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Will Networks Push the Envelope After FCC Indecency Rules Are Thrown Out?
by Joel Keller, posted Jul 13th 2010 8:02PM
Today, a U.S. Appeals court ruled that the FCC's indecency rules were "unconstitutionally vague," and overturned the commission's entire slate of indecency rules.This ruling was in response to cases of "fleeting" expletives or incidents, like the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction or Bono uttering the f-word at the Golden Globes; the court felt that there "is ample evidence in the record that the FCC's indecency policy has chilled protected speech."
But the impact of this ruling will reverberate much more than you think; the court threw out the entire set of indecency rules the FCC had been using since 1978, after a radio station played George Carlin's 'Seven Dirty Words' routine on the air. The court just felt that it didn't pass constitutional muster that, for instance, the commission could judge that the use of 'bulls--t' in an 'NYPD Blue' episode was indecent, but the use of 'd--k' and 'd--khead' were not.
Of course, most people who have never been a fan of the commission's random indecency rules could have told you that years ago. But the big question now is: what does this mean for the broadcast networks?
That answer seems pretty easy: Until the FCC can come up with an indecency policy that can be deemed constitutional, the broadcast networks are likely going to use this opportunity to push the envelope even further than they do now, especially after 10PM.
For years now, the broadcast networks have been getting their butts handed to them by cable. Even basic cable, not governed by the FCC, have taken to loosening their language requirements to the point where it seems that part of each channel's personality is classified by how far they go with their shows' language.
On AMC you occasionally hear the s-word, for instance, but never anything too dirty. Same with TNT. Comedy Central lets a lot of words and phrases go, but reserves the dirtiest stuff for its 'Secret Stash' broadcast in the wee hours of the morning. FX, though, has taken full advantage of this lack of government oversight, as Louis C.K. so vividly and explicitly explained to me earlier this year. But even there, they have limits... it's just that those limits are much less limited than most (trust me, read the interview and you'll be surprised at how loose those limits are).
It's tough for the broadcast networks to compete with that, which is why they tried to push matters during the Clinton administration, where shows like 'NYPD Blue' showed side-boob and the cops called each other "a--hole." But after the Janet Jackson Nipplegate incident, the broadcast nets recoiled to the point where there's likely less salty dialogue in today's network TV than there was twenty years ago.
But in those heady days of the '90s, the broadcast networks were only competing with Showtime, HBO and other premium channels. With basic cable networks all over the dial amping up their original programming, things are only going to get more competitive.
The broadcast networks are surely going to use this opportunity to get more creative with language and sexual situations. All the 'NYPD Blue' words are going to come back, as will the s-word, which was uttered during episodes of 'Chicago Hope' and 'ER' in the '90s and early '00s. But I can also see phrases that are more sexual in nature making it to some programs; imagine 'Two and a Half Men' with the language of 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia,' and you'll see that we may be in for a new era in network programming.
Seriously, though, it's about time. Not every network show needs to have realistic, gritty dialogue, but at least this ruling gives the networks the opportunity to present the kind of programming their cable counterparts have been able to present for more than a decade without fear of massive and random fines. Hopefully, they'll be able to self-govern as well as the cable nets have. That's something that's a whole other debate, though.
What do you think? Will the networks use this opportunity to make their shows more realistic / raunchy?
(Follow @joelkeller on Twitter.)
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