TV Censorship In The 50's Many young college student viewers of Oldies Television find the hard boiled censorship of video, music and movies in the 1950's root age hard to comprehend. On the other hand, our elder visitors long for that era to return.

For sure, back in the fifties, Peter Griffin would be thrown off the air for his bodily sounds and Stewie for his sharp, demneaning comments to his mother, animation or not. It was a Leave It To Beaver world. No one went to the bathroom and the word "flatulence" (forget the colloq') wasn't even allowed on "Medic."

Little Richard's "Tutti Fruitti," save the homogonized Pat Boone version, was as raunchy as it got. In the 50's, Webbie, evem Debbie Harry with her "pain in the a--" lyric would never see the black of grooved vinyl. Even in the 70's, The Association's "Along Comes Mary" was banned on many radio stations as some clergy protested it was a euphenism for marijuana.

Before Normal Lear came along two decades later, even a married couple had to sleep in separate beds. Luci and Desi, Joan and Brad, and, of course Margaret and Jim had twin beds on 50's TV. Think a seven word restriction from the FCC is a bit much now on TV and radio? Then, TV and radio personalities could not say "pregnant."

So it is no wonder, then, when poodle skirts flew even slightly above the knee on 50's dance shows like Alan Freed's, Ted Steele's, or Dick Clark's, the camera operator would get screamed at by the director if he caught the action shown in the clip above...and the director would get reamed by the broadcast powers that were.

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