Talk:UK Censorship of The Big Bang Theory/@comment-3125805-20160608115700

This is interesting. British TV is generally more "permissive" than the USA. But the rather obselete notion of "the watershed" is still almost religiously enforced - the idea that TV shows screened after nine pm can go further and be more explicit than those screened before nine.

On "watersheds" in TV programming

C4/E4 tends to screen TBBT before nine (although E4 and More4 also run late-night screenings as filler). It is known that Everybody Loves Raymond , which screens on a never-ending loop on C4 between seven and nine in the morning, has been censored by C4  on pre-watershed grounds. Even though most people are too busy at that hour in the morning and tend to record it for viewing later in the day. Two whole episodes have been cut completely from British screening - one dealing with Ray and Debra's sex life, one with Marie's contribution to abstract art  (the sculpture that looks like a fanny). That's a clue: the episode of ELR with a very large representation of a vagina in centre-view and the appalled reactions of everyone to it (except Marie). British TV is squeamish about genitalia and references to them, although exposed breasts are unremarkable.

i'm also fairly sure a lot of these quotes have been part of episodes of TBBT aired in GB between eleven and one in the morning - I would not be surprised if they're edited out of earlier screenings!

Silly, as these days who watches TV on TV at the time of network broadcast? Half the time you're recording to replay at a better time later - so the watershed is pretty much a dead duck today.