Simpsons and censorship?
10 seconds before starting this post, I saw the Simpsons being censored. It's at Itchy and Scratchy Land, when they're watching the I&S version of "Pinocchio" (missed what the title was). I'm assuming Itchy lied and his nose extended and lanced Scratchy's eye. But it was cut out.
I can't believe it. Star TV can bite my asss. They cut out the kissing scenes between Willow and Tara in Buffy, too. WTF?
I can't believe it. Star TV can bite my asss. They cut out the kissing scenes between Willow and Tara in Buffy, too. WTF?
Comments
Hey, what better way to get you to buy the DVD of their shows than to run a 30-minute commercial? (Actually less than 22 minutes.)
after commercial, he's back at his place. it's like, WTF!
And, coincidentally, they have commercials about buying Season 4 on DVD. Hmmm...
Originally posted by tonton
Why cut that one out? It wasn't for time. It was 2 seconds of footage at the most.
That's the way they do time cuts. If you compared what was cut to an original episode (again, a reason to buy the DVD!) you would notice that a couple of seconds get cut all over the place in the Simpsons.
If you've ever seen the one with Marge and the "Thelma and Louise" tribute, you'd notice they must have cut over a dozen different places scene that were barely 5 seconds long. At least they sort of maintain a plot integrity in Simpsons cuts (as most things that get cut are quick jokes or sight gags not instrumental to the plot) as opposed to some horrible hack jobs I've seen with real-life TV shows. Considering the nature of the cartoon, it's a lot easier to do these hack jobs - all the scene switching of cartoons which are easily created as such.
If they hope most folks don't notice a few dozen three-second cuts, you can squeeze in one more commercial (or two 15-second ones).
so, perhaps, the answer is to write a angry yet reserved letter to the producers/execs at the syndicate channel, asking them to re-add the violence. when the ignore it, go onto a local talk show and get drowned out by the bias of the newscaster and loudness of your opponents. next, picket until you get a large enough group to matter. then, when you finally do make a difference, refuse to be for the violence of some other medium (perhaps a gore flick) and the cut versions will resume. such is life.
but really, this editing shit bugs me. and the worst part is the simpsons are really behind in dvds. they have like 3 of their 200000 seasons out. back in college, the roomies and i would watch the eps with frequency. and "someone" would always have the full versions downloaded on their "computer." sometimes we'd watch them simultaneously (that way, depending on where you were sitting in the room, you would be pointing toward the Simpsons). and, every so often they'd go out of sync, and you wouldn't realize exactly why atfirst (often we'd chalk it up to mis timing the unpausing, but sometimes it was overtly the syndicate's fault). little bits here or there, or larger bits. i'm kind of surprised about that twins bit being taken out. that was one of the funnier scenes in that ep. theres like 5 or ten minutes with homer betwixt those infamous towers. "Blecch! Ew! Sheesh! I'll take a crab juice."
Originally posted by JimDreamworx
Lately, it has happened quite a lot with M*A*S*H. At least five minutes gets taken out of a show in various parts.
M*A*S*H has much sarcastic commentary about military hierarchy and governments in general. This is unpatriotic, and so the American public must not be exposed to it. National Security and all that....
Originally posted by Moogs
M*A*S*H has much sarcastic commentary about military hierarchy and governments in general. This is unpatriotic, and so the American public must not be exposed to it. National Security and all that....
Ah, that explains it!
What was strange is that when it was in first-run back in the 80s, Ronald Reagan used to say it was one of his favorite shows.
I really like the late night adult swim format on cartoon network, it's the same pretty much for every show,
[funny comment card]
Show starts
[2-4 minute commercial break]
Show finishes
[comment card]
[short commercial break]
[comment card]
[next show starts]
If more TV was like that, I'd probably watch more of it. but as it stands now I really only watch a small handful of shows, and even those I don't catch all the time.
I also think Matt Groening should be severly pissed at the same, if it is indeed happening with his shows. And so my next question: why haven't we heard from him? Or have we, and I just don't know it / didn't see or hear it?
I read an interview about how Groening has clashed with the Fox censors many times and usually gets his way. A call to Murdoch, and it's done! Think he said the gist of a clause in the contract is "Don't mess with the Simpsons!"
(Offtopic: Does anyone remember the rumor about the Simpsons movie where Bart was supposed to lose his virginity?)
In first run, all the scenes are intact, but syndication is a different story.
Notice the examples above were all about episodes of TV we know and have seen.
Usually, syndication of anything is prone to cutting, as it is done on local TV stations that are allowed to put in much more commercials than what network TV is allowed on first-run. Hence the cuts.
We all know the Simpsons by heart, so when we notice this, we wonder what's going on. Standard TV junk.
Don't forget to buy those DVDs!