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The Spectacle Blog
Several years ago I wrote a column here advocating “censorship” during the so-called “family hours” on broadcast TV. (I stand by that column’s conclusions.) In it, I described a show without naming it, involving mothers bragging to sons about getting “laid” and all sorts of other obnoxious events. That unnamed show was “Two and a Half Men.” Well, now one of the show’s stars has announced that the show is “filth” and said that people should not watch it. The actor is correct: The show is filth, and people should not watch it.
There is every good reason for such filth to be banned from the public airwaves for at least a few hours each evening. Leave it to cable or satellite TV or whatever other privately paid-for outlets to air the smut they want. The community has the right to set standards for airwave spectrum licensed out to a few lucky, selected companies.
Meanwhile, don’t watch the show. And don’t watch anything else like it. And don’t patronize the advertisers.
That is all.
View all comments (45) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Quin Hillyer
http://spectator.org/blog/2012/11/27/two-and-a-half-smut-stars
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David T| 11.27.12 @ 10:57AM
While we're at it, let's ban Viagra commercials and all those other offensive and embarrassing ads for male/female libido enhancement.
This is the age of taking action...
R Martin| 11.27.12 @ 11:16AM
Good grief, what would that do to the PGA's ad revenues?
Albert Constantine Jr.| 11.27.12 @ 12:38PM
I'm still trying to decipher the symbolism of two separate bath tubs.
Bob Grant| 11.27.12 @ 1:37PM
I guess that means "when the moment is right", per your lady: Properly cleansed but not "raisin-like", yet able to cut a diamond on command.
Oldefarte| 11.27.12 @ 2:11PM
I think it has something to do with what Clinton said about WHAT THE MEANING OF IS, IS!!!!
Al Adab| 11.27.12 @ 2:17PM
Actually there is a point here. I get rather tired of having to explain things to the grandkids during every baseball game we watch. "Grandpa, what's Cialis do? "Honey I don't know what most of the pills they advertise do." Do our five year olds really need this stuff?
Oldefarte| 11.27.12 @ 2:13PM
Yeah and the dumbazz in that commercial gets his truck stuck in the mud and then requires his two horses to pull same out [when if he had any brains at all, he would have simply driven his truck around the watered down mud hole in the roadway]!!!!!
mike 3/505| 11.27.12 @ 3:04PM
I find it hugely ironic, that the Communist Broadcasting System terminated Charlie Sheen for acting in real life, just like the character he was portraying on the show.
MTB| 11.27.12 @ 11:34AM
Better yet, disconnect altogether: cable, dish, antenna. There's really not that much on that's worth watching and you actually can live without it. I disconnected years ago, and after going through the obligatory withdrawl period, I am much happier and make much better use of my time. If enough people turned off cable and dish, the providers would eventually have to offer a la carte programming, thereby eliminating subsidized shows that cannot make it on their own revenues.
Bob Grant| 11.27.12 @ 1:20PM
I've developed a "filtering" system that works fine for me. It consists of blocking certain offensive news networks (which is basically all of them) and entertainment channels. e.g. E-Network, MTV, Bravo, O-network, and others...which also includes a good 75% of what's offered on the 4 major Networks. The FOX channel is probably the most offensive and worthless.
If people embrace the idea that the days of "Must See TV" are long gone, they'll regain control of their time and who profits from their viewing choices.
Maxwell| 11.27.12 @ 11:40AM
After Speed & Holms on Homes there is little worth watching. A few times I'll watch the .MIL channel. There is a reason it is called boob tube.
Bob Grant| 11.27.12 @ 1:28PM
I feel very fortunate growing up on Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart, Carol Burnett, MASH, Mannix, Hawaii Five O, Marcus Welby, The Waltons, Little House on the Prairie, etc....and yes, even the dumb shows, e.g., Brady Bunch, Partridge Family, Love Boat, etc...and yes, even the more cutting-edge horror Night Gallery, Night Stalker, Touch of Evil...etc.,
...than the ROT GUT that is offered today.
Yes, the Kid from Two and and Half Men has it right.
Oldefarte| 11.27.12 @ 2:08PM
BG: You're entirely correct. In the good ole days TV programming was to entertain, not to brainwash [which it is and does today]. Sadly it mostly propagandizes the young watching it, and together with the brainwashing they receive from the public school system and their peer groups, they are lambs being led to slaughter!!!!
Oldefarte| 11.27.12 @ 2:05PM
News flash! News flash! This is not the only TV show that displays such filth or subliminal messaging regarding levity of things sexual or criminal. It's called LIBERALISM folks, and it's all over your TV screens, and you and your families watch it constantly. Don't ban this show, but alternatively ban all shows. Is the nudity on DWTS necessary or warranted for the show's purposes? Is the sexual ineuendos on TWO BROKE GIRLS needed for comedic purposes? Is the homosexuality contents of GLEE or PARTNERS beneficial to society? Of course not, and you and your families sit in front of the BOOB-TUBE 24-7 soaking in the propaganda proposed by Hollywood every night, and over time become indoctrinated by same. Want a true solution? TURN OFF YOUR TV SETS IF YOU CANNOT WATCH HOLLYWOOD PROGRAMMING [ie sports programs, news shows, the Disney Channel, National Geographic, the History Channel etc]. Play a board game, read a book etc for alternative entertainment instead !!!!!!!!
Occam's Tool| 11.27.12 @ 3:47PM
I don't get cable. Period. I watch what I choose on Netflix, and a lot of Riff-Trax.
And I listen to Books on Tape of PG Wodehouse.
And I read. My daughter reads horse stories to go to sleep, my son reads dinosaur books. (My fabulous boy turns 9 today) We go to Division I hockey games, and they play outside a lot on their big front lawn (2 and 1/2 acres).
Screw the Liberal Urban Vermin.
Kingofthenet| 11.27.12 @ 6:15PM
Boehner, Boehner, don't be a dick, budget cuts will make us sick.
Dai Alanye | 11.27.12 @ 6:47PM
Narcissism and exhibitionism seem endemic in Progressive ranks. These must be little souls with no other way of giving an impression of consequence.
Stan Redmond| 11.27.12 @ 8:36PM
One must have a budget before you can cut it. These fools don't know what they're protesting or talking about. They are complete morons looking for attention and will be as effective as the stupid vagina outfits.
spike59| 11.28.12 @ 5:35AM
now, THERE'S the kind of 'intelligent comment' one expects to see oozing from the Progressive 'mind'
Oldefarte| 11.28.12 @ 10:38AM
KINGFISH: Here's a suggestion for you......the government should do ZERO BASED BUDGETING instead [and have the American people vote on what to include and what to exclude]. Don't know what that is? Look it up!!!!!!!!!
Seek| 11.27.12 @ 7:26PM
Quin Hillyer, regrettably, is one of those traditionalists who thinks by using eeeeewwww" words -- e.g., "sludge," "smut," "garbage," "trash," pollution" -- he can pass for a scholar. Mind you, I've watched "Two and a Half Men" only sporadically. My main complaint is that like most TV sitcoms, it's hammy in an unfunny way. But smut? Give us a break.
Amazing, isn't it? Traditionalists on the Right complain about "the nanny state" when a mayor wants to ban the sale of certain soft drinks or tobacco products. But they have no problem with a massive authoritiarian FCC crackdown on TV shows that "offend" them. My response: Change the channel or turn off the set. Your preferences don't have veto power.
Paul McGrath| 11.27.12 @ 9:23PM
There is an interesting quote in the film The Sound of Music, in which the Baron says, "Is there a more beautiful expression of what is good in this country of ours than the innocent voices of our children?" It is a sentiment with which the vast majority of Americans agreed in 1963. As a very little boy in 1963, I can attest that all children of my age and for many years to come were innocent little boys and girls.
Now, with unregulated vulgarity present on television, in film, in music, on the radio, on the internet and practically every single thing you can think of, we can hardly argue anymore that our children are innocent.
You apparently are in acceptance of this. Look around you. Look at your fellow Americans. Look at how they dress. Listen to how they speak with one another. Make note of the fact that a huge segment of children today are born out of wedlock and destined to poverty. And look who was just re-elected president of this lost country, after four years of brazen corruption.
Welcome to the world your selfish desires have helped to make.
Seek| 11.28.12 @ 3:52PM
There are more child-friendly movies and TV shows than I can count -- and they're not all Disney/Pixar-style animated productions either. The will to censor, to force people in the arts and literature to adhere to a rigid code of conformity in order to "protect" families, strikes me as the apex of arrogance.
I shall not apologize in the slightest for opposing censorship, epsecially when advocated by moral panic-peddlers. Go produce your own TV shows, McGrath.
Stkman| 11.28.12 @ 5:03PM
So speaks satan(seek).
Paul McGrath| 11.29.12 @ 11:55AM
Oh. So you oppose censorship. How liberal of you. Does this include pornography? I mean, pure, unadulterated, x-rated pornography at 3:00pm on your local CBS channel? How about Eddie Murphy Raw? Or the best of Andrew Dice Clay? You're okay with that, 4:30pm on channel 7? Right at the end of the school day?
How noble of you to not oppose censorship. You are obviously a man of high moral principle, and I am sure that you sleep very soundly at night, basking in the glow of your sound righteousness.
Paul McGrath| 11.29.12 @ 1:46PM
The more I think about your comment, the more angry I get. You are the classic, typical liberal, standing on his soap-box and mouthing his holier-than-thou platitudes without ever bothering to consider reality.
Pro-choice, eh? Even when you have to kill the baby out of the womb?
No censorship? Porn in the afternoon?
Spread the wealth? Even if it means bankrupting the country?
Against "torture?" Even though it was water-boarding, used on a grand total of three people, and may have saved countless lives?
Paying their fair share? Even though the 2 percent already pay far, far, far beyond that which is fair?
Free contraceptives? Even though health insurers will obviously have to raise their rates?
It gets so tiresome.
Simon Templar| 11.28.12 @ 2:07AM
Yeah, and the difference is the community decides, not government, liberal idiot. That is individuals coming together and deciding what they want and do not want on their public airways. Not a government official or politician telling us, the 'We the People,' what we can and can not do.
As a liberal, you prefer dictates and have a little soft spot on your hearts for dictatorship.
Seek| 11.28.12 @ 3:53PM
Apparently, you can't tell the difference between a liberal and a libertarian. But why bother explaining it to a dolt like you?
Oldefarte| 11.28.12 @ 10:42AM
I'll agree with you, and I think that that is exactly what Americans should do. Turn the damn idiot boxes to """"""OFF""""""". Problem solved. The Charlie Sheens will thereafter disappear. Oh and it is not only "unfunny" but is instead STUPID, but of course that why Americans want to watch it [since it fits their intelligencia]!!!!!!!
Dimitry_Aleksandrovich| 11.27.12 @ 7:32PM
The cold hard truth is that "filth" sells and nobody knows that better than Mr. Rupert Murdoch himself. Those who long for a return to standards in the entertainment industry must first realize that capitalism is not a religion and then make an effort to re-Christen themselves and our entire culture. It's not going to happen, but that's the only way it could happen. In an unregulated capitalist nation like our own people cease to be people and become consumers or even commodities (such as prostitutes and or slaves). Culture, tradition, honor and the mores and taboos that go with it are thrown out the window in a capitalist society and thus to a traditional conservative a cultural conservative (who wishes to preserve a way of life) capitalism is the opposite of conservatism.
Bob Grant| 11.27.12 @ 8:00PM
DimWitry's at it again.
Put down to vodka and pick up a book.
Bob Grant| 11.27.12 @ 8:00PM
put down THE vodka...
Dimitry_Aleksandrovich| 11.27.12 @ 9:16PM
There will always be men that hate truth.
Paul McGrath| 11.27.12 @ 9:29PM
To argue that capitalism is the sole cause of our rock bottom moral standards is to prove that there will always be some men that hate intelligent thought.
Dimitry_Aleksandrovich| 11.28.12 @ 6:33PM
It's not the sole cause of course. Sin is the root of it, but just as a fungus needs certain conditions to spread so does sin and our current form of capitalism mixed with radical individualism is the perfect environment for it.
spike59| 11.28.12 @ 5:38AM
and there will always be fools like you, dim-itry, who earnestly believe that whatever sophomoric drivel spews forth from the recesses of their kool-aid sodden 'brain' somehow resembles 'truth'
JmsA| 11.28.12 @ 4:01PM
Like you, Dimitry. By the way, did you hear? Your boy Assad just strengthened his ties to the tyrant Raul Castro.
Dimitry_Aleksandrovich| 11.28.12 @ 6:30PM
If I was Assad I would strengthen my ties with the enemies of all my enemies. That's how it usually works through history. The Turks betrayed Assad why do you think he's supporting Kurdish separatists in Turkey. Assad is fighting for his life and he know's that he's playing for keeps. You take allies where you can find them in such situations.
c. j. acworth| 11.28.12 @ 9:44AM
You call this an "UNREGULATED capitalist nation"? UNREGULATED?? From which alternate reality do you hale from?
Dimitry_Aleksandrovich| 11.28.12 @ 6:36PM
Compared to 50 years ago its unregulated. If you steal a 1000 bucks on main street you'll most definitely do some time in jail, but if you steal a billion on Wall Street you'll probably be picked to run the Federal Reserve.
Oldefarte| 11.28.12 @ 10:48AM
No capitalism is not the opposite of conservatism. Capitalism has evolved into an immoral process that now caters to the immorality of society. Pretty much anything to make a buck. The downfall of this nation is due to the defeat of morality and religion by the secularists and socialists, and businesses now have to create and sell to same!!!
Dimitry_Aleksandrovich| 11.28.12 @ 6:45PM
I have my own wars with the secularists, as for socialists there are no pure socialists in this country. If there were then you'd have the nationalization of entire industries in this country. Something you most definitely don't have. I would agree that the cultural upheavals and sexual revolution of the 60's became fashion and big business picked up on it and decided to profit from it, but the cultural changes of the 1960's most definitely has its roots in radical individualism something that is also uniquely American. Capitalism in its current form and practice is not conservatism and it has never been conservative. Traditional conservatism is more cultural than economic and was very much tied into the agrarian roots of the people. It used to be people had their culture, customs and traditions and that just doesn't exist in America anymore. Even regional accents are disappearing in this country.
spike59| 11.28.12 @ 5:37AM
i tried watching it; beyond the vulgarity, there's really nothing much but bad acting and bad writing...so i moved on
LaneyB| 11.28.12 @ 2:32PM
Sadly, the bulk of the nation is so dumbed down they think these shows are fine entertainment. TV only churns out what sells. Sad commentary.
Nancy in NC| 11.29.12 @ 8:48AM
Just have to put in my two cents.
1. The young actor who made the statement would have more creditability if he had made it when the resigned from the show. Rather hypocritical to take the money (considerable) and then trash the show.
2. IF we were a country of laws, as intended, the free market could work beautifully. But we have turned into a country where influence counts, and the rules only apply to certain people. The free market doesn't need more regulations, just enforcement equally of the law. If there were consequences to bad behavior, on many fronts, bad behavior would diminish.
It's fairly simple, but no one wants to actually do it.