Breaking the language barrier

Hollywood uses the ratings system to justify bad language on TV | Gene Edward Veith

There was a time when the Federal Communications Commission would respond to profanity and obscene language in the over-the-air media by, figuratively speaking, washing out the producer's mouth with soap. Television watched its language, even as movies and pay cable cursed a blue streak. But lately, the language on broadcast TV has been getting cruder. Words that were once never to be uttered in public or in, as we used to say, polite company, have become commonplace in prime time.

According to a recent study by the Parents Television Council, the number of curse words on TV increased 58 percent from 1997 to 1999. The study found that CBS, to its credit, actually showed a decline in profanity over those two years, while the worst offender was the youth-oriented network UPN.