Bowdlerise / The Simpsons

UK edits

In the UK, The Simpsons' suffers from this quite often. One instance was particularly pointless because the unedited version was used in a trailer that immediately preceded the episode.

• The season nine episode "Trash of the Titans" (the 200th episode) has the following edits:
  • Homer announces to a courthouse clerk that he wants to run for Sanitation Commissioner. The clerk states that it's nice, but the line Homer is in is for people who have to register as sex offenders ^note The sex offenders in line are Patty and Selma — who either don't realize that they're in the wrong line or are in line for abducting and possibly raping a TV repairman in "The Cartridge Family", Jimmy the Scumbag from "Lisa's Date with Density," Mayor Quimby's nephew from "The Boy Who Knew Too Much," and Moe Szyslak. The edited version on Channel 4 ends act one with Homer announcing his candidacy for Sanitation Commissioner to the courthouse clerk (note that the unedited version had been shown on BBC Two multiple times).
  • All instances of the word "wanker" (mostly used by U2's Bono) were cut. When BBC Two aired this episode, they dubbed Mr Burns' use of it after Bono throws a spoon at him with "Ow!". Channel 4 did accidentally show this scene uncut in its usual pre-watershed 6pm slot.
  • The scene where Homer reveals that he buried the garbage under Springfield is edited to remove Bart, Lisa, and Marge guessing that Homer got rid of the garbage by selling drugs (though Lisa's line, "I wish it were drugs!" after finding out that Homer is burying the garbage under the town isn't cut) is also cut by Channel 4.
  • After the garbage erupts and destroys the town, Ray Patterson is asked to be Sanitation Commissioner again. Patterson refuses, ending his speech with "You're screwed. Thank you, bye." On Channel 4, the line is shortened to "Thank you, bye," but Mayor Quimby's "We are far from screwed!" was left in. (Again, both of these cuts were not made by the BBC.)
• Channel 4's reruns of "The Cartridge Family" edited the ending where, as Marge is about to throw the gun away, she realizes that she looks better with it and slips it in her purse. At first, the episode was never shown in the UK altogether^note it was only banned by Sky One - the BBC had no qualms with showing it uncut, and Sky followed suit when they got the rights back, due to the beginning scene with the soccer riot and scenes depicting the comical side of gun abuse (including Bart using it to play William Tell with Milhouse), which British censors found offensive and likely to be copied by idiot viewers, in spite of firearms being incredibly hard to get hold of in the country.
• The season nine episode "The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons" was edited by Channel 4 to remove the scene of Bart and Lisa asking Innocently Insensitive questions about the bindi (the red dot seen on the foreheads of women from India — specifically, those who are married, but unmarried women do wear them for decoration) on Apu's mother's forehead, such as "Can you see out of it?" and "Does it change colors when you're ticked off?"
  • Additionally in the same episode, the scene where Homer tries to stop Apu's wedding while dressed up as the god Ganesha is cut out.
• The season 16 finale ("The Father, the Son, and the Holy Guest Star") was edited on Channel 4 to remove Homer's final line during his reconciliation session with Father Sean ("I've masturbated 8 million times and I have no intention of stopping"). The American version initially banned the episode (as it was scheduled to air around the time that Pope John Paul II passed away), but ended up airing it a few months later as the final episode of the season, making the intended finale ("The Girl Who Slept Too Little," in which Lisa confronts her fear of graveyards after one gets moved next to The Simpsons' house) a leftover episode that aired in the early part of season 17.
• For about two years after Princess Diana's death, two gags from two different episodes were edited on BBC Two's airings:
  • Season 4's "Duffless": Homer jumps out the window of the nuclear plant to escape a giant spider. Barney is waiting below with a mattress tied to a station wagon. Barney notices something that looks like Princess Di and drives up (while Homer falls on his ass), only to be disappointed that it's just a pile of rags. The post-Princess Di-death edited episode just has Barney drive up for no reason [other than the fact that Barney is, at least until season 11, a drunk who really shouldn't be behind the wheel of any type of vehicle] while Homer falls on his ass.
  • From season five's "Rosebud": Mr. Burns is in a sandbox with Maggie trying to bargain with her over his old stuffed bear. Maggie offers Burns her pacifier, and Burns reluctantly obliges. A cameraman pops up and snaps Burns' picture. Burns shouts, "Damn you, paparazzo!" The post-Princess-Di-death edited episode shortened the line to "Damn you!"
  • On a non-Diana-related note, the scene in which The Ramones end Mr. Burns' punk birthday song with "Go to Hell, you old bastard!" was cut. Some versions (particularly one that used to be shown in Canada) go further and edit out all the rude things The Ramones say ("I just like to say this gig sucks!" "Hey, up yours, Springfield," and "Go to Hell, you old bastard!"), making the scene go from Mr. Burns convincing himself that the Ramones' performance will soothe his jangled nerves to their performance and Mr. Burns visibly shaking as the curtains close.
• The season 15 finale "Fraudcast News" (in which Mr. Burns tries to take over Springfield's media outlets after a newspaper falsely reports that he died) was edited in reruns in America and on Channel 4. Groundskeeper Willie's line, "I've reviewed the new tractors. They're all shite!" either bleeps out the word "shite" (American syndicated version) or cuts the line down to "I've reviewed the new tractors." (Channel 4 and Sky version - although the line did survive uncut on its premiere as it was shown in a later timeslot).
  • Channel 4 also cuts out two scenes: one where the Squeaky-Voiced Teen tries to commit suicide over Futurama's cancellation (at the time), and a scene where Mr. Burns suckles on a mother mole's teat in order to survive.
• Channel 4 has a rather inconsistent way of editing episodes. Whenever an episode premieres, the episode is shown uncut and uncensored. The same can't be said for the reruns, which will edit out all manner of violence, sexual innuendo, and some choice swear words (mostly any word that's not acceptable to air during tea time/family viewing hours). This was taken to the next level when the episodes aired on the channel's afternoon T4 block, as they'll cut just about anything out, offensive or not. Here are a couple of examples from their airing of "Homer Loves Flanders":
  • The end of Act One where Homer declares Flanders his friend as he drives by cuts off before Carl says, "I don't know. Something about being gay," after Lenny asks him what Homer was shouting. (This actually caused a minor controversy when the edited version was first shown and led to Channel 4 issuing an apology. They then reinstated this on later repeats of the episode.)
  • The dream sequence of Ned climbing a bell tower and shooting passersby with a sniper rifle showed Ned climbing the bell tower and assembling the gun, but Channel 4 cut Ned opening fire on innocent people and the mailman returning fire, and the dream immediately jumps to Ned waking up and realizing that he hates Homer Simpson. (They reinstated this on subsequent airings of the episode as well.)
• Channel 4's broadcast of "Treehouse of Horror XIX" cuts out a lot of scenes:
  • The first segment, "Untitled Robot Parody", cuts out the scene where Sex Toy Robot comes in after the Optimus Prime Expy asks where he is.
  • The second, "How to Get Ahead in Dead-vertising", tones down Krusty's death by removing the part where he falls into a woodchipper, making it look as if Krusty died by being bounced a great distance across the playground. Also cut are the scenes where Homer kills Prince with his own guitar ^note (though George Clooney's death from sinking into quick-dry cement and Neil Armstrong getting hit with a golf club from a Rube Goldberg chain of events at the Air and Space Museum weren't cut — probably because the strangulation/stabbing death is more realistic, included blood, and is most likely to be imitated while the other two deaths are too cartoonish to be imitated in real life), and the end where Homer is shot in the head by Krusty (after Homer asks him what the one true religion is) has the gunshot sound, but the scene of his head exploding is cut with a white background, then fades to Homer locking out the celebrities from Heaven.
  • The third segment, "It's The Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse", cuts out the part where the Grand Pumpkin pukes after finding out what pumpkin bread is made of (though the actual pile of vomit wasn't cropped out or digitally removed), Nelson calling the Grand Pumpkin a racist because he doesn't care that Nelson is going to carve a yellow pumpkin, and Tom Turkey blowing the Grand Pumpkin's brains out by blowing through a cornucopia (along with the Grand Pumpkin's dying words). Surprisingly, the line "The Grand Pumpkin is super gay" in Nelson's "Pumpkin carol" wasn't edited in the UK, even though it caused controversy in America from anti-gay defamation groups who protested over using the word "gay" as a pejorative.
• "Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade" was edited in reruns on Channel 4 to remove the third-grade teacher cough-snarking that Mrs. Krabappel is a slut (though they left in the third-grade teacher mocking Miss Hoover's drinking problem) and Lisa strangling Bart with her pearl necklace in a fit of rage.
  • When the episode airs on Sky 1, the part where Homer watches a news broadcast where the anchor laments over being fat and makes himself puke in a trashcan was cut (for being gross and insensitive to bulimics). However, the same scene wasn't cut when Bart hallucinated all the characters he saw on satellite TV during his standardized test.
• Season 26's "Sky Police" aired on Sky 1 with Apu's reference to attending MIT in Mumbai censored, changing the line "The Mumbai Institute of Tantric Sex" to "The Mumbai Institute", which, sadly, ruined the joke.
• Channel 4 also edits out any scene of Moe the bartender attempting suicide (which happens a lot in the later episodes), notably in "Grift of the Magi" (when Moe is seen with his head in a gas oven and a sign that reads, "No Funeral" taped to his back) and "'Tis the Fifteenth Season" (when Moe threatens to jump off the city hall building and botches it by slipping and ending up in a rain gutter).
• The Season 16 episode "Sleeping with the Enemy" at one point has Nelson's mother coming to the Simpson household after finding out that Nelson did (and was paid for) some chores around the house. In the original version aired on FOX in America, Marge ends the conversation by telling Nelson's mother to go home and "not have intercourse on the way home!" and slamming the door, which enormously shocks the rest of the family. In the edited version aired on Channel 4, however, the conversation ends with Marge saying again "Go home Mrs. Muntz," in a relatively calm tone - but keeping the door slam and family's shocked reaction in, making it seem as if they were reacting to Marge being a less-than-gracious host by rudely shoving someone out the door rather than a Covert Pervert by mentioning intercourse.
• Another episode that was initially aired uncut, but was edited during re-runs was the Season 22 episode "Homer the Father", where Bart agrees to trade American nuclear power plant secrets for a mountain bike to some Chinese nuclear power plant employees. Homer offers to fly to China and help them, cutting to a scene where Homer cuts the ceremonial red ribbon of a newly improved power plant — and the power plant promptly explodes. Reruns of this episode cut the whole explosion part due to the 2011 Fukushima power plant incident.
• Channel 4's version of the episode "Yellow Subterfuge" removes a line from the Wild Wild Skinner song at the start ("When you spit, he's got the balls!"). Later on in the episode, when Bart and Homer present Skinner with a new ID card for him as part of the former two's plan, Skinner reading his new name aloud is partially cut ("I don't look anything like this (Dick Fiddler)!"), and the name on the ID card has been partially erased so it reads "D Fiddler".

Edits in other countries

• The Arabic dub (actually the fourth and the fifth seasons, with some episodes left over) has Homer drink Duff Soda instead of beer and eat Egyptian beef sausages rather than hot dogs. Needless to say, that version was canceled after 52 episodes (30 of which actually aired). The uncut subtitled versions were met with much more success and aired up to season 16.
• Russia jumped in on the fun, with Russian broadcaster 2x2 recently started to very awkwardly digitally replace alcohol and cigarettes from close-up shots with milk cartons and hot dogs. Seriously. People hold a bottle of beer, but as soon as someone takes it up to drink, it's a milk carton. It's as ridiculous as it sounds. Basically there is a law that severely restricts showing of tobacco or alcohol consumption in media - either programming should be rated 18+ or there must be an explicit statement about health dangers of said consumption.
  • Back in 2012 2x2 was forced to cut Itchy and Scratchy segments from pre-watershed broadcasts. 2x2 played it for laughs, promoting their midnight Simpsons broadcasts rated 18+ with I&S scenes intact. As for daylight broadcasts, they merely obscured the picture during I&S with kaleidoscope filter while leaving the audio track with cat screams as it is and had humorous running ticker that went something along the lines of "the following scene was ordered to be cut from broadcast by the Scratchy Protection Committee". ^note Leaving the audio track intact might as well be a bonus for bootleggers and an internal way to protest the decision, since bootleggers back then just recorded audio from local broadcast and synced it with American HD broadcast for better picture quality. That way people in the country would still enjoy the scene one way or another. Mere years later the decision was reversed, and I&S segments were restored, although still occasionally butchered.
• The practice of cutting the setups, but not punchlines, and therefore making the situations worse (or incomprehensible to naive viewers) seems to be popular, at least in Australia (along with cutting scenes of physical violence). In the season seven finale "Summer of 4 Ft. 2", Homer tries to buy some illegal fireworks at a beachside Kwik-E-Mart, but to cover his tracks, he buys a lot of risque personal and sexual items (a porno mag, a large box of condoms, some panty shields, two enema kits, and a bottle of Old Harper). The entire scene with Homer buying the sexual items and the fireworks was cut, but the scene in which Marge picks through the bag and says, "Homer, I don't know what you have planned tonight, but count me out" was not edited.
• The season four episode "Marge Gets a Job" was edited after it first aired on American TV due to complaints from a viewer who threatened to sue the writers. When Bart finally takes his test, Mrs. Krabappel tells Bart that he's faked every illness he could think of, including Tourette's Syndrome. Bart responds that he's not over it, followed by twitching and growling, "Shove it, witch!" On the Sunday reruns (after it received complaints for Bart faking a serious, psychological illness and insulting his teacher), the reference to "Tourette's Syndrome is changed to "rabies" and Bart's twitching/"Shove it, witch!" line was cut. In syndication, the Tourette's Syndrome reference was reinstated, but Bart proving to Krabappel that he still has it was cut. On the season four DVD version, "Tourette's Syndrome" was once again replaced with "rabies," but Bart proving to Krabappel that he still has it wasn't cut (though, if you listen closely, you can hear Bart grumbling "Tourette's Syndrome" after Krabappel orders him to take the test and not come up with any more excuses). On BBC Two, however, the Tourette's Syndrome reference and Bart proving to Krabappel that he still has it weren't cut.
• In "Viva Ned Flanders", the line about Barney's birthday originally said it was the same day as Hitler's, April 20th. The second US airing was actually on April 20th, 1999, which was also the date of the Columbine massacre. Presumably, somebody complained, as the third US airing changed the line to July 15th, the same day as Lassie's. (The Hitler line can still be heard in free-to-air TV syndication, but the changed version is on the DVD, cable syndication, and international copies.)
• Season 12's "New Kids on the Blecch" (the episode in which Bart, Milhouse, Nelson, and Ralph become a boy band with all the members of *NSYNC as guest stars) also had a line replacement between the original version, the rerun, and the DVD version. During the fun run in the beginning, Smithers is shown pulling Mr. Burns on a rickshaw, with Burns whipping him and ordering him to go faster. Mr. Burns's original line after that was, "You call yourself a Chinaman?" In reruns and on DVD, the line was changed to, "You call yourself Chinese?" Also the scene of the MAD Magazine building getting blown up with missiles was edited in syndication for a short-while after 9/11.
• Back when the show was a series of shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show, the short "Babysitting Maggie" was edited after the first couple showings to remove a scene where she electrocutes herself by sticking a fork in the outlet because the FOX censors didn't want little kids and idiotic viewers thinking that this was a good thing to do.
• State broadcaster TVNZ in New Zealand has to edit out the violent Itchy and Scratchy scenes as well as some language in order to be aired in the 5pm G-rated slot. However, the show's 600th Episode (aka the Treehouse of Horror episode) was deemed too violent to be shown in its regular 7pm slot on TVNZ2. It finally aired at 8:45pm with an AO rating. As of 2020, the PGR and AO ratings no longer exist and they have been replaced with G, PG, M, 16 and 18 ratings. This means that the 600th episode could be rated as either M-CV or 16-CV. Also PG-rated programmes can now be shown anytime in New Zealand.
• Depending on the market, "The City of New York vs Homer Simpson" has had drastic cuts, if not being pulled altogether, following the 9/11 attacks. The issue is a significant portion of the episode takes place at the World Trade Center, specifically the Twin Towers. Almost universally cut is the line "They stick all the jerks in Tower One," so as not to imply that half the deaths on 9/11 were jerks. Other broadcasts remove any mention of the Trade Center, making for some odd dialogue moments. The episode remains completely intact on DVD and streaming services.