Viacom to Cut Don Rickles' Obama Joke From Shirley MacLaine Tribute: Approve?

by Fef Posted 2012/06/13 18:16:25

Related Topics: Obama, Don Rickles, Cutting, President, Hollywood, Censorship, 2012, President Obama, Offensive, Shirley Maclaine

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55 votes
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	Approve	8 votes	15%
	Disapprove	47 votes	85%

Don Rickles, the 86-year-old legendary comic, made a joke about President Obama at a recent tribute. Don Rickles makes people laugh with his cutting humor, which has probably offended everyone at some point. Now TVLand, a show on Viacom's network, wants to edit out the joke. A spokesperson for the cable channel said, "It’s not going to make it on the air —that’s all I’ll say about it."

The Hollywood Reporter reports further:
TV Land’s edited AFI program will run 90 minutes. The black-tie evening, which lasted four hours, took place at Sony Pictures Studios on June 7. Rickles’ material also included jabs at Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty and MacLaine, although none went viral like the 86-year-old’s comment about the current commander in chief. “President Obama is a personal friend of mine,” said Rickles. “He was over to the house yesterday, but the mop broke.”
Should TV Land edit out the joke? Doe you find it offensive to the point that it requires censorship? Would the cable channel have edited out the joke about any person other than the president?UPDATED: The comic's material will be edited out of the scheduled broadcast on June 24.

comics material edited scheduled broadcast june 24

comics material edited scheduled broadcast june 24

+11

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fuzzy Ken "In G-d We Trust" 2012/06/13 18:28:55

Disapprove

+6
I guess we wouldn't want to hurt the President's feelings.
At least Bush had a sense of humor

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More polls by Fef

Jim 2012/06/15 02:59:42

Disapprove

Once again the liberal step on the First Amendment.

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cmdrbnd007 2012/06/14 04:49:02

Disapprove

Gee, I wonder how many jokes about Bush they edited out?

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tpops 2012/06/14 03:23:40

Disapprove

+1
We all know the Obama is not mature enough to accept any joke about him. He probably not considers it a form of Bullying.

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umapathy Krishnamurthy 2012/06/14 01:36:06

Approve

I think so

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Tony 2012/06/14 01:24:11

Disapprove

+3
Aside from the fact I don;t get the joke, comedians have been making fun of political figures since the beginning of America. Now because the current president is a black guy we have to be careful what we say about him? screw that! screw Obama! RON PAUL 2012!

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Christian 2012/06/14 00:53:55

Approve

+1
I am tired of living in a country that can not make jokes about black people yet its always open season with jokes on white people. I am not a racist but why is joking about Obama or even saying something negative about him so politically incorrect, screw political incorrect, I am f@#$@ tired of it. GOD BLESS YOU DON RICKLES!!

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Jen to Christian 2012/06/14 03:21:24

+1
AMEN!!

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Christian to Jen 2012/06/14 07:48:10

No problemo :)

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Christian to Christian 2012/06/14 07:50:07

I just realized I was supposed to disaprove, I am tired.

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Jim to Christian 2012/06/15 03:01:31

+1
I think you meant to disapprove the editing of the joke.

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Christian to Jim 2012/06/15 03:22:09

yes

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Christian to Christian 2012/06/15 03:22:45 (edited)

Also comedy is comedy

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DuncanONeil 2012/06/13 23:03:05

Disapprove

"Would the cable channel have edited out the joke about any person other than the president?"

It only got edited out because of WHO the President is. Not because it was ABOUT the President.

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Christian to DuncanO... 2012/06/14 07:49:07

Did they ever edit out a joke about Clinton or Bush? They were cruel to both presidents.

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DuncanO... to Christian 2012/06/14 11:16:32

Turns out Rickles comment wasn't all that bad. "The mop broke"?

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beach bum 2012/06/13 22:36:52

Disapprove

disapprove

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Riobhca 2012/06/13 22:35:15 (edited)

Disapprove

Why should his speech be censored just because liberals disagree? You can bet that if he said something about Bush the same people who are censoring this comment would approve and think that it's wonderful.

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Stoner 2012/06/13 22:34:30

Disapprove

+1
what a crybaby ...double standers

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jumpboots 187th PIR 2012/06/13 21:50:17

Disapprove

+3
When the liberals start to cut Maher and his hate. Till then You go Rickles.

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PapaBC 2012/06/13 21:48:16

Disapprove

+1
What was good for the goose (anyone else) should be good for the gander (Obama).

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BigFig#9 2012/06/13 21:30:28

Approve

I'm sure they edited out this and many other jokes that simply weren't funny. I'm not sure I even get the joke myself. (Anybody explain the significance of Obama and a mop?)

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Jen to BigFig#9 2012/06/14 03:41:51

The joke went over my head too. And why is the cable channel censoring Don Rickles again? His comedic material contains no profanity or blasphemy like some other crude talk show hosts on cable. Larry King gets away with bad -mouthing women as well as sleazebags out there, and he uses such foul language! I find foul language by celebrities offensive and unnecessary on television and on the radio. THIS is stuff that I think cable companies should censor also! Long live Don Rickles! His humor is intoxicating!

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BigFig#9 to Jen 2012/06/14 15:23:44

Editing is often for time and because a joke goes over too many people's head - too many people want to read politics into it.

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cmdrbnd007 to BigFig#9 2012/06/14 04:50:45

I didn't get it either.

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BigFig#9 to cmdrbnd007 2012/06/14 15:25:47

+1
Probably a good reason to edit it! I did research and I have 2 guesses - 1) Obama had used the term 'mop' as how he was going to clean op DC at one point and 2) playing off the image of African Americans as domestic help (?) . The first seems too obscure and the 2nd too offensive.

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cmdrbnd007 to BigFig#9 2012/06/14 17:49:58

+1
And it wasn't funny so, yeah, I can see why they edited it out.

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Jim to BigFig#9 2012/06/15 03:05:07

I take it you are under fifty years old. Back in the thirties and forties custodial (janitor) jobs were mainly the domain of African-Americans. The joke was meant to say Obama was going to clean Rickles house.

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BigFig#9 to Jim 2012/06/15 17:45:40

I'm mid '50s but raised in Canada - if the joke was racially intended then editing was appropriate... That was one of my guesses but seemed so inappropriate that I still wonder....although I don't know what the heck else he could be speaking of...

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Larry 2012/06/13 21:13:07

Disapprove

+1
You can joke about people on the right, but not those one the left.

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schjaz 2012/06/13 21:07:11

Disapprove

+1
Yeah, but Maher can say anything he wants under the guise of comedy. There ya go. Total bias in your face, ppl.

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JohnT 2012/06/13 20:43:16

Disapprove

+1
The PC crap has to stop. I don't care whether he likes it or not, it is called freedom of speech. Of course in reality we don't have much that is free anymore.

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skroehr 2012/06/13 20:19:13

Disapprove

I wouldn't approve of cutting a joke about Romney either. I'm not in favor of cutting jokes, or jokes having to be PC. They're funny or not, regardless of content.

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Billy Yi 2012/06/13 20:11:09

Disapprove

+4
Why is everyone so scared of offending Obama? He's a big boy now and he shouldn't be coddled like he's "precious"

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Jackie G - Poker Playing Pa... 2012/06/13 19:57:14

Disapprove

+2
Oh come on - everyone knows he is voting for Obama - he made a joke - not that good but this PC crude has got to stop

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Gracie ~Gun Totin' Gracie~ 2012/06/13 19:54:25

Disapprove

+2
Remember,,,,,

In Germany they first came for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me —
and by that time no one was left to speak up.

Pretty soon a fart is going to be hate speech and racist!

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Jackie ... to Gracie ... 2012/06/13 19:56:15

+1
Now that would be a really stinky one

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Gracie ... to Jackie ... 2012/06/13 20:05:43 (edited)

+2
lol...... I am soooooooo sick of the words racist/bigot/hater that I could scream.

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TheTruth1313 2012/06/13 19:48:36
Wolfman to TheTrut... 2012/06/13 19:52:26

+1
I remember a special that she did years ago up in the thin air of the Andes in a hot tub smoking dope and she has "supernatural experiences". LOL

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Heptarch to TheTrut... 2012/06/13 21:22:58

+1
You do realize that Obama didn't ask Viacom to pull the joke, right? Viacom did it on their own.

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