Proving the rules are no game, Saturday Night Live may have been saved by the clock from finding itself in the Federal Communications Commission crosshairs.
A shouted out “sh*t” from the Studio 8H audience last night during a call and response from Ego Nwodim during the NBC late nighter’s Weekend Update slipped by network censors on the East Coast and on Peacock. The term, one of George Carlin‘s famous seven words you can’t say on TV, was bleeped out on the West Coast and Mountain feeds and since bleached from SNL‘s social media pages.
The reaction from the ticketed crowd of less than 340 was in response to veteran cast member Nwodim’s Ms. Eggy stand-up persona repeatedly setting up the audience last night. Specifically, SNL MVP Nwodim whooped out “These men ain’t what?” in a routine mocking the White House Correspondents Association suddenly dropping a rightfully teed off Amber Ruffin on March 29 as its on-stage roaster for this year’s DC dinner. As Weekend Update hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che expressed varying degrees of shock at the crowd’s reaction of profanity, Nwodim quipped “We’re finna get fired for that” and “Y’all gonna have to pay for that, Lorne’s gonna be mad at y’all.”
Maybe, maybe not.
The FCC‘s own guidelines may actually provide SNL with a reprieve.
“Broadcasting obscene content is prohibited by law at all times of the day,” the Commission’s guidelines say. “Indecent and profane content are prohibited on broadcast TV and radio between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when there is a reasonable risk that children may be in the audience,” the FCC adds, giving a clear indication of grant of stay of regulatory execution to the 11:30 p.m. ET starting Lorne Micheals run SNL.
Aided by a slight delay, the West Coast and Mountain SNL broadcasts cleansing of the “sh*t” would appear to have handled any FCC backlash for the show, which airs in primetime in those regions.
With no mention of streamers like Peacock, the FCC rules go on to say: “Because obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment, it is prohibited on cable, satellite and broadcast TV and radio. However, the same rules for indecency and profanity do not apply to cable, satellite TV and satellite radio because they are subscription services.”
They further Illuminate: “Enforcement of the obscenity, indecency and profanity rules usually begins with complaints from the public that FCC staff review for possible violations. If an investigation is warranted and the FCC finds a station in violation of its rules, it has the authority to revoke a station license, impose a fine or issue an admonishment or warning.”
That direction could make all the difference, especially when it comes to an activist FCC.
Having said that, with SNL and even Nwodim herself no stranger to complaints from the public to the FCC over the years, Donald Trump loyalist and current Commission chair Brendan Carr has made a cottage industry in recent months out of trolling and roughing up broadcasters and other outlets with politically motivated investigations — as CBS’ 60 Minutes and NBC’s SNL itself have discovered over Kamala Harris appearances on their network during last year’s election.
Deadline has reached out to the FCC for reaction about the “sh*t” that went down on last night’s SNL.
Natalie Oganesyan & Ted Johnson contributed to this report
Get our Breaking News Alerts and Keep your inbox happy.
