The other day, Bob mentioned the f-bomb Joe Scarborough accidentally dropped during an edition of Morning Joe on MSNBC (video after the jump). Oops! Apparently, Scarborough didn't even realize he dropped the word -- he thought he said "eff you" instead of the full phrase -- and spent the rest of the show alternately apologizing and having his balls busted by Mika Brzezinski and his guests. Since it was on cable, which is not subject to FCC content regulation, It seemed like the story was closed.But in yet another "closing the barn door" move, MSNBC has decided to put a seven-second delay on the show, mainly in response to the f-bomb. And guess who was instrumental in influencing that decision? The fun folks at the Parents' Television Council, that's who! They wrote a note to NBCU chief executive Jeff Zucker calling for the delay, and voilà! Delay instituted. The next time I need to collect a check, I should ask the PTC to make the call for me. They seem to get pretty quick results.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
11-12-2008 @ 4:52PM
MWM said...
Im sick of all of these watch-dog organizations
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11-12-2008 @ 11:09AM
xnifex said...
what the fuck? people need to chill the fuck out. seriously! besides, its on fucking cable! if you don't like it, change the fucking channel! sometimes it sucks living in such a fucking conservative nation. oh fucking well.
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11-14-2008 @ 4:38PM
Dan said...
I'm with you...dropping an F-Bomb should be a lot less controversial than some of the stuff that spews out of the mouth of your typical Fox News Commentator. Fuck is a very useful word and it's so dumb that it can possibly be such a taboo to say a word!
11-12-2008 @ 11:30AM
ac said...
Umm he apologized when he realized he said 'fuck' so I dont see why PTC had to do anything. I mean everyone slips up and says it. Ive heard parents say it accidently in front of their little kids. You say oops and move on.
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11-12-2008 @ 11:59AM
Jim said...
I wish the PTC would get closed down. They're an awful organisation.
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11-12-2008 @ 12:12PM
Mary said...
I guess I am just one of those awful conservatives who think holding doors, standing when introduced and avoiding bad language is a proper way to conduct oneself. Respect for others is being disregarded in order for people to be able to express themselves. I think this is rude -something, by the way, highlighted on Oprah, the doyenne of liberalism - for those of you who think this is a conservative issue.
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11-12-2008 @ 12:17PM
Sam said...
Joe profusely apologized several times on camera to his audience. To me, that should be enough.
11-12-2008 @ 12:17PM
Sam said...
Joe profusely apologized several times on camera to his audience. To me, that should be enough.
11-12-2008 @ 12:53PM
Kim said...
Just thought I'd let you know that Joe Scarborough is one of yours - a Republican and a conservative.
11-12-2008 @ 2:22PM
Malren said...
@Kim: "Just thought I'd let you know that Joe Scarborough is one of yours"
Really? "One of yours?" Nice. Way to think about your fellow Americans. Very Us vs. Them. I suppose in your mind "They" have horns and tails and "yours" are made of magic and ice cream?
How very illustrative of the psyche these little Freudian verbal and textual tics can be...
11-12-2008 @ 2:40PM
Kim said...
Hey, I'm not the one who campaigned about the "real America" as opposed to the rest of us who live in the "fake, un-America".
11-12-2008 @ 4:17PM
Frank Wrench said...
Mary and Malren, the point is that it was really an ineffective and pointless gesture to suspend the show. It was a simple slip of the tongue that would have been ignored if his fellow news... TV... people hadn't acted like little girls and giggled and brought it up for the rest of the show.
And don't start a political flame war, anyone. Neither side wins, you should know that.
11-12-2008 @ 3:42PM
Malren said...
Riiiiiight. The other guy did it, so I have to be even more divisive and nasty instead of being a decent person by my OWN standards.
Us vs. Them. Way to perpetuate the problem, Kim.
11-12-2008 @ 12:42PM
mikedt said...
To be honest I'm surprised any live show runs without a delay. Between fines and angry hate mail - 99% of which comes from people who didn't even see the show - I'd think it would just be an easier way to operate.
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11-12-2008 @ 1:08PM
khia213 said...
I'd feel a lot more sympathetic toward him if he hadn't been one of those people advocating for fines from the FCC on Bono and Janet Jackson.
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11-12-2008 @ 1:02PM
royce said...
On Morning Joe this morning, Joe was saying he requested the delay. So either Joe is lying to save face, or the PTC is taking credit for an internal dicision just because the sent a letter.
Either way, Morning Joe is a live show structured like a radio show, they should have had a delay on it already.
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11-12-2008 @ 1:07PM
Mary said...
My comments weren't against Joe Scarborough who apologized which was very nice. They were addressed to the reviewers who thought the PRC should be shut down and xnifex who attacked conservatives in such a thoughtful manner.
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11-12-2008 @ 2:45PM
h8rain said...
Does anyone else find it odd that the PTC got their panties in a knot about a MSNBC show (which is on cable) that children are not going to watch to in the first place. Would children be in school when it airs? The point of the PTC to "protect" kids, but them going "after" this guy is stupid.
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11-12-2008 @ 2:50PM
0megapart!cle said...
The PTC does need to be shut down. They have no purpose in life but sanitizing popular culture of any maturity or intelligence. They should be ashamed of themselves, as should anyone who defends them.
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11-12-2008 @ 3:21PM
Karyn said...
Hilariuos. Seriously people, lighten up.
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