MovieChat Forums > Spider-Man (1994) Discussion > The censors can be held responsible for ...

The censors can be held responsible for ruining most of the show

posted 13 years ago by ZolfianYarvelling
21 replies | jump to latest

Well when I say ruin I don't mean the show is bad or even not a classic, but I still think it could have been better than it was and I don't in all honesty think it holds up as well as Batman Tas or Superman Tas.

Whilst not every problem can be blamed on the censors (Hydro man story, overuse of Kingpin and Morbius for example can't be) I think that the main problems that hold the show back and prevent it from being as good as Batman and Superman can be blamed soley on them. Imagine if Batman tas or Superman tas had the same restrictions as this show they wouldn't be nearly as good. Imagine if Batman hadn't been able to punch the Joker in the Dcau. All of those great really vicious Joker Batman fights, like in the laughing fish or in the Justice League episode Wild Cards (where the Joker savagely beats Batman when he is hallucinating) really add to the drama and tension in the show. Take a look at the film Return of the Joker the censored version of that is terrible compared to the uncut version, and I might add the censored version of that isn't anywhere near as censored as Spidey is. They still are allowed to kill the Joker its just not as in quite an awesome way they don;t have to send him through a portal into another dimension like in Spider man.

Also in Superman Tas they were able to have Darkseid murder Dan Turpin. That was awesome and that really helped to intensify the relationship between Superman and Darkseid and made Darkseid seem like a huge threat. Again I ask imagine if those stupid censors had been on Superman and Darkseid couldn't kill Turpin but instead just drained his life force from him like Carnage in Spider man. And at the end his life force was restored to him and everything was okay like in Spider man, wouldn't be anywhere near as effective, might still be enjoyable but not nearly as dramatic. The scene where Carnage drains Detective Lee's life force could have been as great as the bit with Darkseid and Turpin if Carnage had actually been allowed to kill her, but as it is its nothing and Carnage doesn't seem like a threat the way Darkseid is in that series.

Whilst it is true that the show did do some things wrong on its own there is no denying that the censors destroyed a lot of potentially great dramatic moments and made a lot of the show seem more idiotic.

Of course again I am not saying that the show wasn't great I think John Semper did a marvellous job considering what he had to work with and whilst I don't think its held up quite as well as Batman or Superman its still lasted. Here it is almost twenty years since it finished and people are still talking about it and they probably still will be in another twenty years too.

[–] cowboyfromhell320 13 years ago

In what ways was this show censored?

I liked the first few episodes of Spartacus: Blood and Sand.

[–] KCJ506 13 years ago

^

- Spider-man or anybody was rarely allowed to throw a punch.(only about two throughout the entire series were thrown).

- The show made Spider-man weak when it came to taking a hit. For instance he gets shoved into a wall once by Rhino or swing into a statue by Carnage and is out cold?

- The word "Sinister" couldn't be used because it was deemed "too scary for kids."

- Morbius, a vampire with fangs, isn't allowed to bite people, but rather drain their "plasma" with suckers on his hands.

- Carnage sucking people souls in order to revive a mystical demon.(Dormammu)

- All guns fired lasers because bullets weren't allowed. Even street punks had them.

- MJ gets thrown into a portal by GG.

I did find the censorship to be a bit ridiculous considering the things other shows around that time got away with. Gargoyles had one of it's main characters(Elisa) get shot. Batman had Matt Hagen get chemicals forced down his throat, had Jack Ryder get thrown into a vat of unknown chemicals, and had Comm Gordon get shot. In X-men Sabretooth actually slashed & cut Wolverine in the stomach, even if there was no blood shown.

With all the censorship the show had, I'm surprised they were able to put Punisher in. Even if he was toned down.

Sick of threads "Megan Fox should play this!"

[–] ZolfianYarvelling 13 years ago

One thing that I always thought was weird about Morbius having to say plasma instead of blood was in the theme they say "spider blood, spider blood radioactive spider blood" why were they allowed to say blood there.

[–] CountVladDracula 11 years ago

One thing that I always thought was weird about Morbius having to say plasma instead of blood was in the theme they say "spider blood, spider blood radioactive spider blood" why were they allowed to say blood there.

It was the context that was the issue. They couldn't mention feeding on blood but when you think about it feeding on plasma is WORSE! Plasma is the liquid part of the blood. If you know anything about hematology you'd know that death by exsanguinate is a little less brutal than death by severe dehydration.

They slipped the word blood past the censors a few times during the Morbius storyline. At point Spiderman says of Morbius "Where did that flying blood bank go to?" making it very clear what he's really feeding on.

[–] cowboyfromhell320 13 years ago

Wow, I never realized that no one threw punches. I was in elementary school, when this show aired and I still enjoy it to this day when it is on.

I liked the first few episodes of Spartacus: Blood and Sand.

[–] BrunoAntony 13 years ago

Don't forget The Punisher firing net guns, etc.

[–] DarklordRB 13 years ago

Well I guess if I had my way I would take away censorship when this show was made. The same goes for the rest of the Marvel Shows during the 90's.

[–] topherwriter 13 years ago

To tell the truth, this show was awesome even though it was censored (which is partially the point the OP was making). It got me interested in reading the comics. If you want to see Spiderman in action read the comics. He actually does throw punches and he hits people hard. It's actually pretty refreshing because he is kind of weak on this show. It's cool to see him as a strong super hero rather than a weakling.

[–] KCJ506 13 years ago

^Or if you haven't already and wanna actually see a cartoon with Spider-man in action watch Specatacular Spider-man. You might be turned off by the art style (as I was at first), but the animation is fantastic and the fight scenes are incredible. I'd say that's an even tradeoff.

Spidey takes beatings there as depicted in the comics. He gets punched a lot, chucked through buildings, slammed into walls or cars etc and is able to carry on fighting. Whereas in this show he gets hit once and is either too tired or too weak to carry on. A few eps even had his costume getting ripped.( in the last episode his suit gets messed up really bad) He took far more abuse there.

Sick of threads "Megan Fox should play this!"

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Thenewnexus 11 years ago

I guess since I was a little kid I never really noticed that,even with all that it was still an awesome show

I must become someone else. I must become something else.

Batfleck and Gal Gadot will Prevail

[–] spooie-1 13 years ago

Well, first off, most of that stuff you compare it to either came out 1) AFTER Spidey, 2) Direct to Video, 3) on Cable, or 4) on KidsWB!. So, we'll disregard 1 and 2. Cable has different restrictions because you have to pay for that, so you are responsible for what you buy. Broadcast, you don't. As for Superman TAS... you forget the show was on KidsWB! which was Warner Bros own show and Warner Bros owns DC. Fox does not own Marvel. DC could get away with things that Marvel couldn't.

Honestly, Spider-Man was a great show overall. Nothing was ruined by it... except that annoying episode with the guy in the giant wheel. The censors didn't ruin anything, because, as much as we all hate them, they're looking out for US. If you want to complain about someone, complain about all the idiots out there that said Power Rangers was destroying our youth, because those idiots are the reason we had so many restrictions. You'll notice that Batman TAS early on had guns with bullets, and X-Men had death and both even had a little blood in them (first ep of Batman, ep 13 of X-Men).

But then Power Rangers came out mid-way into the original X-Men season and suddenly, dumb people were there to condemn it, because anything that is popular must be evil. Fox took a lot of heat for that show for no reason at all and the censors had to simplify everything. So, if you want to blame someone, blame those guys. Without the censors, we honestly wouldn't have had those shows.

Some of you folks might be too young to remember this, but very, very, very few people ever died in cartoons until Transformers: Beast Wars started doing it in the late 90s in syndication, which itself doesn't have to worry about Broadcast Standards and Practices. Usually if someone died in a cartoon, it was some "special episode" of Captain Planet or something. It was a whole different world back then. Remember, TV shows didn't even have ratings until the late 90s.

[–] DarthBill 12 years ago

Censors tend to be over-sensitive. And often hypocritical.

And even when you factor out the way fight scenes suffered from ridiculous censorship the writing became very hit of miss from season 2 onward. The poor handling of the Secret Wars saga alone is face palm worthy.

[–] superturbo4 12 years ago

True!

For example...

The Lizard is quite strong but dropping a mountain on him and making him replace the Hulk and save Spider-Man and the group, was a major WTF moment for me!

Secret Wars issue four

http://www.bamkapow.com/bk_images/2008/06/05/hulk-amazing-feats/Hulk-m ountain-Secret-Wars-4.jpg

ST4

When Gotham is ashes, you have my permission to die!

[–] GreenGoblinsOckVenom86 13 years ago

I just thought of something dumb that happened. They wouldn't allow the word Sinister but they allowed the word Foxy lady. That's just wrong. I sure wouldn't want my little kid describing a woman like that!

"Time to die! Like a man!" Venom Spider-Man Web of Shadows

[–] DarthBill 12 years ago

I just thought of something dumb that happened. They wouldn't allow the word Sinister but they allowed the word Foxy lady. That's just wrong. I sure wouldn't want my little kid describing a woman like that!

It's even more ridiculous when you consider that the X-Men series of the same time period had a villain named Mr. SINISTER. [insert face-palm emoticon here]

[–] KCJ506 12 years ago

[–] DarthBill 12 years ago

[–] superturbo4 12 years ago

All the censoring could be a combination of soccer moms and overseas distributors refusing to distribute some shows based on content. For example the old Ninja Turtles cartoon, in some countries it was changed to "Teenage Mutant HERO Turtles" because "ninja" was seen as a negative word. Also in later seasons Michelangelo lost his nunchucks and used a grappling hook instead simply because nunchucks are illegal in some countries. Yet the more violent katana swords and sais were still used.

Hell soccer moms also complained that Lord Zedd was "too scary" in Power Rangers. Which resulted in him being toned down after he married Rita.

*sigh*

The days when Lord Zedd was first introduced and he turned his snake at his feet into his staff! And commanded his huge Zord; "Sperentera". Yeah despite the cheesy the American version of the Super Sentai shows created. They had one hell of a villain with Lord Zedd, samething happened later with Power Rangers Time Force; Ransik villain as well, who also came with dark history.

Power Rangers Time Force "The Final Fight"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo7zZJeIcMk

Damn it became a violent show, although one could've always argued that issue with the original Supersentai shows though.

ST4

When Gotham is ashes, you have my permission to die!

[–] starone55106 12 years ago

"The censors didn't ruin anything, because, as much as we all hate them, they're looking out for US. "

Shouldn't that be the parent's job? Not some bureaucrat that thinks they know what's better for people more than the people themselves? I don't what some bureaucrat determining what's unacceptable for me or my kids to see when that should rightfully be my decision.

[–] TMC-4 (20491) 6 years ago

It all goes back to Peggy Charren, who began her crusade to rid children's programming that she perceived was "too violent and scary" for kids (or were ostensibly designed to sell toys) and lacked in educational value back in the '60s:
https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&vertical=default&q=%20%23PeggyCharren&src=typd

It's because of her that children's programming entered a decided dork age in the 1970s (there's a reason why there weren't any real action, fighting, and violence on the Super Friends cartoon):
https://animesuperhero.com/forums/threads/1970s-why-did-they-suck.3138161/page-3

https://animesuperhero.com/forums/threads/worst-decade-for-animation.5511342/