[nwtv2003]

Channel 4 have just aired the entire "Streetcar" musical intact (including the New Orelans lyrics) for probably the first time since 2005.

I was quite surprised to see the New Orleans song intact earlier. They started showing Series 4 last Friday and this is the first time in a while it’s been shown on Channel 4, in the first episode, Brother Can You Spare Two Dimes? (which is technically Series 3, but don’t get me started on that!), there were no edits at all its broadcast, this episode has always been cut previously in some form, usually removing the references to Bart’s desire to own a gun and subsequent NRA membership. Even then the BBC usually edited this episode historically. 

Maybe, just maybe Channel 4’s edits may not be as conservative going forwards…?

[TVFan]

Channel 4 have just aired the entire "Streetcar" musical intact (including the New Orelans lyrics) for probably the first time since 2005.

I was quite surprised to see the New Orleans song intact earlier. They started showing Series 4 last Friday and this is the first time in a while it’s been shown on Channel 4, in the first episode, Brother Can You Spare Two Dimes? (which is technically Series 3, but don’t get me started on that!), there were no edits at all its broadcast, this episode has always been cut previously in some form, usually removing the references to Bart’s desire to own a gun and subsequent NRA membership. Even then the BBC usually edited this episode historically. 

Maybe, just maybe Channel 4’s edits may not be as conservative going forwards…?

Hopefully so, but I doubt that will happen. In Kamp Krusty last night, they removed a still image of a cockfight (which wasn’t even violent), something that surely doesn’t need cutting. It would be interesting if some other episodes do have edits restored, such as the pornography store lines in Mr Plow (cut by Channel 4, but always shown by Sky and the BBC).

[Hybrid]

I was quite surprised to see the New Orleans song intact earlier. They started showing Series 4 last Friday and this is the first time in a while it’s been shown on Channel 4, in the first episode, Brother Can You Spare Two Dimes? (which is technically Series 3, but don’t get me started on that!), there were no edits at all its broadcast, this episode has always been cut previously in some form, usually removing the references to Bart’s desire to own a gun and subsequent NRA membership. Even then the BBC usually edited this episode historically. 

Maybe, just maybe Channel 4’s edits may not be as conservative going forwards…?

Hopefully so, but I doubt that will happen. In Kamp Krusty last night, they removed a still image of a cockfight (which wasn’t even violent), something that surely doesn’t need cutting. It would be interesting if some other episodes do have edits restored, such as the pornography store lines in Mr Plow (cut by Channel 4, but always shown by Sky and the BBC).

Yep, and a edit which I think was added recently in Kamp Krusty was the removal of Bart slapping Edna's rear in his dream at the start of the episode. 

I think Brother Can You Spare Two Dimes? has been uncut for a quite a while now since every C4 airing I've watched in recent years of it has all of the NRA stuff intact.

I also wonder with the restoration of the New Orleans song, which was cut due to C4's infamously bad timing in 2005, does this raise the question of episodes like the New York one to also be left alone? I'm also pretty sure references to attacks were uncut on later episodes such as Bart Mangled Banner and Rednecks and Broomsticks.

[JAS84]

The City of New York vs Homer Simpson was outright banned for a while wasn't it? Not just edited. That episode prominently features the World Trade Center and thus is an unintentional period piece due to the twin towers' destruction on 9/11 in 2001.

[CCFG]

The City of New York vs Homer Simpson was outright banned for a while wasn't it? Not just edited. That episode prominently features the World Trade Center and thus is an unintentional period piece due to the twin towers' destruction on 9/11 in 2001.

Yeah. Sky stopped showing it until August 2005, Channel 4 first aired it in I think 2007 (though I'm pretty sure they didn't even premiere Season 9 until 2007), in fact, I'm pretty sure the Beeb never aired it.

[James2001]

Yes, the BBC never showed it. They started showing season 9 in October 2001, and they were obviously never going to show it that soon after the fact, and by the time they lost the rights to the show in 2004 it was clearly still considered too soon.

However they did show The Cartridge Family as part of that season 9 run, and I'm pretty sure uncut, which Sky had always refused to show until then (so it ended up getting released on VHS instead). Sky were always quite edit heavy with The Simpsons, though they did restore a lot of cut material in the early 00s. Channel 4 however seem to be even more snip happy, even cutting out stuff that Sky left in when they were most scissor happy in the 90s.

On a related note, I went to the 9/11 museum in New York back in November, one of the most harrowing things I've ever done- some stuff there is very disturbing- but I would say anyone going to New York has to go, so you can properly understand just what happened that day. Makes me despise the "truth" movement more than I already did.

[octothorpe]

During my teen years I did quite a bit of research into how The Simpsons was broadcast here in the UK, so I can add some insight into the discussions that were had, albeit last month now.

I mention this because it makes me wonder how much longer Sky will hold the rights for. I believe Channel 4 have FTA rights for as long as the show is in production, but I don't know about Sky. I think for many people - certainly me - for many, many years, The Simpsons was Sky One. In fact, I remember there were rumours last year, when Sky One closed, that the reason behind it was that they knew they would eventually lose The Simpsons (and presumably wanted to ditch the Sky One brand as the two were so closely intertwined). So - interesting times ahead.

The point made about how Sky1 was synonymous with The Simpsons is bang-on; I read some years ago now that The Simpsons is the reason Sky1 is (or was) still around, and that without the show Sky1 probably would've closed down. May have been hyperbolic, but that's what I remember reading.

They never advertise when the new episodes are on (they just aired season 30, and I only found out on the last week), and All4 only has seven day catch-up.

Channel 4, per precedent, usually show new episodes in autumn, although that may have changed in recent years. I do recall that one year they signposted the new eps by a promo, but that was about a decade ago now and I don't remember them being especially advertised since; despite this, the ratings for the few weeks of new episodes used to be a bit higher than the repeats that bookended them. If you do want to keep up, visit the UK & Ireland airdates page on Simpsons Archive, which has been going for a long time and is regularly updated.

Channel 4 should have it for as long as it's in production plus four years, you'd think? They only just aired season 30, and the current season in the US is season 34.

Contractually, C4 has to stay four years (or it might be four seasons, it's been a while since I read about it now) behind Sky. It might be that should the first-run rights be transferred to Disney+, legally this could change, but IDK. It's a possibility C4 could then move closer, into a situation ITV2 has now with Family Guy whereby C4 catch up and get to a point they're airing the season a few months after Disney+ got all of the episodes, but who knows. For instance, ITV2 inherited the second-run rights to new American Dad! from BBC Three, and the first-run rights later transferred from FOX to Disney+, and I don't think the other aspects/setup/structure of the arrangement has really changed at all, such as the length of time between Disney+ availability and ITV2/linear broadcast, but I stopped watching new FG/AD! live yonks ago (ITV2 have long since stopped caring about AD, frequently putting new episodes on after Family Guy repeats; they are airing the first season in late-night at the moment, though, so might put that on for background) so wouldn't be able to say that for certain.

And this is also the first I'm hearing of a 'life of series' deal with regards to C4. The only show I know of with one of those is Home & Away on Channel 5, which they probably really regret given the erstwhile inferior popularity to stablemate Neighbours (but it was screwed over to begin with with ITV's legal lot making sure C5 had to wait a year before resuming the show once it transferred). I do recall, though, that there was a lot of discussion about a decade ago about the repercussions of a potential all-Simpsons cable channel in the US; for example, that 20th Century Fox etc. would actually have to cancel/end the series to legally to do that, before pretty much instantly reviving it - a somewhat easy, if faff-like workaround. In the process of doing that, it would mean all contracts for international distribution would later have to be re-done for the 'second run' of the show, so those covering the first-run would end with it. Obviously, that never happened.

And just a note about the C4 'four years behind Sky' thing; I believe that was carried over from BBC2. The BBC did get special dispensation to air one episode ahead of this timeframe, though, as part of a special evening of programming in 1999, just seven months after its Sky1 premiere; the episode should not have aired until 2001, and was effectively repeated as part of that season's first run on the channel that year.

---

And the point made above about "The City vs. Homer Simpson" is correct (about Season 9 starting the first week of October 2001); it was going to be shown for the first time in May 2002 (I assume during a repeat run of S9), but it was replaced at the last minute by another episode from the same season. And regarding cuts C4 have made, I'd imagine that the 'jerks in Tower One' line will, regardless of any ostensible liberalisation in Channel 4's censoring department, remain cut; even the show's senior staff are on record as saying they really regret that line in hindsight.

And re: The Cartridge Family, Sky really was nervous over that. They showed Season 9, the season from which it belongs, from October 1997 through September 1998, but Cartridge never got shown by them until 2005! And there's still some episodes of the show that Sky1 and C4 don't repeat outside of the early hours of the morning.

[JAS84]

Yeah, there was a VHS called Too Hot for TV, which served as the UK premiere for The Cartridge Family since as the video tape's name suggests, it hadn't aired on television.

[octothorpe]

Yeah, there was a VHS called Too Hot for TV, which served as the UK premiere for The Cartridge Family since as the video tape's name suggests, it hadn't aired on television.

Oh, I wasn't aware of that! I digress here, but I've often wondered how many people have actually bought a VHS/DVD of any show in the past and watched a yet-to-air episode, and actually how many of them were aware of that. E.g. when the unaired Mr. Bean episode (the haircut/pet show one) was released on home media before TV; various episodes of late My Family had that happen to them as well (two episodes released on the series 10 DVD that didn't air until the series 11 TV run, with the series 11 DVD released early too), and I personally took advantage of that at the time.

I do have some info on Cartridge's postponement that I've just found, though, that it was due to air 30/11/1997, in the run of Season 9, but was replaced with the premiere of "The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons"; Sky released a statement regarding the fact they weren't airing the episode on SkyText in July 1998, that they "feel it is too strong, even for a late slot." I gathered this information years ago and unfortunately don't have a source, so take it for what you will. There was also an episode in Season 24 that they postponed for a couple of months because the content was too strong for the teatime slot it had been originally scheduled for, and is one of those few episodes I aforementioned that Sky will refuse to air pre-watershed.

Regarding Cartridge, the only explanation I can come up with is maybe Dunblane? That happened a year-and-a-half before the pencilled airdate, but if the Twin Towers episode was effectively banned from the airwaves on both sides of the pond for a good few years after 9/11...? I'm guessing maybe they thought an episode with guns wasn't necessarily 'too strong' to show in itself in a late-night slot, as there will have been ten-a-penny shows/imports on that late with violence involving guns, etc., but perhaps they didn't want to take the risk that some of the younger viewers that became fans of the show might spot it on late at night, potentially moreso if marked new, and watch it, an episode obviously unsuitable for them?

And some other fact about "A Streetcar Named Marge" is that, according to my notes, it was never repeated on BBC2, and was also the last of the 61 episodes the BBC originally bought of the show!

[James2001]

I certainly saw episodes via VHS releases before I saw them on TV. The BBC used to be years behind at one point- in fact they were nearly 7 years behind when they first aired season 1, and we didn't have cable until 1999. The long terrestrial delay for The Simpsons is pretty unusual and unique, can't think of any other shows that have had such a long gap between either the original US airings or satellite showings and appearing on terrestrial as The Simpsons has... or indeed still does, with their 4 year gap (which was even longer in the 90s).

Funny how Sky described The Cartridge Family as too strong for any slot, then BBC2 put it out uncut at 6PM with seemingly no quibbles.

I remember Channel 4 putting Trash Of The Titans out uncut at 6PM, which got them in trouble with the two uses of w*nker. Then a while later when it was shown on T4, they cut out the "this is where you register as a sex offender" line, even though it meant Moe's following comment made no sense and, even more so, T4 had actually included that line in a "coming up" trailer the previous advert break anyway. Just one of many examples of Channel 4 cutting out content that even Sky at their most scissor happy left in.