"I think it was during playoffs 'cause my coach gave me shit about it."
-- Ryan Kesler, Vancouver Canucks forward responding to a question from Scott Oake on After Hours.
As we learned Sunday night during the Oscars, swearing on live TV does not go over well in the United States.
"When I watched Kate (Winslet) two years ago, it looked so f*cking easy."
The last two words never made it to air in the United States.
Melissa Leo, who was previously nominated for running people to Canada in Frozen River, said the f-word. In the United States, the word was bleeped out. In Canada (over the air on CTV) and elsewhere in the world, Melissa Leo's words came out uncensored.
"And you can say that at this hour of the night on TV, no problem," said Scott Oake in reaction to Kesler's comment.
After Hours airs on cable on the NHL Network in the United States. Since the NHL Network shows the program tape-delayed, the network didn't have an issue with airing the profanity. After Hours is on the CBC — over-the-air broadcast.
Admittedly, the segment in the show aired about 1:24 am in the Eastern time zone (10:24 pm in Vancouver, and 2:54 am in Newfoundland and Labrador). Swearing in Canada on TV is not nearly as big a deal as it is in the United States.
In the Internet era, people could easily find uncensored versions of censored speech in the United States. Click on the link to hear just one example.
Americans have swearing in their daily lives, in their movies. They do live with the opposite concept of loving violence but freaking out over nudity. Based on this approach, a few swear words, especially on live TV, shouldn't be a big friggin' deal.
video credit: Academy Awards/ABC
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