With Acronyms|A]]'''[[Fun With Acronyms|gainst]] '''[[Fun With Acronyms|R]]'''[[Fun With Acronyms|ude]] '''[[Fun With Acronyms|T]]'''[[Fun With Acronyms|elevision]] specifically to protest Benders behavior on "[[Soap Within a Show|All My Circuits]]".

** During the first two seasons of ''[[Re BootReBoot]]'' (which is actually a Canadian show, but the concept is the same), several jokes were made at the expense of ABC's Broadcast Standards and Practices Department (BS&P). These include a weapon that fires life rafts being labeled "BSnP Approved", and a [[No Celebrities Were Harmed|thinly-disguised parody]] of the [[Village People]] singing a song to the tune of "YMCA" about the BS&P.

** The ''[[Beetlejuice (Animationanimation)|Beetlejuice]]'' cartoon also spoofed [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]'s Broadcast Standards and Practices in one episode, where a bossy fairy-godmother figure named Goody Two-Shoes, sent from the Bureau of Sweetness and Prissiness (BS&P), ordered the gang to clean up their act, and eventually used her magic to briefly turn the show into a syrupy [[Sit ComSitcom]] a la ''[[Leave It to Beaver]]''.

** One episode of ''[[The Fairly Odd ParentsOddParents]]'' featured Vicky being arrested by the FCC for using the word "moron" on the radio. (Apparently it's okay to use that word on TV, but not on the radio)

** In an episode of ''[[Animaniacs (Animation)|Animaniacs]]'', two network censors objected to every violent act the Warner siblings did and showed them a parody of ''[[The Smurfs]]'' as how they want them to act. Later on, Attila the Hun attacks them, and the censors try to win him over with kindness. It doesn't work.

*** Another episode had a B-plot in which the show's characters are berated for being too violent, and Slappy Squirrel had to build an IKEA constructed machine to remove on-screen violence by making it offscreenoff-screen - only Slappy made it even more violent than it was originally planned and used it against the lawyer/attorney/whatever who forced her to use it. (Incidentally, the A-plot was Skippy Squirrel trying to stop bullying through nonviolent means and utterly failing at it.)

** In ''[[Histeria (Animation)|Histeria!]]'' there was recurring character, much like The Censor Lady, named Lydia Karaoke, who showed up every time someone said or did something inappropriate.

** In one ''[[Freakazoid!]]'' short, all scenes that would have shown the characters fighting were replaced with calming stock footage (some fish in a tank, etc.). The meddling executive (voiced by Ben Stein) calls it "soothing Relax-O-Vision".

** A direct jab at the code was made in a Tweety Bird [[Wartime Cartoon]] involving two cats, Babbit and Catsello ([[No Celebrities Were Harmed|transparent pastiches]] of the comedy team [[Abbott and Costello]]). Catsello goes up a ladder to get Tweety, and his partner tells him "Give me the bird!" The exasperated Catsello [[Fourth Wall|makes a comment]], saying "If the Hays Office would only let me, I'd give him [[Flipping the Bird|give him the bird]] alright!"

** The [[Animaniacs (Animation)|Animaniacs]] would later respond to the same demand with "We'd love to, really, but the Fox censors won't allow it."

*** Also, Parker and Stone followed the examples set by ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' and ''The Gong Show'' --— every time the MPAA would mark a scene as unacceptable, they would replace it with something even ''worse''. If their accounts of making the movie are to be believed, the MPAA would nearly always approve the more offensive revision. Apparently they don't care what you replace the scenes they don't like with, just that they're replaced. Maybe they were afraid that if they complained about the "improved" version, the result would be ''even worse than that''.

* In the ''[[Aqua Teen Hunger Force (Animation)|Aqua Teen Hunger Force]]'' episode "Gee Whiz" Meatwad and Frylock watch a mock PSA about network censorship that ends with the line "By following standards and practices you're guaranteed to make a mediocre product that no one can relate to." In fact, gags aimed at censorship liberally sprinkle the episode, ending with a [[No Fourth Wall]] moment at the end where Frylock and Master Shake angrily ask the camera if the censors liked it. The answer: "ACCEPTABLE!" This take on the episode emerged after a previous version was rejected for being too offensive. The plot circles around Meatwad believing that a mysterious image on a billboard, which he thinks looks like Jesus, has gotten him pregnant; in the episode as aired, the characters circle the [[Jesus Taboo]] by using the term "Gee Whiz", thus the episode title.

* The ''[[Family Guy]]'' episode "PTV" revolves around and spoofs this concept --— after a [[Wardrobe Malfunction]] during the Emmy Awards leads to all TV being ridiculously censored, Peter launches his own pirate station that features everything that viewers miss. When Lois gets fed up with it she alerts the FCC, but comes to regret it when they arrive in town not only to shut down the station, but also to censor ''real life''. "His chin kinda looks like balls. Should I censor that, too?" They even strap a sensor to Peter that turns his farts into Stephen Wright jokes. (Watch as Peter strains, only to hear: "I spilled spot remover on my dog, now he's gone.")

** Taken to greater [[StrawmanStraw PoliticalCharacter|Strawman]] levels than usual in the episode "You Kent Always Say What You Want".

* In an episode of ''MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch'', the show's hosts, Johnny Gomez and Nick Diamond, were arrested by the '''B'''roadcasters '''O'''pposing '''O'''ffensive '''B'''ehavior (B.O.O.B.) for showing offensive content on the show, namely airing an illegal "cockfight" fight between Tommy Lee and Ron Jeremy (both of which were in their chicken suits).

* Parodied in the ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' episode "Raging Bully", where school bully Buford van Stromm challenges Phineas to a fight. Phineas and Ferb even build a boxing ring outside the Googleplex Mall... and then the ringside announcer tells Phineas and Buford "In no way should this ensuing fight contain the image of potentially harmful, hurtful, or psychologically disturbing physical acts that could be found imitable by an impressionable child viewer" (quoting Disney's Standards and Practices policy word-for-fordword). This is much to the disappointment of Buford, who has to settle for a thumb-wrestling match.

* ''[[BeakmansBeakman's World]]'': Fear of the [[Media Watchdogs]] was one of the contributing factors as to why the show saved answering the most popular question sent into the show, "Why do we fart?", for the very last segment, after the show was canned for good. After all, they couldn't cancel the show twice... [[Uncanceled|or could they?]]

* Say what you will about ''[[SpongebobSpongeBob SquarePants]]'', he's managed to outrage conservatives ''twice''! Once for being gay, despite sponges being asexual.; Moremore recently for talking about global warming.

* In Canada, broadcasters have to present a certain minimum amount of Canadian content. WhileIn a case of [[Tropes Are Not Bad]], while there has been some griping about it, these rules worked wonders for Canadian popular music over the years. Once, before these regulations, Canadian artists were so ignored that radio broadcasters literally broke records in front of some musicians pleading for some airtime; now the Canadian music scene has flourished to the point where all -Canadian music stations exist with big international stars who wouldn't think of leaving the Great White North.

[[Category:Media Watchdog{{PAGENAME}}]]