You guys are forgetting the fact that the FCC doesn't regulate Cable TV content, only Broadcast (over the airwaves) TV. Cable TV stations have their own private censorship rules. Broadcast stations have their own rules too, in addition to the government (FCC) rules. Broadcast NETWORKS, on the other hand, while having rules of their own, are also not regulated by the FCC. Networks, both broadcast and cable, as well as cable channels, guide their own private censorship rules according to those of the FCC simply 1) to "tow the line", and 2) because their shows are or might in the future be shown on Broadcast TV STATIONS, which are the only mediums with regulated FCC content.
BTW, it is irrelevant (though a little perplexing) that individual TV stations that broadcast (over the air) are on your cable TV provider and the majority of people have cable; it is merely the fact that SOME of the public (no matter how small or dwindling the segment) watch these stations over the air, that makes the FCC regulate their content. This shows how outdated and behind the times the FCC and its content rules are.
However, if they ever update them, they're likely not to drop the content censorship when almost everything is cable and no longer over-the-air; instead they would likely change the content rules to include cable. This cold prediction is tempered by the fact that network producers and cable channels already have their own censorship, which are MORE STRICT than FCC content restrictions, which (per the "tow the line" reference I made above) keeps the FCC from updating anything.
BTW, examples of private TV censorship which even the FCC allows on broadcast TV, are the use of the word (or words) "goddamn" and a character shown "flipping off" somebody (the middle finger), the latter ironically even in cartoons where the character doesn't have a middle (or even ANY) fingers (or only has 3) - how many "fingers" does Brian have?
Really it's not the FCC we have to worry about - they're benign; it's the corporate company channels and networks and individual stations with their own privatized censorrship that are the real threat to freedom to watch what we want to and the freedom for creators to produce what they want to.
To clarify, South Park has always been shown on and produced by a cable TV channel, and so the FCC cannot regulate it. Family Guy has always been produced by and originally shown on Fox, a broadcast network. South Park producers know their cartoon will never be shown on broadcast TV, while Family Guy originates on broadcast TV though has been syndicated on cable (like Adult Swim).
As for making fun of the FCC, parody is protected by the 1st amendment. Ironically the South Park episode referred to here would be protected, as it parodies the FCC, and the S-word would thus be allowed in that episode even on broadcast TV. But no network or cable channel corporation is daring enough to let it through because of their tow-the-line attitude.
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