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What the @#$%^&* has happened to television?
A study by the Parents Television Council finds that the use of prime-time broadcast-network profanity has soared in just the last five years. Highlights of the report include:

1.  Using absolute totals, across all networks use of profanity on prime-time broadcast entertainment programming increased 69.3% from 2005 to 2010. This increase occurred in spite of the fact that there were six prime-time broadcast networks in 2005, and only five in 2010.

2.  The largest increases were found in the use of the harshest profanities, and in explicit references to genitalia and bodily functions. The greatest increase in the use of the harshest profanities occurred in the 8:00 p.m. ET time period (the “Family Hour”), and at 9:00 p.m. ET.

3. Across all networks and prime time hours, use of the bleeped or muted f-word increased from 11 instances total in 2005 to 276 instances in 2010 – an increase of 2,409 %.

4. Across all networks, use of the bleeped f-word in the Family Hour increased from 10 instances in 2005 to 111 instances in 2010 – an increase of 1,010%. In the 9:00 p.m. ET hour, use of the bleeped f-word increased from 1 instance in 2005 to 156 instances in 2010.

5. Across all networks, use of the bleeped s-word in the Family Hour increased from 11 uses in 2005 to 42 uses in 2010 – an increase of 281%.

6. Across all networks and prime time hours, use of the bleeped or muted s-word increased from 11 instances in 2005 to 95 instances in 2010 – an increase of 763%. (This does not include CBS using a bleeped s-word in the title of its sitcom $#*! My Dad Says – or NBC’s use of a scripted, unbleeped s-word on the September 23rd episode of 30 Rock.)

7. There were also increases in the use of anatomical and sexual references. Across all networks and all hours of prime-time, use of the word “balls” to refer to male genitalia increased 200%. Similarly, use of the word “screw” increased 121%, and use of the word “boobs” in reference to breasts increased 90%.

8. The Fox broadcast network showed the greatest per-hour increase in use of profanity from 2005 to 2010, with an increase in all profanity across all prime-time hours of 269%.

Read the full report here.

Comment: There’s no doubt that the prime-time landscape has become much crasser over the past decade or so. The problem isn’t so much that shows like Two and a Half Men and $#*! My Dad Says exist. Attempting to strong arm them off the air is not going to happen and isn’t the answer anyway. The real problem is the lack of viewing alternatives. You can’t even get a show with genuine heart and traditional values on a broadcast network anymore.

In 2005, the season this report uses as a comparison, 7th Heaven was still on the air. Try getting that one on the the schedule today (maybe if the minister dad abused drugs or something).

Go back a little further to 1999 and you had the likes of The Wonderful World of Disney, Touched by and Angel, Providence and Early Edition.  There was also the overtly-patriotic JAG. Try a similar pitch to a network today and you’re likely to be met with a blank, cold stare. 

And the 1999 comedies like Frasier and Everybody Loves Raymond were intelligent without being sleazy.

Likewise, on the drama side, NYPD Blue managed to be gritty and edgy while portraying essentially good and struggling characters. It’s 12 season arc was largely about the spiritual redemption of Andy Sipowicz, the initially boozing and bigoted police detective brilliantly played by Dennis Franz. In one memorable scene toward the end of the show’s run, Sipowicz is even given a straight-forward answer to the question “Is there a God?”. I  wonder if that scene would make it past the gatekeepers today.

The PTC report notes that in 2005 there were six broadcast networks instead of the five that are left today, Maybe if UPN offered a real alternative to the direction of its competitors it would still be around. (The PAX Network had tried but it was underfunded, badly managed and, with only a couple of exceptions, such as Peter O’Fallon‘s Mysterious Ways, it’s executives had a tin ear for entertainment. Hint: It takes more than merely being “wholesome.”)

But where’s a viewer to go? Cable? USA Network is having a lot of success with retro  dramas that go relatively easy on the sleaze and edginess.  Hallmark Channel makes some movies but is totally out of the series business. Elsewhere, it’s almost wall-to-wall edginess.

When HBO launched in a big way in 1975 it was offered as a more adult, edgy alternative to the supposed pablum being offered by the then-three broadcast networks. The “pablum” being offered that season included such classics as All in the Family, M*A*S*H, Barney Miller, Columbo and The Rockford Files. The seventies was also the decade that delivered such memorable network miniseries (remember those?) as Roots, Centennial, Rich Man, Poor Man and, of course, Jesus of Nazareth.

The situation has flipped since 1975. Maybe it’s about time for a positive-values version of HBO to meet the viewing needs of this decade.