In the November 16, 2003, episode of the best sitcom on television, “Arrested Development,” Jason Bateman, playing the protagonist, Michael Bluth, is seen using a defective cooking product manufactured by the family business–and then, as his character is burned by the device, launches into a lengthy tirade of curse-words against the machine, all of which are bleeped. The humor comes from the length of the bleeping (a running gag in the episode) and the reactions of the other characters (as well as the fact that Michael is in the middle of lecturing his son “It’s a poor carpenter that blames his tools for the–” when he burns himself). The Parents Television Council, in an effort to make America safe from humor, decided to guess what that tirade was, produced its own transcript with its imaginary version of the speech, and then promptly complained to the FCC about the “indecent” broadcast. Thankfully, the FCC unanimously denied the complaint, but the government had to pay lawyers to write memos that would help the FCC reach its 20-footnote decision–your tax dollars at work, since there’s no penalty for wasting the government’s time with such complaints. (And a welcome to Defamer and ALOTT5MA readers.)

Filed under: broadcasters, free speech