Once-Forbidden Language Showing Up In Prime Time

Language on prime-time television is saltier than ever and showing no signs of calming down. Today, amid scenes of partial nudity and violence, viewers are hearing words that would have been unthinkable just a decade ago.

Every week, shows such as ABC’s “NYPD Blue,” CBS’ “Brooklyn South,” NBC’s “Homicide: Life on the Street” and Comedy Central’s “South Park” routinely serve up euphemisms for sexual acts, obscene references to body parts and casual profanity that would have been verboten on pre-‘90s TV.

“The boundaries have been changing and continuously evolving,” said Carol Alteri, vice president of program practices for CBS. “People have been desensitized.”

There are several reasons for the increased use of blue language on TV, but the primary one, Alteri and others note, is the increasing competition from other media, especially cable TV. Cable, now in over 70 percent of the nation’s 98 million television homes, has virtually turned the envelope inside-out. The competition has led some producers to incorporate more realistic dialogue in their broadcast shows.

“I think the mass media have accelerated the evolution of how language is used,” said Syracuse University professor Robert Thompson, who also heads up the Center for the Study of Popular Television. “We’ve pretty much used up all of the shocking language we could imagine.

Also, because so many so-called bad words are now used unblinkingly by many people in everyday conversation, they’ve lost the impact they once had, Thompson said.

“Bad language is like a fossil fuel,” he added. “It takes centuries and centuries to build up impact, but once you start using it, it goes pretty quickly.”

“We in no way, shape, or form touch on the levels of violence or language on cable,” said ABC Entertainment chief Jamie Tarses. That said, Tarses added there are now “no absolutes” in terms of language barriers. “The bar’s always moving.”