New York (6/22/01) – Comedy Central aired an original episode of “South Park” this week (June 20) in which the common four-letter word for fecal matter was used 162 times in the show’s half-hour. This was an average of more than seven times a minute in the show’s 22 minutes of program time.
Morality in Media President Robert W. Peters had the following comments on this episode of “South Park”:
“Comedy Central’s decision to air at 10 p.m. an episode of ‘South Park’ in which the ‘S-word’ was uttered 162 times during the half-hour program is one more good reason why Congress should amend federal law to extend the ban on broadcast indecency to cover basic cable and to extend the hours during which indecent programming is banned to 12 midnight.
“The question here is not whether the moral imbeciles who are responsible for such programming should have the right to fill the ears of consenting adults with grossly vulgar but non-obscene excretory language, but whether they should be allowed to do it in a medium and at a time of day when large numbers of children are up watching TV.
“It is no excuse to say that the program is rated TV-M. Most TVs don’t have a V-chip and most parents don’t use it even when they can. Even if most parents did use the V-chip, all it takes is a few kids at school whose parents don’t care.
“Airing lewd, vulgar ‘adult’ comedy about misbehaving kids at 10 p.m. on basic cable stinks of irresponsibility, arrogance, and greed.”