Ed Vitagliano
AFA Journal news editor
September 2014 – On May 27, 1972, comedian George Carlin stood before a crowd in Santa Monica, California, and delivered a stand-up bit that infamously included “the seven words you can’t say on television.” The act became part of his landmark album Class Clown.
His irreverent approach to public profanity eventually made Carlin’s routine on dirty words – played on a radio station in 1973 – part of a case that reached the U.S. Supreme Court.
At the time there was a reason why certain things couldn’t be said or done on TV. In the early 1950s the National Association of Broadcasters developed the Television Code to govern the content of TV. The effort blended the content codes of the three networks – at the time ABC, CBS and NBC – in a voluntary attempt to prevent government from ever stepping in to regulate subject matter.
The code was revised through the years, but was eventually discarded altogether in the 1980s.
The regulations for content laid down by the Television Code almost sound quaint by modern standards, but they provide a startling glimpse into how much our culture has changed in the past 50 years.
Here are some of the regulations that once governed what could – and could not – be heard and seen on television. (Note: The categories in bold did not appear in the actual guidelines.)
Treatment of religion: “Attacks on religion and religious faiths are not allowed. Reverence is to mark any mention of God, His attributes and powers. … [M]inisters, priests and rabbis portrayed in their callings are [to be] vested with the dignity of their office and under no circumstances are to be held up to ridicule.”
Foul language: “Profanity, obscenity, smut and vulgarity are forbidden, even when likely to be understood only by part of the audience.”
Marriage and divorce: “Respect is [to be] maintained for the sanctity of marriage and the value of the home. Divorce is not [to be] treated casually nor justified as a solution for marital problems.”
Sex, nudity and sensuality: “Illicit sex relations are not [to be] treated as commendable. … Sex crimes and abnormalities are generally unacceptable as program material. … The costuming of all performers shall be within the bounds of propriety and shall avoid such exposure or such emphasis on anatomical detail as would embarrass or offend home viewers.”
Substance abuse: “Drunkenness and narcotic addiction are never presented as desirable or prevalent.”
Crime, horror and violence: “Criminality shall be presented as undesirable and unsympathetic. The condoning of crime and the treatment of the commission of crime in a frivolous, cynical or callous manner is unacceptable. … The presentation of techniques of crime in such detail as to invite imitation shall be avoided. … The exposition of sex crimes will be avoided. … The use of horror for its own sake will be eliminated; the use of visual or aural effects which would shock or alarm the viewer, and the detailed presentation of brutality or physical agony by sight or by sound are not permissible.”
Occult: “Exhibitions of fortune-telling, astrology, … palm-reading and numerology are acceptable only when required by a plot or the theme of a program, and then the presentation should be developed in a manner designed not to foster superstition or excite interest or belief in these subjects.” 
