Can I have my playoffs without the crotch grab?

There might be more and more risque on TV, don't know and don't care. I'm adult and I can watch what I want to watch. My choice. I earned the right by paying my dues of being passed the age of 18 and even 21, long passed actually but I have the right to watch. I have no desire whatsoever to watch kid friendly programming. If the parents don't like it, sell the TV, stick it in the closet and wheel it out for approved shows, or just unplug it and play some games or read a book to the kids.

I think I'd be a bit more caring about it and say what the heck make it kid friendly if you make it adult friendly after 10:00 but in reality there is no such thing. The prudes are still guarding the air ways and guarding my eyes and my ears so I'm still watching family approved subject matter very late. I like it they put the disclaimer on before showing something a little heavy on violence or something and that's okay. However, by and large we are the worst nation when it comes to the moral Nazi's who decide what I can and cannot watch or hear. We are massively prudish. I nearly fell in the floor when visiting friends in Canada and during a TV show they said the F-bomb. My friends just looked at me strangely and said don't you hear that word? I said not on our TV shows! There, they can use it after 10:00 p.m. but here the potty mouth patrol is still guarding us adults from real life talk.

So, I'll make a deal with you, you let me hear and see what I want after 10:00 and I'll watch family oriented stuff before. Until then, don't care what they do or say.

Yes, a LOT of it. Not only the innuendo, but also the bad language they're allowing (count how many times they say a** on some programs. Granted, that's pretty tame, but I prefer not to hear it at all! I tend to mute all the commercials or change the channel! It's disgusting what we have to put up with, so generally I don't, and only watch commercials I LIKE, like the Mac/PC ones and a FEW others. It is amazing what you can do with your remote control! Or I tape things then fast-forward my tape or TIVO. I simply DO NOT put up with anything I DON'T have to!

If you don't like the commercials buy a DVR and fast forward through them so then you won't have to hear "Mommy how come....blah blah blah.
I wonder what the guy who wrote this story says to the children when they ask "Mommy how come that basketball player just kicked that guy in the balls, or Mommy how come that player went in the stands and punched those guys in the mouth, or Mommy how come that hockey player cracked open that guys head with his hockey stick huh Mommy huh?
Yeah give me a break police your own kids and what they watch and how you watch it. We must protect the children its always for the children, give me a freaking break! I can still say freaking can't I?

I'm an old man - forgotten values.
I never would have imagined, so-called marraige minded women to be so blatantly promiscuous. The men who partake are stupid and insensitive......and the women? I'm glad you aren't (won't be) my Mom.

No. Sex is not a dirty word and none of us would be here without it.

I do believe that PARENTS, not the Goverment should regulate what kids watch.

MY KIDS GET 2 HOURS OF TV A WEEK. Thats it and I get no complaints from them. I get 1 hour a week.

So how many parents let their under 18 kids play violent video games and watch inappropriate movies? Think your kid doesn't do that? Every check to see what they do when they go to their friends house? What they do a the mall?

Innuendo and plain sexual comments have been around in TV and movies for a very long time. I remember seeing things in TV in the 60's when I was a kid I didn't understand, but do now.

My final advice - TURN OFF THE TV AND DO SOMETHING ELSE. If you have kids, get a board game out and play with them. Read a book. Take a walk. Get a good night's sleep. Get you work done early so you can enjoy the weekend.

Tv is BORING!

I'm 64 and I think there is too much sex and such on TV and in the movies. I do have a right to watch shows without being exposed to filthy talk and sexual comments. You get enough of that when you go to a restrauant or just sit on a bench on the street and enjoy the day. Maybe that is one of the reasons that people in other countries don't think so highly of Americans.

Yes, horribly so. Unfortunately, the tv has become the babysitter for kids and they are exposed to to much promiscuity-foul language, innuendo, near nudity (or just outright) all in the name of selling stuff. And 'scuse me, although I am an adult, I don't want to see or hear all that either. And we wonder why younger and younger kids are violent or promiscuous. Hmmm...

I am glad to see an article addressing the inappropriateness of many network promos and some commercials on television. It is frustrating when adult content - humorous, innuendo, or more graphic - shows up during programs watched by children. I find many of these programs are sporting events which would obviously appeal to all ages. I think the networks should be more responsible in selecting and programming promos and commercials which may harm kids and trouble parents. Adult viewers will not suffer if the networks use a little discretion, but young minds may be harmed if they don't. The networks should take this responsibility seriously, but sadly, they do not.

I feel sorry for Mircat and HeyYou, because you don't have a clue about what's good for you. "People will either be governed by a force from without, or a force from within."

You degrade society by such foolishness! I won't waste my time arguing with you, it's pointless and you wouldn't understand it anyway. However, I do speak into our culture to let one an all know that read this, that there ARE lots of people who are SICK AND TIRED of the smut on TV.

We don't watch TV, because of this. Why should we have to so carefully monitor a basketball game?? If you like the crap, why can't you get it online or at your local disgusting adult store? why do you have to have it in the faces of innocent children? why do you insist on shoving it down everyone's throat, when ALL RESEARCH CLEARLY SHOWS that it's not healthy for adults, and not healthy for children? do you think it's great to have child abuse?? Is it so great to have sexy 12 year olds?

I refuse to accept this crap, and speak out against it every chance I get. It's wrong. I don't care WHAT your opinion is about this, it's just wrong, damaging to societies, and if it doesn't change, if enough good, decent people do not speak out against it, it will ruin America. If you like it all that much, move to Denmark. I hear they think it's fine....but if you want to live in America, take your stink and keep it to yourself.

The quote is not foolishness - your comments show how ignorant you are.

If you want to see some real tv go watch what is on in other countries. TV in the states is tame to what they put on. I for one do not want the government to become the TV nanny to any one. Talk with your kids not at them they will tune you out just like what you did as a kid. Also shows are there to make money if the ratings are down they go away. All the parents out there its your responsibility to know what your kids are doing not some exec in TV land the buck stops with you!

Hey Tamale maybe if you got laid once in a while you would not be so bitter. LOL
p.s. did you ever get your kids back from the state of Texas?

How about someone getting upset about the violence on TV? Oh and 1 more thing - I thought you were Supposed to watch TV with your kids instead of just sitting in front of it hmmmm-- are we wanting to abdicate parental responsibility again? If the kids are old enough to ask, they are old enough to get an explanation.

Children today are not as "innocent" as Hot Tamale so naively believes. They know more than you think they know; they're just not letting on because they want you to think they're so innocent. It hasn't been that long since I was a child on the playground in the 80s, and heard more vulgar things come out of a 10-year old's mouth than you'll ever hear on HBO. Children are more sophisticated than anyone gives them credit for, and could probably teach their parents a thing or two. So, I'm not worried about a few fleeting promos when a kid could be watching.

What I am worried about is that parents think it's the government's job to do the parenting for them. Between banning smoking in bars to banning transfats in foods, the government is stepping in where it doesn't belong. Peopl have choices to make, and they have to live with the consequences. If you want a TV in your house, then you have to deal with the fact that there will be things on it that you disagree with.

With that said, instead of being worried about the government protecting your children from sexually charged TV, talk to your kids about sex. There are so many promos on TV about talking to your kids about smoking and drugs and alcohol, but nothing about sex. If you talk to your kids, you can turn these promos into tools to teach your kids about the good and bad of sex instead of having to squirm in your seat while your 11-year old watches a sex fetish scene in "Bones," as a mom-316542 describes above. And really, a mom-316542, what 11-year old is interested in watching a crime-drama like "Bones" anyway?

I'm really tired of hearing whiny women complaining about TV content, that's why they have parental controls! You are responsible for your children, not the FCC or anyone else. If you don't have enough backbone to say turn it off, then you deserve the children you raise, blame there behavior on everyone but yourselves. You keep letting the government control more and more of your lives don't be surprised when they start telling you what you can't watch and when you can watch it. Everyone that blames TV producers for there kids viewing or there acting out behavior should be ashamed of yourselves. You are enablers you give your kids computers and TV's for there rooms and let them run wild and then you want to blame everyone else when you find something objectionable. You are the adults; start acting like it you overgrown 3 year olds. Stop blaming there upbringing on everything in the world, you have the ability to control it. You keep treating them like there brainless little infants there whole lives they won't be ready for the real world, and you will have failed them, not some nonsense on TV that hurts your sensibilities. You don't want them to see it turn it off and get on with raising them. Keep empowering the government and you won't see anything on TV, not even the stuff you want to see.

I'm in full agreement that yes, we as parents DO have the final say-so in what our children are "allowed" to be exposed to - that will & should always be the case, no matter what the "moral standards" of the current day are.

HOWEVER, it's called PUBLIC TELEVISION people. The shows that the author mentioned, the basketball games, etc. ALL were on PUBLIC television. Not cable. Not satellite. PUBLIC.

Therefore, if it's going to be of public consumption, there should be guidelines. Difficult, yet. Imposisble - hardly. I'm all for the "mute" button, which half the time does not work because it's painfully obvious what the message is about half the time. There are decent shows on that I think few parents would argue is terrible for a child to watch. So why should I then be subjected to a littany of profane & unnecessary commercials in the process? That's my argument in the whole thing. Am I going to "fight" for it. No thanks. Everything in today's society is AAAAALLLLLL about RIGHTS. Give me a break.

My "right" is that I (still) have freedom to tell my child when he can & can not watch a television show. And that's pretty much not very often. Will he be deprived? Hardly. Willl he have a favorite sports team? That's a risk I'm willing to take...

Thank you for this article, which is so sensible. Isn't it true that the main reason T.V. is getting so foul is that most of the people still watching it are teenagers and twenty year-olds who think crotch jokes and boob jokes are just so, so, so funny? Aren't they the ones being marketed to? I don't think government interference can or should stop it, but as long as ordinary people are afraid of being called prudish just because they believe in common decency and a minimum of bodily fluids on T.V....we're sunk. Maybe someday this generation will wake up and say, "You know, all of these fart jokes are getting old." Then we can hope again.

Who gives a crap. If you cant be a responsible parent and take your kids out of the room when things like that come on then its your fault, not the fault of the station or the actor or the show. I am an adult and can handle more than a few sexual play on words crap. Get over yourselves. Why punish adults who do enjoy something shows with foul langage or sexual content? For those who can't take it. Maybe you should pull your head out of your church-based ass and learn to be an adult. Or just dont have kids.

Write the networks and write the advertiser and tell them you are turning off their shows. I stopped watching CBS football because of their way to racy program promo's. Tell Anhauser Busch that you aren't watching NBA basketball because the other ads are offensive to having the TV on with children in the room.

My children are now adults and can watch whatever they want. When they were little, if they went to a friends house and were exposed to TV shows that I didn't necessarily approve of, we would talk about it. What did they like, what didn't they like, did they program use language that their dad and I wouldn't approve...

What people forget, is that we are raising ADULTS - not children. Talk to your kids...if you have values and morals - guess what? So do they. Trust your kids to know the difference between TV and reality. Trust your kids, expect your kids to be exactly how you want them to be. Because in the end, they don't just watch TV - they watch you too. Be an example.

Yes - I agree, TV has gotten trashy. Make a choice - turn it off. Go outside. Read. Ride bikes. Swim.

Bandmom

you rock

Michael hit the nail right square on the head. This country's greatness started to fade when we lost our ability to blush and be embarrassed or offended by public indecency. Up to a point, tolerance and open-mindedness are signs of a healthy society. However, to paraphrase a poular song from not too many years ago, they become a ball and chain when taken to the extreme. The comments from HeyYou are indicative of the latter.

OK, so normally I let the uninformed have their say, figuring they only influence others like themselves (which unfortunately seems to include most of the politicians out there). But this time I have to comment.

SEX IS GOOD. Get over it. Talk about it. Accept it. Hot Tamale, I hate to call you out, but there is NO conclusive research that watching sexual (or for that matter violent) content on television has any lasting effects on either children or adults. Let me repeat that for those of you who may be a little slow: sexual and violent content DOES NOT make you degenerate, psychopathic, immoral or disturbed. I'm guessing that most of you watched the Lone Ranger, Dukes of Hazzard and Gilligan's Island as kids. And I'm also willing to guess none of you have shot an Indian, jumped a gorge in your car or built a radio out of two coconuts and some palm fronds. Kids, and adults, have an amazing ability to divide the world into self/other, real/make-believe and structure their behavior accordingly. And yes, unlike most I do know what I'm talking about as I am a PhD student at a top ranked Mass Communication program (Go Badgers!).

And Tired Mom, sorry, but not all the shows mentioned in the original article were on broadcast TV (specifically the ad for Pirates of the Caribbean- that was shown during an NBA game on TNT). Cable and satellite can show anything they want, so be thankful that they edit what is shown to such a shocking degree (I'm sorry, but watching an edited-for-tv version of Pulp Fiction is just a sad and sorry thing).

So here's my advice to all those concerned about what your children watch: talk to them and be a parent. Use the parental controls. Teach them to think, not just react or copy. Turn off the tv (it will do you both a lot of good). And finally, grow up and stop being afraid to confront your own demons. If you don't confront them you'll just pass them on.

I read this article because of the title and thought it was about just that. I could use my play-off and all sporting events w/out crotch grabbing, readjusting, scratching and butt patting. And these are supposed to be the macho heteros?