(UPDATE: Series creator Greg Garcia responded in the comments to this post that he was the one that decided to insert the bleep. After he left the comment, I called up his office and talked to him about his decision. That conversation is here.)As Mike S. pointed out in his review of My Name is Earl, a TV Squadder pointed out to him that the word "Amish" was bleeped out of the show right at the beginning of the episode. That TV Squadder would be me. I noticed that right at the beginning of the episode, as Earl and Randy are helping Catalina wax a hirstute neighbor, Earl's voiceover says something like this: "You know how the <silence> go around the village and raise money to build a barn? That's what we did to get Wilma to wax her moustache."
Of course, you know that weirdly silent moment was a word that was bleeped in post-production. And, given the fact that the Amish community is still reeling from the school shooting that occurred earlier this week, and that the community does exactly what Earl described, chances are pretty good that NBC bleeped the word "Amish" from the show at the last minute, in deference to the school shooting in Lancaster County, PA earlier this week.
Don't get me wrong, the shooting was sad and tragic, something that no family should ever have to go through. But I don't know what NBC's motives were for bleeping the word from the episode. Earl wasn't making fun of the Amish, just stating that they collect money to build a barn. He wasn't talking about the Amish and guns, or about Amish children or schools. He just mentioned something they did.
It seemed like it was yet another network overreaction; they bleeped the word just in case one person in the country might possibly be offended by the non-offensive use of the word. But given it's usage, I'm sure no one would have noticed or cared. Heck, since the Amish don't watch TV, they wouldn't have even known that the word was used in the show.
Yes, it's an unfortunate coincidence that the word was there the same day the folks in Lancaster buried their children, but there was no need to wipe the word from the episode. In fact, by bleeping it, NBC has drawn more attention to the word (like in posts like this) than they would have if they left it alone. Nice work, NBC!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
10-06-2006 @ 12:35PM
Ryan said...
The Amish don't "collect money" to build a barn. They have a community "barn-raising" where everybody works together to build it. They need some money to exist, obviously, but they prefer to use trade, barter and community effort.
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10-06-2006 @ 12:38PM
Joel Keller said...
Fine, then the line was something like "You know how the all get together to build a barn?" Really, the point of the post is about how the word was bleeped, not the accuracy of the quote I gave.
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10-06-2006 @ 12:50PM
Amy said...
Why are you going to bleep the word Amish during a comedy show-that like you said was not in any way offensive. What's more offensive to me is the fact that all these news channels are filming them during a funeral procession!! THAT'S DISRESPECTFUL!! I think the Amish community has been invaded enough--news crews need to leave them alone.
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10-06-2006 @ 1:28PM
mark polaski said...
Let it go. When I read your comments, I thought it might be something important. What a waste of editorial space.
While I am on it..your reaction was largely excessive and you managed to outline past days events again for everyone.
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10-12-2006 @ 12:37AM
Me said...
Hey Joel, Have you been living under a rock since de-segregation? It's the same reason we can't say NOTHING about a black man! You can thank Bill Clinton for ratifying the Hate Crime Bill, now, we can't even say black man anymore...what are they called again? I like the fact that they are respecting the Amish community by keeping them out of the public eye, something that they don't want to be a part of anyway. SO there is a reason for them to respect the wishes of the Amish community. NO, there is not a reason why we can't say black man!
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10-06-2006 @ 11:25PM
Ann said...
I agree with Amy 100%, again the press is exploiting someone for their own benefit and ratings. Let them grieve in peace.
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10-06-2006 @ 6:24PM
miriam said...
Hello,
The Amish in Lancaster are astute businessmen, running dairy farms, construction businesses, furniture making shops, stores and more. They have bank accounts like the rest of us, and buy and sell the things they need. And, of course, they do help each other with work and money in time of need.
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10-06-2006 @ 2:05PM
kerry said...
Huh. They didn't bleep it on my local broadcast (NBC 5 in Chicago).
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10-06-2006 @ 2:10PM
SamMalone said...
It's a comedy and one that keeps a good distance from reality, so maybe that was their motivation for blanking the word. But it really just drew more attention to it.
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10-06-2006 @ 2:16PM
Cris said...
What does it matter if the amish were offended? It's not like they were watching the show or anything. Yeah, i went there...
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10-11-2006 @ 12:20AM
David said...
They beep out cock from Queer as Folk on LoGo but not ass and shit. The whole show is about cock and ass.
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10-06-2006 @ 2:29PM
amanda said...
I completely agree with the writer of this article, I mean come on it is just getting too ridiculous how much sensoring is going on. Like Joel said, most people that watch that show wouldn't have thought it was a big deal at all.
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10-06-2006 @ 2:37PM
Eileen said...
The right thing was done! Someone was thinking of their feelings even though they don't believe in TV. God Bless the Amish for they believe in.
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10-06-2006 @ 2:42PM
Ashley said...
Can you blame them for overreacting? The Emmy's run a spoof on lost that involved a plane crash...people freak out. If they had left the "joke" about the Amish in there someoneone would have made a huge deal out of it. Someone always does. I think they just decided better be safe than sorry. I don't think it matters if they Amish watch tv or not. I doubt the family members of the plane crash in Kentucky were sitting around watching the Emmy's. Granted it was an overreaction, but in our society today when someone overreacts about everything they can only choose to face conflicts head on or try their best to avoid them. I think just realized this wasn't a fight they felt like having.
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10-06-2006 @ 2:52PM
Cee Rubin said...
This was just NBC being careful after getting lynched for the plane crash skit the day of the Kentucky plane crash. They were just being careful. I think the may have over reacted but who cares, I'd rather them over react once in a while then have to see Janet Jackson's plastic saline holders or insensitively timed easily deleted scenes of a plane crashing the day of a plane crash.
Can't we just leave these people alone already? They don't want us talking about them or invading their personal lives or judging them .. can't we just respect that?
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10-06-2006 @ 3:04PM
Nicki said...
Yeah, well screw that. I thought it was stupid that people got offended by the plane crash thing too, but yes, I can blame them for being idotic. I was praying NBC wouldn't apologize for the Emmy thing, and when they did, I was angry. Seriousy,anyone effected had better things to do than watch the Emmys anyway. If I die in a car wreck tomorrow, will they edit out car crashed out of respect? Hell no, and they shouldn't either. People need to realize that these things are in no way actually connected and learn to take a joke for what it's worth. I HATE censorship and disagree with it entirely.
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10-06-2006 @ 3:20PM
Greg Garcia said...
I did it. I wasn't worried about offending the Amish because the joke wasn't at all offensive. I just didn't want to start off my comedy by putting an image of a recent tragedy in people's minds. It's not censorship because NBC didn't make me do it. I wanted to record an alternate voice over line but there wasn't time. Taking the word out was the best option. Thanks for watching.
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10-06-2006 @ 3:34PM
Michelle said...
Thank you, Greg.
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10-06-2006 @ 4:17PM
erroneous_nick said...
Greg,
Your consideration is admirable, but you've got to understand how people will interpret it as another case of political correctness going overboard. Yours is my absolute favorite comedy, in fact it's one of the few I watch, but I was more offended by the scene of a dog humping Earl's leg in the first season than I'd ever be having him mention the Amish at this time. Just because a recent tragedy befell a group of people, or a country, state, etc. is honestly no reason to worry about offending someone. Either way, you're going to lose in someone's eyes, so I say keep it as it's written and stand by your work.
I take the world(s) of television shows out-of-context with the real world since it's escapist entertainment and I wish all viewers would, too. I completely disconnect with reality when watching television entertainment and if I want commentary on the "real" world, I tune into the news or watch a documentary.
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10-06-2006 @ 4:42PM
Buzz said...
No matter what is said, someone somewhere will be offended. There are things I hear and see on the tube that are truly offensive and degrading. I could make a big stink about them or I can let it go. I choose to let it go as long as it does not become excessive. Many would benefit to act likewise and lighten up. The FCC has rules to protect us, there is no need for a network to add censorship in order to bolster their agenda.
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