Topic: Stooges prove comedy exists without vulgar mouth!

[123cagney]

Is there a comedian today that doesn't rely on vulgarity? The stooges made people of all ages laugh. Comedy today aims right for the toilet! Movies and T.V. drop F bombs like its going out of style. People (in general) lace their speech with foul language. Don't they realize how ignorant they seem? Is the vocabulary of the human race really so limited?  If only Hollywood would find a comedy team (Are there even teams?) for all ages.

[shemps#1]

What country are you living in? Look: the only times you will hear swearing on tv in the US are on pay channels like HBO/Showtime/Cinemax/Movie Channel/PPV etc, or after 10pm when the smaller children should be sleeping. The swearing you hear on broadcast/cable tv after 10 pm is mild and almost never includes the word "fuck" (or the "F Bomb", as you so quaintly put it). As far as movies go, the vast majority of the major releases are rated PG-13 and include the the same mild language that tv after 10pm does. The biggest boxoffice draws are usually the lame computer-animated kiddie fare like Shrek and Shark Tale where tired parents can keep their kids occupied.

Now as for their being no comedians that do not swear, once again you are wrong. Their are folks like Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Cosby, Ellen DeGeneres, and Ray Romano who do not curse. The only problem is, every one I just mentioned is lame. Are they lame because they do not swear? Well, yes and no. It's not their being clean that makes them lame, it's the pious way they go about it. I know for certain that both Cosby and Seinfeld have both talked about how much better they are than the likes of Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Chris Rock, etc. because they (Seinfeld and Cosby) do not swear while the other choose to work blue. Also, it isn't the cursing that makes George Carlin funnier than Bill Cosby; it's the much more relevant, timely, and funny material.

Just because a person curses from time to time does not mean their vocabulary is stunted. I will meet you half-way and say that there are unintelligent people out there who constantly curse. I'm sure all of us have at least one of these people in our family or lives, the person who has to say "fuck" or "shit" or something simular every other word. These people drive me crazy, but the same can be said for someone who uses the word "like" in the same way.

There is an alarmingly frightening movement in this country that I like to call the Regression Movement. These people, mostly right-wing religious zealots who happen to be in power, would like to turn back the clock to the days before Lenny Bruce, when the word "damn" was considered too strong to be broadcast. The problem is, you cannot go back. In order to mentally evolve we need to Progress, not Regress. Try taking the sting out of those words. After all, they aren't swearing at you personally.

To wrap this rant up in a tidy little bow, there is plenty of kiddie or "family" fare out there for those who are easily offended like yourself. Not only is there the Disney Channel, numerous "edutainment" channels, Nickelodeon and so on, pay channels like HBO have "family" channels. So don't tell me television is nothing but a cess pool and a breeding ground for vulgar language.

If you don't like what's on, you have three options: 1. Pop in a DVD/video tape, 2. change the channel, or ( and this is the most important one) 3. TURN OFF THE FUCKING TELEVISION!

[Pilsner Panther]

To really understand why the classic 1930's-40's-50's comedians all "worked clean," you have to know something about the history of American filmmaking. After a series of drug and sex scandals rocked Hollywood in the 20's, the government came down hard on the film industry. The press had crucified Fatty Arbuckle (who was clearly framed), and the sex-tinged murder of director Thomas Ince only made matters worse.

So, the Hays Office and the Film Code were established in 1933. If you want to know what Will Hays was like, just think of a John Ashcroft, only with complete power over the entertainment industry. Any and all sexual references or "naughty words" were taboo under Hays, but many of the most creative comedians and writers continued to slip them in whenever they could. My favorite "under the radar" line is from the opening scene of "Termites Of 1938:"

Wife, to husband, who's leaving on a "fishing trip" (obviously, to play around): "I hope you catch something, and I don't mean fish!"

That one got right by the Hays office— as did some other "blue" lines by W.C. Fields, the Marx Brothers, and Abbott & Costello. Warner Brothers/MGM animation director Tex Avery was a master at fooling the censors, and his "Red Hot Riding Hood" cartoons are still hilariously sexy today... ever see the Big Bad Wolf get a full-body erection when he spots the post-pubescent Red Riding Hood? Somehow, Avery got that into the theatrically released cartoon!

 

[123cagney]

I'm not suggesting something as cute as the Disney channel. Although, it is a great choice for children. But, Seinfeld? What has he done lately? Good show, when it was on. Please, don't put Ellen in any catagory. She's as funny as a stick.
I'm not on a curse crusade. Nor am I suggesting it (swearing) be removed, or done away with. I don't expect a  B.L.B (Before Lenny Bruce) world. I just want a taste of the past, in a NEW and refreshing light. Yeah, there are SOME choices for clean stuff. But, not so great of a choice.
 
Pils- I enjoyed your insight on the Hollywood crunch.

[Pilsner Panther]

One more note on this subject: you don't have to use the old Anglo-Saxon words to be "dirty," you can suggest dirtyness even better without them if you know how to do it. I refer you to "If I Was The Son Of A Bee" in the current Pilsner's Picks. There's absolutely nothing in those lyrics that a censor could have blue-penciled, but it's still one of the most sexually direct songs ever recorded... innuendo, that's what the technique is called.

Of course, the censor-types, then or now, are complete idiots by nature (or else they'd have real jobs), and it's not hard to make end-runs around their pointless defensive lines.

 

[jaronson]

Probably the best example of ridiculous censorship is in the TV version of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, which is one of my favorite movies of all time.  The edits and word changes are incredibly obvious and throw off the laughs that movie is supposed to bring.  The best advice I can give anyone is to buy the VHS and/or DVD versions of the movie (I have both for FBDO, although I might sell the VHS).

[shemps#1]

Well Cag, your beef shouldn't be with profanity per se, but rather the quality of current television shows.

Jaronson, I don't even bother watching movies on broadcast or cable tv. Unless they are billed as "uncut" (which will not likely happen anymore on broadcast due to the fervor over Saving Private Ryan on ABC), they are going to be hacked to bits.

[Viva]

I know what you mean, shemps#1, although we might not exactly be on the same wavelength. You might prefer all te swearing to be left in. I just prefer not to hear some of the stupid replacement words and phrases the censors use.

You want to talk about pushing the envelope without saying anything? Benny Hill was another master. His shows had lots of visual sexual innuendo. I'll never know how the things he and his "Angels" did got past the censors.

[leandar]

Easy.  European censors are much more open to suggestiveness and sexuality than in America.  And IIRC, the Benny Hill shows seen in America are NOT uncut, but that there is some stuff removed.  Probably a bit of language here or there or at least maybe some brief nudity.  I'm not completely sure about that though, I could be wrong.

[metaldams]

I have no problem with swearing itself.  My problem is when swearing becomes an attempted punchline - it shows a total lack of creativity.

It was always great when the writers found a way to get past the censors during the Hays Office days.

Some favorite lines:

From THE BIG STORE:  After Groucho sees a man with twelve children: "Got any other hobbies?"

ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN:  Bud Abbott commenting on Lenore Aubert dating Lou Costello
Bud: Frankl

Preston Frankly, I don't get it.
Lenore:  Frankly, you never will.

Of course, there's "playing post office" in THREE LITTLE PIGSKINS.  I always knew post office was something sexual, but I never knew exactly how the game was played until I saw the pre-code Charley Chase short, WHISPERING WHOOPEE.  VERY steamy for the day, and made sweeter that two of the three women are Thelma Todd and Anita Garvin. (O)

Preston Sturges was also great at getting by the censors.  Check out the book "Are Snakes Really Necessary?" in THE LADY EVE.  Hell, check out the entire animated opening credit sequence!

Cold temperatures also could escape the censors, as Larry's secretary shows us in HE COOKED HIS GOOSE.