Simpsons bleep

[mouse goddess]

What was bleeped from last sunday's Simpsons?

I can't quite remember the conversation, but Homer's talking to his trainer about why he eats donuts, and he says something like "not everyone has time to BLEEEEEP."

Was this done by fox? or was it a deliberate joke to play on our dirty minds?

[diddy]

Originally Posted by mouse goddess

What was bleeped from last sunday's Simpsons?

I can't quite remember the conversation, but Homer's talking to his trainer about why he eats donuts, and he says something like "not everyone has time to BLEEEEEP."

Was this done by fox? or was it a deliberate joke to play on our dirty minds?

Wiki doesn't mention any censorship by studios. I missed the episode, but people are saying that it was bleeped. Might be a more local Fox affiliate since the word that was bleeped has been not bleeped before on other animated shows (it was a reference to masturbation). Doesn't add up though - the scrips get done months before they air. This isn't like SNL where its done in a week and they show it with a delay or anything.

[Canuckistan]

Originally Posted by diddy

Might be a more local Fox affiliate since the word that was bleeped has been not bleeped before on other animated shows (it was a reference to masturbation).

I doubt it was a local thing -- I heard it, too, off a Canadian feed. Seems like it was bleeped at the source.

[JoeBentley]

It's bleeped on Hulu. And Closed Captioning is bleeped too.

[diddy]

Originally Posted by Canuckistan

I doubt it was a local thing -- I heard it, too, off a Canadian feed. Seems like it was bleeped at the source.

Huh... Must be one of those rare things. I would have sworn (no irony here folks) that animation shows tended to be screened better since they took so long to be animated that they would screen them before hand with a rough cut so that they wouldn’t waste time animating something that would be defiantly be cut. I know that scenes get cut, but the ones on the Simpsons were for other reasons other than censorship.

Turns out that I was wrong

[DAnnino]

Just my two cents, as I didn't see the episode in question. But maybe, it's supposed to be a bleep, not an actual censoring of a word? I can't ever remember a bleep in The Simpsons or Futurama (as opposed to South Park or Family Guy). Just wondering.

[Ducky]

I haven't watched the Simpsons in years but it sounds like they did that on purpose.. the trainer thing sounds like it is a take off of the ones from The Biggest Loser and those two cuss up a storm and get bleeped every other week. So I bet they did a sideways send up of that and the "Bleep" was actually part of the script.

just my .002 cents... devalued cents and all...

[DAnnino]

Originally Posted by Ducky

I haven't watched the Simpsons in years but it sounds like they did that on purpose.. the trainer thing sounds like it is a take off of the ones from The Biggest Loser and those two cuss up a storm and get bleeped every other week. So I bet they did a sideways send up of that and the "Bleep" was actually part of the script.

just my .002 cents... devalued cents and all...

You see, great minds thinking alike!

I've never seen The Biggest Loser, so I didn't know about the cussing thing. All I know, and I haven't watched The Simpsons in years, either, is that just isn't the way Matt Groening does things.

[effo5231]

I don't think it was intentional... I think the FCC simply forced them to bleep it after the scene was completed... They didn't bleep any other scene and it was a pretty jarring bleep... it didn't feel like a joke.

The scene in question.

For those without sound or who can't watch videos...

Trainer-Homer do you know why you eat?

Homer-Because I'm swallowing my frustration and disappointments?

Trainer-Something bad happens and you cope by cramming a donut in your mouth!

Homer- Yeah well you don't always have time to BEEP.

The person who posted the video surmised that the beeped out word was "masturbate" which certainly makes sense. (Both as a punchline and as a reason for the FCC to bleep it at the last minute.)

[lord_feldon]

The FCC can't bleep anything at the last minute, AFAIK.

[effo5231]

Originally Posted by lord_feldon

The FCC can't bleep anything at the last minute, AFAIK.

I did not know that... I'm sure someone still has bleeping authority right down to when the show gets aired. Substitute said authority for FCC in my previous post.

[blucanary]

That would be 20th Century Fox or the local Fox affiliate. The FCC just fines you if they deem in inappropriate. I'm more inclined to believe it's intentional. Even the poorly way it's bleeped.

[Johnny Slick]

I don't think the FCC actually bleeps anything itself. It comes in after the fact and fines networks that show objectionable content. They may make themselves available to vet a program before it's aired but by and large censoring decisions are made by the station's own Standards and Practices group.

[Ratboy]

Originally Posted by DAnnino

Just my two cents, as I didn't see the episode in question. But maybe, it's supposed to be a bleep, not an actual censoring of a word? I can't ever remember a bleep in The Simpsons or Futurama (as opposed to South Park or Family Guy). Just wondering.

I remember one episode where the Simpsons used censoring intentionally for comedic value. In Starship Poopers from Treehouse of Horror IX, it's revealed that Kang is Maggie's father and following Bart's statement that "there's only one man who can settle an argument this bizarre", they go on the Jerry Springer show.

A short excerpt from that episode:

Kang: [walks onstage, gives Marge a bouquet of roses, and kisses her hand. Homer jumps and punches him]
Homer: You lousy two-timing [bleep bleep]! I'm gonna [bleep]!
Kang: Oh yeah? Well [bleep] hyperbolic parabaloid! [bleep] yo mama! [grabs two chairs and uses them to fight Homer]

...

Springer: And now for my final thought. [steps in front of his "final thought" backdrop] Nobody wins when parents put their petty squabbles above the welfare of a child. Let's hope they put their differences aside, and do what's best for Maggie. [Maggie attacks Jerry] Ow! What the [bleep]! Get the [bleep] baby off [bleep]! Son of a [bleep]! [Kang attacks Springer. Homer attacks Kang again. The show's end credit music comes up]
Marge: I'm so [bleep] embarrassed.

[franjava]

Originally Posted by Ratboy

I remember one episode where the Simpsons used censoring intentionally for comedic value. In Starship Poopers from Treehouse of Horror IX, it's revealed that Kang is Maggie's father and following Bart's statement that "there's only one man who can settle an argument this bizarre", they go on the Jerry Springer show.

A short excerpt from that episode:

I love that even Marge ended up needing bleeping! That show was an obvious spoof and was hysterical. The one from the op is just... odd.

[Canuckistan]

Originally Posted by lord_feldon

The FCC can't bleep anything at the last minute, AFAIK.

And they certainly can't bleep anything in Canada. They have no jurisdiction here.

[hoitoider]

Maybe it's like Jimmy Kimmel's 'Unnecessary Censorship' gag where they show footage of various celebrities and add bleeps to make it sound like they're cursing.

[JoeBentley]

Censorship makes things look more professional