Is American Prime Time Network TV Too Hot for Kids?

A few decades ago before cable (i.e. "pay") TV was an option, the big three commercial television networks made a rare pact in which they decided to reserve the first hour of prime time programming (8-9 pm, EST) for a widespread audience, similar to the "demographic" covered by the "G" rating in the movies. This was called the "family hour," during which ideally Mom, Dad and all 2.5 children could get together and watch inoffensive fare like variety shows, non-violent westerns, situation comedies, a la The Cosby Show.

Some years after that, the federal government sanctioned a device called the "V-chip" imbedded in the individual television unit itself. This was kind of a censoring device by which parents-- too busy or preoccupied to wrest the control of the remote out of little gripping hands-- could be assured that their kids would be blocked from less-than-wholesome fare.

It seems to me that the Family Hour has gone the way of Pac Man, and I don't know whatever happened to the V-chip. But after reading an essay by Naomi Schafffer Riley I've found that apparently network prime time has stepped into some spicy terrain. Apparently the broadcasting networks have shaken loose the restraints of G-rated fare, maybe eschewing the slightly edgier PG label.

According to the article, characters in sitcoms make salacious references and mouth dialogue that would make Dr. Ruth blush. Evidently the double entendres turn the air bluer than All-Temperature Cheer.

Do you yourself watch network sitcoms? Do you allow your children to watch them --or more importantly--hear them? What do you think about Ms. Riley's observation?

I watch cable TV all the time. I like many of the programs on HBO, and the profanity and violence doesn't bother me. (Though I do think that sometimes HBO includes profanity just because it can; much of it is extraneous and not really --as actresses used to justify their on-screen nude scenes-- "necessary to the scene.")

But this network prime time the lady is talking about. This is television that is accessible to children.

What do you think about this, LitNutters?







http://nypost.com/2013/10/08/escaping-modern-tv/

I miss Car 54 Where Are You, and quite frankly, I think sex and violence should be expurgated from television and put back in opera where God and Giacomo Puccini (...and Marcello and Rodiopho and Mimi and Musetta) intended!

What evidence is there that sex and violence on TV is bad for kids?

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Originally Posted by Oedipus

What evidence is there that sex and violence on TV is bad for kids?

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evidence? you just have to look around you to realise that children are not what they used to be anymore. they are adults savvy it is scary to watch. you must live in a different planet from me. adults misbehaviours leads to children messed up badly. everything an adult does affect the child's menta and physical health.

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Originally Posted by Eman Resu

I miss Car 54 Where Are You, and quite frankly, I think sex and violence should be expurgated from television and put back in opera where God and Giacomo Puccini (...and Marcello and Rodiopho and Mimi and Musetta) intended!

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I agree but I think sex and violence ought to be separated first. the computer is full of it. the television just gets away with it because parents have not got time.

Is American Prime Time Network TV Too Hot for Kids?

Not when the kids are from 35 - 70-years-old.

In my last job, one of my tasks was to write some interface software that received V-Chip ratings from the TV broadcaster's automation controller, converted them into sets of flags (for sex, violence, swearing and mature language iirc) and sent them to another piece of equipment which embedded them somehow into the television signal. The Canadians used another set of ratings (iirc), but they could be converted into the same set of flags. I doubt there was ever separate v-chips embedded in television sets, although no doubt they contain a lot of embedded software somewhere. Mature language was the intriguing one. I named that flag "sauce".

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Originally Posted by Oedipus

What evidence is there that sex and violence on TV is bad for kids?

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Anecdotally (is that a word?) it makes their parents cringe. Let's be realistic, most of us learned about the birds and the bees (vultures and stinging hornets) on the proverbial street corner. But what I think the author of the imbedded article is worried about is that kids might be overhearing swatches of dialogue which might confuse them. Or they might receive bad information. Or might prompt them to ask questions for which they may be at too tender an age to have answered.

I hate censorship. But the idea of kids being exposed to cheap and profane crap creeps me out.