Boom!

People who get all het up over "dirty words" they hear on television are quick to file complaints about it.

And it comes as a surprise to them that the Federal Communications Commission has nothing to do with what they say on ABC.  The individual local stations that carry network shows are left holding the bag if fines are going to be handed out over events such as what happened on the Good Morning America broadcast on ABC on May 24.

On that day, the Disney-owned network had report # 12,954 on the horrors of Disgraced Movie Mogul Harvey Weinstein (that is now his full legal name, until the happy day when some prison awards him a number instead.) Reporter Eva Pilgrim used a clip of an interview that Howard Stern had done with actress Gwyneth Paltrow in which they discussed how the filthy scum Weinstein leched on her in the 90s and her then-boyfriend Brad Pitt threatened to make sure that Harve would be totin' an ass whuppin' if he did it again.

I was listening to the interview on Sirius XM, a pay service that I pay for, so Howard can speak as he wishes. But he said a bad word (to the ears of some) about what Brad said, and Eva and her people should have excised those four letters, and they didn't. WJLA, WMAR here in Baltimore, and all the East Coast stations that carry GMA broadcast the word, which absolutely no one had ever heard before.  I was watching GMA that morning (I multi-task) and I enjoyed seeing Robin Roberts go apoplectic over the word, and I could only imagine how high the plank was that the tape editor was forced to walk.

I laughed, but The Parents Television Council has filed a formal FCC indecency complaint against WJLA, channel 7 in Washington, over it.

As I say, it's only the local stations that are subject to the FCC's indecency rules. They are responsible for what goes out on their air no matter where it comes from, and profanity is verboten from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Showing mutilated bodies, starving orphans, neglected victims of natural disasters, mistreated animals, ghouls, zombies and demons (real or fictional) is ok, and, in fact, any sort of human or animal misery, and images and sounds thereof, are regarded as sure ratings boosters, so no problem.

But a good old word about something done under the consent of the king is just oh, so wrong.

They don't usually make a deal of it if someone effs up on the news, but,
"While we recognize that there is a news exemption from indecency laws, we believe that that exemption should only apply to live interviews where there is little opportunity to appropriately edit out indecent material," said the PTC. "That was not the case here. The word occurred during a taped and edited package segment. The network had every opportunity to edit the word out before it went to air. We are asking the FCC to look into this matter and apply existing broadcast decency law."

A few years ago, these dedicated guardians of the public weal went after The Muppets, calling for a boycott of some sock puppet for "not meeting family viewing guidelines," for such horrors as mentions of plastic surgery, and the Muppets in a bar consuming alcoholic beverages.

Like that random lady on The Simpsons is always crying out, "Won't someone think of the CHILDREN?"

The FCC could stick Channel 7, owned by Sinclair here in Baltimore County, with a fine of $397,000.

The PTC also took time out from pointing fingers to raise their hand in salute to CBS for saving the world from hearing Robert DeNiro say a bad word on the Tony Shalhoub Awards on Sunday.

The person in charge of deciding what will offend us on television, radio, and is named "Kay."  These awful words that no one ever uses are just the worst thing! You should say something to her, if you see Kay.