A lot of humor these days is hard and unwelcome. Body emissions are prominent in a lot of it and most unwelcome to me.

The other night Bill Cosby special was on and DH and I so enjoyed it...very funny and no profanity, or disgusting references. It was just funny.

I think the problem is that dropping the f bomb will get an easy laugh and most comics just don't or can't work that hard to make something truly funny.

I still remember many years ago when DH and I were driving to the mall and public radio was broadcasting a Phyllis Diller story. We were laughing so hard...and when we finally got in the parking spot, we sat there for another 10 min laughing our fool heads off. It was delicious....without profanity or references to body parts or output.

Within the past week, I have seen the Bill Cosby special and some kind of comedy routine by Mike Tyson that I think was on HBO. What a contrast! I don't generally have an issue with profanity when it is actually funny (and not too much) but Mike Tyson must have used the F word about 20 times a minute. It really turned me off; never mind the fact that I could hardly understand anything else he was saying. For the record, I wasn't actually watching it -- DH tuned in for a few minutes and I heard it from the next room.

I have noticed, more so with my DD than with my sons, that parents differ widely in what they'll let their kids watch on TV and at the movies. My DD is somewhat sheltered at age 12 because I am just a bit overprotective (but in a normal way, I think). She has a good friend who wanted to see Delivery Man with her over the weekend. I said no, the girl's parents said yes. So instead, she (the friend) stayed home and watched The Heat, which is rated R. She is also allowed to watch shows like NCIS, How I Met Your Mother, etc. She does seem like a nice kid but I wonder about her parents' judgment and what she's going to be allowed to do next...and meanwhile I'll be the Mean Mom saying "no" to my DD when she asks to do XYZ, whatever it is, with her friend. (I have noticed that the other moms in the class seem to have rules closer in line with mine, fortunately!)

I know some parents might just think, eh, whatever, it's TV/movies and the kids are going to be exposed to this stuff sooner or later anyway...but I just don't need my kid exposed to it sooner than necessary!

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack but I do often wish there were more movies that were actually appropriate for kids!

I think we live in a very crude age. Stupid gross jokes like the one you mentioned, martin, and on TV sitcoms especially, dumb sex jokes one after another. And saying certain anatomical words to get cheap laughs.

The way some people dress (like hookers) and celebs acting ridiculously crudely (like Miley) - where will it end? And now Sharon Osborne talking about her new surgery. I'm thinking, shut up! Isn't that kind of personal?

As to Sharon this quote...
"He says we're like bread and butter," his wife said proudly. "We fit together so perfectly, we're as one. We're a team."

This is due to the surgery ????

I am SO glad we don't have a TV ! If it wasn't for this forum I would have NO idea about all these things ;) c

Sueb20, I've mostly succeeded in keeping my kids from watching PG13 movies till they turned 13. DS2 was invited to a birthday party when he was eight and the Mom was taking the kids to Iron Man 3. I read the reviews and thought no way is my kid going. DS2 went to part of the party and I picked him up before the movie. DH hasn't always agreed, but I stood my ground. The kids have their whole life ahead of them to see all the junk they want, but you can never get back the innocence of childhood.

It isn't easy being the "mean" Mom!

Has anyone else had the misfortune of seeing the "jingle balls" men's underwear commercial? No, no, no!

I hate seeing stuff like vomit and dirty toilets on TV....I have to look away. I even hate it in real life--like in public restrooms. It grosses me out and the images seem to stick in my mind long after the incident is over. I even hate it on HH when they don't put the toilet lid down before filming! OK, I'm really wierd, huh?

I used to monitor my kids' tv viewing, but our paper did an article about a family we knew and my kids went to school with whose kids were alllowed to watch anything and everything. They had a TV in every room...always going. It caused a bit of an uproar here and the family even got hate mail. But I have to say the mom (I didnt really know the husband) was one of the nicest people you'd ever want to meet and so were the kids! And both kids went on to graduate from college and I think are doing well and are normal,l well-adjusted people....go figure!

Did they have cable/dish? I have ratings locks on our TVs because DH chose the premium dish package and they can show pretty inappropriate shows at any time of day. I agree, it probably doesn't damage the majority of people, but I don't think an 8 year old needs to see a sexual scene, graphic violence or a junkie snorting their drugs. Plenty of time to catch up with all that stuff later.

I grew up with Flipper and the most "risqué" show I got to see was Benny Hill !!!!

Don't get me started on what is available on the internet. Had to lock that up too, because the teenager was checking out some sites that had things he would most likely never have seen in real life, at any age!

It is a very different world than the one most of us here grew up in.

I find most crude humor obnoxious at best. Some isn't as bad as others but is usually unnecessary.

The jingle balls commercial was unnecessary. I'm so tired of things being done for 'shock' value.

I remember watching Cars after it came out and was bothered that they swore (more than once if I remember). It's a kids cartoon. Even if you say it's geared towards adults the makers know darn well kids will be the majority watching it. Unnecessary.

Remember Norma (?) Bomback. My mom and I would read her books outloud together with tears from laughter. Ti's time to go find one and enjoy some memories.

I so agree.

It is not just the rude language and gross out stuff (just how many 6th grade boys do they need to impress?), in some cases it's an entire attitude. Kids who are disrespectful and even nasty to their parents and siblings. And why does it seem the majority of movies made today have a divorce situation? It's a fine topic to explore, and I am sure helpful to many kids, but to watch the movies you'd think it was the norm.

You can't even rely on Common Sense Media.

We try watching really old stuff. To my surprise they all liked GWTW! Of course I never realized it was so junky.

You know what one of our favorite movies is? And I would not call it a family movie. It"s Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. We all enjoy the humor, and find it thought provoking too.

We tried a few movies we remembered as harmless (City Slickers, for example) but upon airing we found more then a few things to squirm over.

The safest things are usually Chopped or HGTV. Although Chopped has someone on who mentioned they were transgender, and that was not a conversation I had planned on just yet.

Interesting, why would someone's transgender status need to be mentioned on a cooking show? Isn't just a fact of their life, like, I dunno, eye color, and doesn't have a bearing on their cooking ability? I imagine it's a difficult life to lead, so maybe it is necessary to mention to help the rest of us become more familiar with it and not view it as outside the mainstream. But without watching the show mentioned, I'm curious how it comes up.

What's GWTW?

First a disclaimer: I am a fan of the Simpson's. I know many are put off by the humor but I find *most* of it clever and funny.

Even though I still enjoy that show, I am more and more disturbed by much of what I find on tv. I guess I've become more prudish or something but I just don't see the need for so much sex talk and drug use references and crudeness. Of course, I have the option, which I exercise, to change the channel or turn the tv off. But why is it necessary on show after show after show?

When is Downton Abbey coming back?! I'll finally have something, besides the Simpson's, that I enjoy.

Somewhat related to crudeness on tv: can someone tell me why in every pix I see of Miley Cyrus, she's sticking out her tongue? Is that suppose to be sexy? Funny? I don't understand why an attractive young woman would make such an unattractive face, over and over again.

GWTW = Gone With The Wind

ML

I took my nephew to see Frozen last week and when the nasty line was spoken, he tugged on my arm and said "well that wasn't nice" so there's hope. Nan I saw the "ball's" commercial and couldn't believe my eyes but I have to admit, I did laugh. It's crazy.

Jerry Seinfeld is the only stand-up comedian I can name who does only clean humor.

Graywings, you should check out Tim Hawkins sometimes. He is generally rather hilarious. Some of his comedy is Christian based but some times it is poking fun at those in the religion and it is comedy, not something he beats you over the head with. He also does song parodies that generally quite fun (one is these are things you do not say to your wife).

I'm so glad to see others think that the stupid Kmart jingle balls crapola commercial is as irritating as I do.

One of my FB friends posted it, commenting that it was "so cute."

Uh...

There was an article about Jim Gaffigan, a very funny clean comedian, on the Wall Street Journal website.
I can't seem to link to it, b/c I'm on my phone, but the name of it is:
Jim Gaffigan Is the King of (Clean) Comedy
It includes input from Cosby and Seinfeld.
Interesting.

I was just about to mention Jim Gaffigan! I took my son to see him live about 3 years ago when he was 15 and there was nothing in his show to embarrass either one of us. I may have been the embarrassment, since I laughed so hard I cried a few times.

I actually got tix to see him again next month -- a Christmas gift for DH this time.