Malcolm in the Middle rated TV-14?

I read on Wikipedia that some episodes were TV-14 instead of the usual TV-PG. Now, my local FOX affiliate airs some as TV-14, but were some originally aired as TV-14 and cut down to TV-PG for syndication? Or were any aired as a TV-PG DL for example but cut down to just TV-PG in syndication due to edits? The only one I can think of was that "High School Play" was originally, I think, TV-PG DLSV or TV-PG LSV, but I watched it in syndication and major edits were made and a few scenes were missing and it was TV-PG S. :confused:
 

MITM_Fan

Member
Sky is a joke to MITM!

Dewey in the Middle, I know they rate TV-14 most of the time. Read below.

It's because of the bad language,

Back to "Sky is a joke to MITM!"

I remember well enough that "bastard" wasn't the worst bad language said on MITM but instead when Otto said "Your mother is a jealous cow", or Malcolm/Reese insulted other people I can't remember what they called them but I'm pretty sure it was worser than just "cry baby bastard".

Come on! If Sky decided to censor Malcolm in the Middle they should've done the complete pack not just one, this is really stupid just editing out one episode when there were plenty of more.

Not saying it should've got censored but let's just be truth, if a company is willing to take off all the bad language then they will edit out all episodes not just one.
 

Batch

New member
It seems Sky only censor an episode if they receive a complaint from viewers. It's the same reson that Sky broacasts are missing 2 cold openers, due to their nature!
 
Oh, that stinks, but in America it is even worse!:( They cut out scenes for commercials, for innapropriate content, and even if they feel the scene is unimportant. So, in America, the TV-14 episodes are usually cut down to TV-PG, but they cut out a lot of the episode and sometimes it doesn't make sense!:cursing:

I really hope that if Itunes gets 'Malcolm' they have the original 'TV-14'HD widecreen film, uncensored with all scenes and cold opens intact, plus the extended pilot. If you think Sky is a joke, than you dont waant to come to America.
 

Richiepiep

Administrator
In Holland, MITM is 6+, even though it's only shown after 8 pm, and Comedy Central (the first to show all seasons) says it's aimed at an adult audience.

I Holland, we don't have censorship per se, so we don't cut scenes. If a channel or cinema turns out to have done it sneakily, it's a big scandal. Instead, we raise the age, or shift to late-night viewing. '9' was introduced as a separate category five years ago to bridge the gap between 6 and 12. It was introduced specifically to accommodate the later Harry Potter movies, starting with 'The Prisoner of Azkaban'.

We have thrown in some lovely quirky symbols too (very effective nonetheless), which I wouldn't mind explaining. If I say these would make a workable international standard, am I being too arrogant?

So MITM gets a:

6-symbol: 6 years and up
a fist symbol: violence
a spider symbol: fear/suspense
a shouting mouth symbol: bad language

For other programs, we also have:

four feet symbol: sex :D
four people bearing down a single one: discrimination
needle symbol: drugs and/or alcohol abuse

I don't really know what I'd do with MITM. I would say 12+, because a lot of the humour is aimed at adults. I mean, there are jokes about vaginas, placentas, porn movies, drug abuse, condoms, strippers, hookers, inflatable sex dolls, artificial insemination etc.

Rich
 
Last edited:

Lparsons7981

New member
I'd say the same, the show is more for teens/adults, the age of the character's portrayed I've said before.

LOL @ MITM getting a "fear/suspense" rating.
 
Same, although, the target audience for the early episodes were aimed at young/older teen/young adult audience, but it grew popular with kids around Malcolm's age. As the kids/teens matured, so did the show and the eps got more mature and sometimes it would go from TV-PG - TV-14, or in Richie's case 6+ or 9+ to 12+ or maybe even 16+ depending how the lenient the Dutch are with mature themes and content in tv. In the US, it varies from lax to strict depending on what tv station it is on and what time it is on. (Ex. Disney Channel might rate it TV-14 while TBS might rate it TV-PG. It all depends on what target audience it is aimed at. MITM on Disney=LOL:D )

P.S. Nice explanation of Dutch Television Content Ratings Systems, Richie, I understand it more than the system in the US!:D
 

MITM_Fan

Member
Indeed MITM is really not a show for kids, let's just go back to S03E07, anyone remember what happened? Ida stabbed Francis leg.

S03E01 - Louis throwing rocks at Dewey to get him to fall to the water.

S03E04 - Hal showing a kitchen knife to a kid, instead of making her feel good instead made her scared.

i6hudd.jpg

Thanks to this topic I now can easily remember why channels want to censor MITM.

What's even more funnier than any of this is when Otto call's Gretchen mother "jealous cow".

Luckily we got all eps UNCUT.
 
Last edited:

AlexTheMartian

New member
well, unlike much of Europe and UK, in America just slight violence seems to be acceptable, but it is the sex stuff that we censor the most (remember our outrage over "wardrobe malfunction" in that one Super Bowl show.) I think MITM is for teens and young adults, roughly the same age groups as The Simpsons and Family Guy, after all, it started and ended being on the same night as those shows, and at the end of the series it was considered part of Animation Domination (not sure if that only what it is called in America)

I do not think FOX ever said it was a kids show. That probably just public misconception due to the age of the boys.

Really, if it was a kids show, it would not be on at prime-time, and rather on Saturdays or something

That being said, sure kids watched it, just like kids watch The Simpsons even though it was not created for kids.
 
Last edited:

Richiepiep

Administrator
Very well put, Alex! I agree with all you said about ratings and MITM.

Yes, the US has this strange discrepancy between violence is OK, but anything suggesting sex is not. It's pretty warped. You know IMDB has these Parents' Guides listing kissing in Disney movies, dogs having puppies in 101 Dalmatians and 'Maria shown in her underwear' in The Sound of Music as potentially objectionable, because this is 'sex'.

Look for those quotes, some of them are still there!

Rich
 

MITM_Fan

Member
It's sad that on USA people/companies allow violence and not sex, it's more brutal and shocking violence than nice sex scenes.

I watch US series they are great, the best, no other country can beat them.

But since they are my taste I don't care if it has more/less violence/sex.

Take Dexter for example.;)
 

MITM_Fan

Member
Dexter is violent. Very. he is a blood splatter analyst, who at night is a serial killer so... you can see where that is leading.:D

Yeah I know how's his story, but for some that might be good cuz they may not know it.

Some dull people confuse Dexter with Dexter's Laboratory.:laugh:
 

PatrickGaffey

New member
I find TV-14 a bit much for Malcolm. But, this is the same film company that aimed Monty Python and The Gremlins 15's and the simpsons PG, shouldn't it be the other way round? Do the DVD companies even watch the films and TV shows they're rating!?:cursing:
PS is there a difference between TVPG and PG
 
Last edited:
Top