The FCC has ruled that a complaint against Angel by the Parents Television Council, complaining that one of the characters (Spike) said, “You’re still a dick,” does not violate obscenity laws. It ruled similarly on several other complaints:
7. To support a finding of indecency, we must first determine whether any of the material cited by PTC meets the Commission’s definition of “patently offensive” — namely, does any of the material graphically or explicitly depict or describe sexual organs or activities, does any of the material dwell on or repeat depictions or descriptions of sexual organs or activities, and is any of the material designed to pander, titillate, or shock. Based on our review of the programs listed above, we find that none of the material referenced in PTC’s complaints rises to the level of being patently offensive under our indecency definition.
8. A number of complaints cite isolated uses of the word “dick” or variations thereof. In context and as used in the complained of broadcasts, these were epithets intended to denigrate or criticize their subjects. Their use in this context was not sufficiently explicit or graphic and/or sustained to be patently offensive. Although use of such words may, depending on the nature of the broadcast at issue, contribute to a finding of indecency, their use here was not patently offensive and therefore not indecent. Similarly, we find that the fleeting uses of the words “penis,” “testicle,” “vaginal,” “ass,” “bastard” and “bitch,” uttered in the context of the programs cited in the complaints, do not render the material patently offensive under contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium.
So there.
Now, that doesn’t mean that I want Katherine calling someone a “dick.” But I don’t want TV — especially TV after Katherine’s bed time, and on a show that I wouldn’t let her watch at the moment (it’s called “parenting”) — to reflect my preferences for how a four-year-old should behave …
(via Whedonesque)