TV’s Bizarre Notion Of Decency

The basic cable network A&E paid $195 million for the rights to show old episodes of HBO’s acclaimed mob drama, The Sopranos. But before the episodes could be shown, of course, A&E had to edit out much of the foul language that peppers the show’s dialogue. But did they actually have to? The whole process “reiterates the culture’s lingering hypocrisies (it’s OK to show assassinations, but the F-word is verboten and strippers must be in bikinis.)”