Obscenities on Television Uncensored?

By Bobby

This came to my attention last night whilst watching the telly.

During the open of BBC America's The Apprentice*, I noticed Alan Sugar's obscenities in the open ("I don't like ($25,000/25 points)" have been unbleeped.

The sad thing is this is the same word that put Tony Stewart out $25,000 and 25 points when he used it in an interview on ESPN after winning Indy two years ago.

Are we allowing such coarse language on-air when other obscenities that aired originally on the BBC are usually bleeped out if they do not meet US regulations? The only thing I can say to the obscenities is . . . after we hear a snippet of Dru Masters' "You're Fired to the End" is . . . "You're Fired!" (That's the Boardroom music on that series.)

I also noted the UK version has better music -- it uses "Montagues and Capulets" (off the ballet inspired by a Shakespearean tragedy) from Sergei Prokofiev as its theme -- it is a better opening than the O'Jays (used in the US version) for The Apprentice.


* NOTE: The Apprentice franchise is owned in the US by Mark Burnett Productions, and international rights are held by RTL Group (Idols, The Price Is Right, Family Feud, and Got Talent). This version is produced by RTL's talkbackTHAMES, and for legal reasons, when the British version airs in the States, it is called "Mark Burnett's The Apprentice UK" in the US.