[James2001]

Though the U rating never really meant "suitable for kids" as such anyway, just that it didn't have anything particularly graphic or offensive in. But standards do seem to have tightened in recent years, seems to be harder to get U or PG ratings than it used to be (though it's also happened at the other end of the scale where you really have to push hard to get an 18 rating as well, and things like the Godfather and Die Hard films have been downrated to 15). Maybe they wouldn't get U rated if they were rated now. The amount of previously U stuff being upped to PG and PG upped to 12/12A (and even a couple of cases of U being upped to 12) when being resubmitted over the last few years is quite large ("bitch" now seems to warrant an automatic 12 rating with the BBFC's iupdated guidelines, so a lot of PG stuff is going to be uprated just because of that.. which explains why Casper is now a 12 when it doesn't really warrant it).

[Neil Jones]

I'm surprised we never adopted something similar to PG-13 like they have in the US, as when that was introduced they didn't have an option between PG and R. A 12A here isn't quite the same thing and only applies to cinemas released. The 12 is the home media equivalent and there is what could be seen as pushing it for a 12 sometimes, as it's always felt like a watered down 15.

That being said... the BBFC seems to suggest "Children’s content should be set within a positive framework - there may be very mild bad language, occasional nudity and very mild violence" on a U rating. Which to my mind sort of defeats the point of a U to a large extent. Yes it'll never be squeaky clean (I mean Watership Down used to be a U for goodness sake and remained that way for decades even though there are scenes of rabbits killing each other) but it should be mostly safe.

[agemame]

There used to be the subscript C added to U ratings to indicate something particularly child suitable, but that seems to have fallen out of favour.

Remembering that PG-13 only really came in in the US following the backlash to the darker content in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, there's always been an awkward gulf between those age blocks, which I think they tried to address over herewith more narrative descriptions with the certification, but it's not an easy thing by any stretch.

[Keith]

I think because Mr. Bean was live-action as opposed to animated it was thought that kids were more likely to copy situations that looked real, hence the edits.

That rating needs looked at because a lot of parts of Mr. Bean are not suitable for kids.

I seem to recall one episode had a scene where Mr Bean had just got into bed and realised the only light switch was by the door. Instead of getting out of bed to switch the light out he opts to get out a gun and shot the light bulb.

I've no idea if that scene/episode has been shown since its original airing. I wouldn't be surprised if at least that part of the scene would have got edited out of any repeats since the 90s.

[Neil Jones]

I seem to recall one episode had a scene where Mr Bean had just got into bed and realised the only light switch was by the door. Instead of getting out of bed to switch the light out he opts to get out a gun and shot the light bulb.

I've no idea if that scene/episode has been shown since its original airing. I wouldn't be surprised if at least that part of the scene would have got edited out of any repeats since the 90s.

Yes it still airs and is on the DVD, though its ironic really since he puts Teddy to bed and then fires the gun off. Must cost him a fortune in light bulbs as the cupboard is full of them

Wouldn't have aired on Nickelodeon, but I don't know what the edit would have been for that scene.

[James2001]

Nick showed the Fresh Prince at one point too, also badly edited. Obviously a show even less kid friendly than Mr Bean.

[James2001]

That being said... the BBFC seems to suggest "Children’s content should be set within a positive framework - there may be very mild bad language, occasional nudity and very mild violence" on a U rating. Which to my mind sort of defeats the point of a U to a large extent. Yes it'll never be squeaky clean (I mean Watership Down used to be a U for goodness sake and remained that way for decades even though there are scenes of rabbits killing each other) but it should be mostly safe.

To be fair, the BBFC's website does explicitly state that not all U rated content is aimed at children. I can think of quite a fair amount of stuff in my own DVD collection that very much fits into that- even more so when the BBFC website breaks the ratings down into individual episodes (so you often find a PG or 12 rated boxset has a lot of U rated episodes- in a couple of cases there's only 1 or 2 PG or 12 rated episodes, or even only the special features, pushing the overall rating up)- so around a sixth of the episodes of Cheers are U rated, and it's fair to say nobody would say that's aimed at kids. One of the more suprising ones Patterns of Force from the original Star Trek which is the one with the space nazis, especially as it has a scene where Kirk and Spock are being whipped with visible marks on them from it (and that was given said U rating in 2004!).

Though I guess it's possible the ratings would be different if they were classified now with tighter criteria for the U and PG ratings in recent years- especially when we're in a situation where Mary Poppins is now PG and Casper is 12, both for what seem like strangely minor reasons.

There was publicity last year about Watership Down now being PG, and 3 of the 4 previously U rated Star Wars films are now PG (only A New Hope still has a U rating, though that may only be because it hasn't been recently resubmitted, unlike the other three), I certainly do wonder why they weren't PG all along really, but I guess we could all argue forever on ratings we don't agree with.

[XIII]

The film Walkabout with Jenny Agutter has a non sexual nudity scene where her character swims naked in a lake, I think it would have classed as G back in the day but I think it's 12 now.

Casper should be PG, it's not strong enough to be a 12. MIB 3 has one use of the word sh*t and it's a PG.

[Brekkie]

That rating needs looked at because a lot of parts of Mr. Bean are not suitable for kids.

Would disagree with that considering I watched most it's run as a kid. Yes, there are bits in the show which as an adult may not seem suitable but like many shows and films, especially of that era, there are bits in their for the adults which would go over the kids heads.

[Neil Jones]

And of course live action Mr Bean was not a children's show. It never has been.
The animated show it could be argued it's aimed at a younger audience, as it was all over CITV back in the day...