From FBoy Island to P-Valley to Kevin Can F**k Himself: Does TV title profanity still need censorship?

Vanity Fair

"Everyone knows which words are being bleeped," says Whitney Friedlander. "So why do we bother bleeping in the first place?" FBoy Island creator Elan Gale, who initially pitched his HBO Max reality show with the title "F*ckboy Island," says “there’s still a barrier when it comes to marketing the show and promoting the show and making sure that people all over the country have access to it” if it’s got a swear word in the title. As Friedlander points out, CBS’ $h*! My Dad Says and ABC’s Don’t Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 helped lead the way in putting censored profanity in TV show titles, followed by Schitt's Creek. "It’s easy for cynics to argue that adding curse words to your show’s title is a marketing gimmick in and of itself—a way to get press coverage and eyeballs on one tiny needle of content in a haystack of viewing options. But it also shouldn’t go unnoticed that Kevin is just one of several female-centric titles employing (censored) curse words," says Friedlander. "Are these bleeped titles another example of patriarchal oppression of those who are trying to reclaim traditionally hurtful words?" “I think it captures that rage that so many of us have and bury, and that is certainly Allison’s thing,” says Kevin Can F**k Himself creator Valerie Armstrong, adding that “when I do say the title, I really hit f*ck.” Katori Hall, creator of Starz's P-Valley based on her play P*ssy Valley, says she fought to use the P-word in the title (though the full word can be seen in the opening credits). “There’s fear of the p*ssy,” says Hall, adding: “I definitely think the patriarchy has to get used to the fact that there are some women in this world who embrace their femininity in a more unapologetic way."