Cartman
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Post by Cartman on Jul 15, 2019 16:09:40 GMT
Apparently, the first appearance of the f word on TV was on a BBC2 programme sometime in the late 60s,by the theatre critic, Kenneth Tynan. There were angry letters to the Times and it looked as if the sky was going to fall in!
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Sparky
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Post by Sparky on Jul 15, 2019 17:53:01 GMT
Apparently, the first appearance of the f word on TV was on a BBC2 programme sometime in the late 60s,by the theatre critic, Kenneth Tynan. There were angry letters to the Times and it looked as if the sky was going to fall in! Yes - I read something about this a while ago. Didn't Billy Connolly write and perform a song about Kenneth Tynan in his live shows?
The first TV show I saw with blatant swearing would have been "The Young Ones" - also a BBC2 show. And that only went as far as the odd "Shit" and "Complete and Utter Bastard".
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Post by Arthur Pringle on Jul 15, 2019 19:17:55 GMT
That's the thing about rude words, the less they're used the more effect they have, now they're used so much they barely register. I was thinking how odd it was to hear Jack & George swear properly in the two Sweeney films, especially Sweeney 2 where George says the f word twice within a few seconds.
I don't know who did the subtitles but there's no excuse for the septic tank spelling of arseholes is there?
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Sparky
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Post by Sparky on Jul 16, 2019 6:54:52 GMT
That's the thing about rude words, the less they're used the more effect they have, now they're used so much they barely register. I was thinking how odd it was to hear Jack & George swear properly in the two Sweeney films, especially Sweeney 2 where George says the f word twice within a few seconds.
I don't know who did the subtitles but there's no excuse for the septic tank spelling of arseholes is there
I struggled to get used to hearing Jack & George 'properly' swearing - though in reality, such officers would have. I think - by the time I saw both Sweeney feature films - I was that used to the TV series.
In Ted Childs original 'bible' (issued to writers) for the Sweeney, he mentioned the use of bad language - and that writers must always bear in mind that the show may be repeated to an Afternoon audience - so such language must be restricted.
With the Sweeney feature films, I think it was commented that it was a tough decision to decide what Rating to go for; if they wanted a wider audience - they would have had to have gone for a "U" (making it like a Disney film), or an "A" (nowadays a PG), or a more adult audience, an "AA" (15 nowadays), or "X" (18 today).
Obviously the lower the rating, the wider the audience, but the more material you would have to take out. The other way round, you end up with a films that features lots of Sex, Violence, Swearing - but open to a smaller audience.
The DVDs for TV series were handed a "15" by the BBFC - this I gather was due to the additional / bonus material; otherwise they'd have got a 12 (according to the BBFC)
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