
#Imgur censoring bleep tv
(Soundbite of TV program Arrested Development")

It's used under a bleep in this scene when employees at the family business get a lecture about sexual harassment. ULABY: Lip flap actually became a fake swear word that actors use when they knew they would be bleeped. HURWITZ: And actually, I kind of thought lip flap should be bleeped because that sounded worst than anything we could think of. That, says Hurwitz, is known in the industry as lip flap. Back at Fox, the division of standards and practices worried about deaf viewers and their ability to read bleeped lips. ULABY: "Arrested Development" had complaints filed against it at the Federal Communication's Commission, although the main problem was its use of the world cornholing, not bleeps. And I think it's about, you know, letting your imagination do the work. HURWITZ: It becomes kind of a puzzle for people. ULABY: "Arrested Development" creator Mitch Hurwitz says bleeping is funny because it's interactive. HURWITZ: That was the point at which we realized, you know, it's more fun to not know exactly what it is that we're saying. TONY HALE (Actor): (Byron Bluth) Can I have an upsized (bleep) buster (bleep) you old, horny slut. WILL ARNETT (Actor): (George Bluth II) Dragging on the old lady. (Soundbite of TV program "Arrested Development") Early in the first season, the adult siblings all sit around and make fun of their mother. ULABY: That language seemed true to "Arrested Development's" main characters -a vulgar, dysfunctional wealthy family. And this was an experiment in as much reality as we could get away with. HURWITZ: The rhythms felt fake, and the sets looked fake. Hurwitz said he never wanted it to feel fake like regular sitcoms. ULABY: The show, created by Mitch Hurwitz, was inspired by reality TV. MITCH HURWITZ (Creator, "Arrested Development") It's "Arrested Development." ULABY: It was another show from Fox that really took the bleep to dizzying comic heights. You know what I'm talking about with (bleep) a little (bleep) toothpaste in my (bleep) and my (bleep) cherry (bleep). You know, you're lucky you're good at (bleep) my (bleep) or I'd never put up with you. SETH McFARLANE (Actor): (As Peter Griffin) Oh, we can't say (bleep) my own (bleep) house? (bleep) great, Lois. Comic bleeping has become standard on scripted shows like the animated Fox sitcom "Family Guy." ULABY: It's horrible, and it's hard not to laugh. FRED ROGERS (Actor): (Singing) If it's going to be hard, if it's not going to hurt, I like to be (bleep). ULABY: It makes everything, from the evening news to Mr. NEDA ULABY: The nighttime talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live occasionally features something it calls unnecessary censorship - TV clips with perfectly innocuous words bleeped out.

NPR's Neda Ulaby reports that the bleep, you know, the (bleep), has given rise to a new comic technique. So many people are saying words like (bleep) and (bleep) on television, the Bush administration has asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on broadcast indecency. A warning to our listeners: In the next item, we're going to hear about (bleep) and (bleep) and even (bleep).
