I remember reading in, I think, The Twilight Zone Companion, that the writers would always try to push the envelope when it came to "course language" and scripts were filled with "damn." Of course, in the late 50's-early 60's, that was unthinkable, but it allowed for a give-and-take to allow something else in, whether language, scenes, plots, etc. "OK, we can't say 'damn,' but then can we..." and it was begrudgingly permitted.
On an episode of Star Trek, Bones was to say "damn." Again, it was give-and-take, and for the first time, for some odd reason, the censors allowed "damnable." He couldn't say "damn," but he was allowed to say "damnable." Makes sense? Well, probably not, but it paved the way for more "realistic" language.
By the early 70's, "damn" and "hell" were permitted as "swear words" on television. "God damn" was not. Like I said, All in the Family was the first to use it (other than what I remember Ben using it on DS) when Archie screamed it out quickly, again the censors maybe allowing it while cringing because of the context in which it was used. Archie was in one of his usual rages, everyone was screaming, and Edith quickly berated him for "always using GD" which he protested saying he "never" said that. Of course, AItF also made history by showing, for the first time ever, male frontal nudity - when Archie had to change his grandson Joey's diaper in a hysterical scene. Norman Lear had to fight with the censors, saying there was no possible way to film it without everything showing and, besides, it involved a weeks-old baby. They caved. Baby Joey also created a social revolution when the doll of him came out with the "warning" that it "anatomically correct." Yup, it had a winky and is now a huge collector's item. M*A*S*H was the first to use "son-of-a-bitch." By the late 80's-early 90's, network censors (and the FCC) allowed "bitch," "bastard" and "ass" full freedom. In the 2010's, the FCC allowed "shit" and "ass" on all non-subscription cable channels (but not prime-time, except in the rarest circumstances).
Dan Curtis broke barriers in 1989 when the FCC allowed him to show full-frontal male-and-female nudity in the episode of War and Remembrance while filming the Auschwitz death-chamber scene (with Sir John Gielgud). Again, like Lear on AItF, he argued there was no possible way to shoot it realistically (as it should have been) without nudity. The brutality of the Holocaust could not be presented in any other way. It was the same back in the mid-70's when the FCC/censors allowed topless women to be shown on the first episode of Roots. It had to do with historical accuracy when showing women in African culture where women's breasts were not considered sexual; however, women's legs were in African culture, so they were always covered.
In the mid-90's, Schindler's List was aired on prime-time but only after Spielberg insisted it be done so uncut and uncensored, meaning all the R-rated elements, from language, nudity to violence be shown. The FCC permitted it with the caveat that a warning be presented at the beginning that "viewer discretion is advised."
Cinematic and televised programming has changed a great deal. Back in 1969, Midnight Cowboy was the first and only X-rated (now NC-17) film to win the Oscar as best picture. Today, it can air during the day on any channel without any cuts or censoring. It's contents, by today's standards, are considered "mild." Many surviving soap operas show far "harsher" material.
Gerard
