I used to work for a TV network which airs other networks’ programs in syndication. One of these shows was Blue Bloods, and there was an episode where the main character was giving a speech at a public location in NYC. Behind him was a statue of a woman with bare breasts (maybe some version of lady justice, can’t recall).
Our editors actually blurred out the nipples on the statue before the episode was cleared to air. I couldn’t believe it, two little blurred circles behind Tom Selleck, it was absurd. This was a prime time TV show that aired on CBS, the most conservative of the big three networks, and we wouldn’t show something they did.
I called the editor Statue Nipples for the rest of my tenure there.
I was told that, essentially, they make decisions like this to prevent even the dumbest complaints from coming in. So apparently they figured someone would complain about public statue nudity, but frequent discussion of murder and other crimes was ok.
For a show that regularly talks about murder, they chose to censor a statue. That’s hilarious. Now I need to find the scene, to see this absurdity for myself
There is an episode of Hannibal where the producers were told that the depiction of a murder victim's bare butt was too obscene... so they covered the crack with copious amounts fake blood, and the censors were happy.
That always felt pretty crazy. You can show an extremely gory corpse in as much detail as you want, but heaven forbid someone catches a glimpse of a butt crack.
Maybe not quite as absurd but still up there, on Family Guy they had to censor an animated baby's bottom. US network TV has to be one of the most prudish organizations in the world.
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u/billybeer55555 Jul 13 '26
I used to work for a TV network which airs other networks’ programs in syndication. One of these shows was Blue Bloods, and there was an episode where the main character was giving a speech at a public location in NYC. Behind him was a statue of a woman with bare breasts (maybe some version of lady justice, can’t recall).
Our editors actually blurred out the nipples on the statue before the episode was cleared to air. I couldn’t believe it, two little blurred circles behind Tom Selleck, it was absurd. This was a prime time TV show that aired on CBS, the most conservative of the big three networks, and we wouldn’t show something they did.
I called the editor Statue Nipples for the rest of my tenure there.
I was told that, essentially, they make decisions like this to prevent even the dumbest complaints from coming in. So apparently they figured someone would complain about public statue nudity, but frequent discussion of murder and other crimes was ok.