Censors in Futurama

[on:]

I've heard about problems Groening and Cohen had with FOX, which wanted to interfere with the show. But does anyone know anything about how that worked (and if it ever worked at all)?

Particularly I am interested in one moment - in the script of SP3K there was a scene with Bender enjoying drinking from a jar of russian 1-st president Boris Yeltsin (in head museum). This scene never made into episode, did any censors cut it in order not to spoil relations with Russia  ?

Maybe somebody here knows about more cases of censorship in series?

[Reply #1 on:]

I don't think that particular part was cut for censorship.  I'm 100% sure it was cut for time.

[Reply #2 on:]

Oh you crazy Russians, always looking for an excuse to fight 

One example of a sort of censorship is that thay have a 'quota' of how many times they can say certain words: "Bastard" being the most obvious. That's right kids! It's okay to swear, as long as you only do it a regulated number of times!

They changed Bender's use of 'bastard' in Bendless Love ("Precocious little bastard, ain't I?" ) to 'scamp'. Was this at the insistence of the network? We may never know.

[Reply #3 on:]

And don't forget from the comentary
"Standard Caution with the Probulator"
Because that comes up in evry fox show.

[Reply #4 on:]

There was one thing totally cut.

Remember on "A Big Piece of Garbage"? They say in the porn video:

"The repulsive barge cicled the oceans for 50 years, but no country would accept it. Not even that really filthy one. You know the one I mean."

It used to have a real country, but FOX stopped it. On the S1 DVD's they talk about it but don't give the country. They just laugh at the viewers.

[Reply #5 on:]

Another example is in "Parasites Lost".

In the audio commentary Peter Avanzino, the director, told how he had to add steam to the scene, to cover the frontpage of Scruffy's "Zero-G Juggs". Apparenty the censor didn't like seeing the cover more than 4 times.

[Reply #6 on:]

It's ironic how Fox acts like it " cares" about those types of things.  Their reality shows are filled with sex and dirty stuff, so what would they care?

[Reply #7 on:]

They care about quality filth, not cheap tacky filth.

[Reply #8 on:]

Sweet Zombie Jesus

[Reply #9 on:]

ShadowFox: That was a Cartoon Network Cut - FOX allowed it.

Teral: If you listen to the commentary carefully, you can hear them discussing that the censor demanded a cut because they showed the scene to the censor multiple times.

[Reply #10 on:]

I know, I was just pointing it out.

[Reply #11 on:]

I think the broadcast networks have made a deal with the cable networks--"We won't use dirty words more than four times/half hour as long as you always use them at least five times." That way there's no crossover. So, if Bender said "bastard" twice as often, Kim Cattrell would have to talk about her vagina twice as often, and who wants that?