Dave
Wednesday 11th February 2009 8:10am [Edited]
1,172 posts
No one was to know that the F-word was only to be used once in that episode. If it was allowed once, it would be allowed twice - or even on a regular basis. I think it would have been funnier if it was bleeped. She could have said it as many times as she liked then and the bleeping would have made it funnier. For what it's worth, I think that scene could have been handled better, and there could have easily have been a compromise with no one being offended at all.
One of the great things about Tim Vine's stand up act is that he never swears. He's cleverer than that - he doesn't need to go the Jimmy Carr route.
And none of the classic sitcoms ever used it - Only Fools and Horses went through it's whole run without it and is largely thought to be the best sitcom of them all.
There was an awful lot of profanity in A Fish Called Wanda, now every time they said the f-word in that, it suddenly made the tone very serious, and it was almost like I was watching a really gritty gangster film. The follow-up, "Fierce Creatures" didn't have any swearing, and I think it was a better film for it - although, of course, it was a better film anyway. There's a comfort in knowing that when you sit down to watch something, you're not going to be offended. That's why shows like The Generation Game were so popular.
It's not really a case of patronising the audience. Frasier was a very adult (i.e. sophisticated) show, which wouldn't appeal to kids (although I started watching it when I was 9). There were never any F-words in it, but it was still an adult show with sophisticated jokes. Ironically, I think a programme like South Park which uses profanity on a regular basis goes the other way completely and appears childish.
I'm not a prude, but I was offended by the utterance in Not Going Out, and it's consequently tainted my view of the programme.