Buzz
TV shows, talk programs, animated series, and even advertisements faced censorship or outright bans for content deemed unsuitable for audiences in the 1950s and 1960s (with one exception in the 1980s). At the time, this censorship was largely aimed at topics such as sensuality, sexuality, bodily functions, and drug use—an approach that seemed justified to those in charge of regulation.
Looking back, many are surprised by the past TV bans, including the prevention of showing married couples in bed together, actresses' navels, the mere mention of pregnancy, toilet scenes, political satire, controversial song lyrics, Elvis Presley’s famous pelvic movements, women modeling bras, men wearing briefs, and 'risky' cartoons.
10. Married Couples in Bed
In the 1950s and 1960s, sexual matters were considered deeply private, and even the suggestion of intimacy between married couples was seen as inappropriate. Networks took extreme measures to avoid even the slightest display of sexuality in marriage. On shows like The Dick Van Dyke Show, characters like Rob and Laura Petrie (played by Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore) were shown in separate twin beds to maintain this boundary.
9. Barbara Eden’s Belly Button, Genie Smoke, and Double Meanings
The sitcom I Dream of Jeannie, which aired from 1965 to 1970, starred Barbara Eden as Jeannie, a genie, and Larry Hagman as astronaut Tony Nelson, who frees her from her bottle. Eden’s costume included a hat with a veil, a short red vest, a pink bra, loose harem pants with a wide, tight waistband, and pointed slippers. Though alluring, it was less revealing than the original costume, which exposed Eden’s midriff and navel.
Eden recalls a meeting with the show’s producer, George Schlatter, and NBC executives, where Schlatter expressed his desire to 'premiere my navel.' He remarked how many executives were gathered to discuss Eden’s anatomy. Ultimately, NBC prohibited the exposure of Eden’s navel, which led to the redesign of her outfit with a wider waistband to conceal it. Ironically, in one episode, Jeannie wears a one-piece swimsuit while surrounded by bikini-clad women, with navels in full view.
NBC didn’t stop with censoring Eden’s navel. The actress claims the network also required her harem pants to be 'lined with silk' to ensure her legs didn’t show through the sheer fabric.
Jeannie would turn into smoke whenever she entered or exited her bottle. To avoid the implication that she might have spent the night with Tony, NBC censors prohibited the genie’s smoke from 'disappearing under Captain Nelson’s bedroom door.' The network even forced a re-shoot of one episode when Jeannie’s smoke was shown beneath Tony’s door. The rule was clear: 'The smoke must never spend the night in a man’s bedroom.' If it went under the door, it had to reappear later.
Jeannie had to be mindful of double meanings when speaking to Tony, such as saying, 'And I am going to please thee very much.' To avoid any potentially inappropriate interpretation, the network executives suggested that after delivering this line, Eden should add a reference to 'jewels or money.'
8. The Forbidden Word: 'Pregnancy'
In the mid-20th century, not only were married couples required to sleep in separate beds, but pregnant women were also banned from appearing on TV shows. In fact, neither the word 'pregnant' nor any references to pregnancy were allowed. On the iconic sitcom I Love Lucy, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz navigated the network’s restrictions by referring to Lucy Ricardo, Ball’s character, as 'enceinte,' the French word for 'pregnant.'
The censors approved, and the episode titled 'Lucy Is Enceinte,' from the third season, revealed Lucy’s pregnancy. As Ricky (Arnaz) performs at his nightclub, the Coca Cabana, Lucy arrives and hands a note to the doorman, who delivers it to Ricky. The note informs him that a couple is expecting a 'blessed event' and asks him to sing 'We’re Having a Baby, My Baby and Me.' Ricky agrees but decides to find out which couple it is.
As he sings 'Rock-a-Bye Baby,' he goes from table to table, asking couples if they are the ones having the blessed event. Finally, he approaches Lucy, who is seated alone at a table. She nods, revealing that she is the one expecting. At first, Ricky doesn’t grasp her message, but once he does, he invites her onstage as he continues to sing.
7. Toilets
The debut episode of the sitcom Leave It to Beaver (1957-1963) nearly didn’t make it to air because of a toilet. Beaver (Jerry Mathers) and his older brother Wally (Tony Dow) had a plan to house a turtle in the tank of their bathroom toilet. 'Back then, you couldn’t show a toilet on TV, let alone a bathroom. It was off-limits,' Mathers explained.
When the show's producers agreed to only show the back of the toilet tank, the network censors made a rare exception to their no-toilet rule. As a result, Leave It to Beaver became the first sitcom to feature a bathroom on-screen.
6. Political Parody
Bob Dylan was slated to appear on the May 12, 1963, edition of The Ed Sullivan Show, a highly popular variety program. At the time, Dylan was still relatively unknown to mainstream audiences. A year earlier, Time magazine had referred to him as 'a promising young hobo' with 'long, tumbling hair' and a 'nasal' voice. Dylan auditioned for the show with a parody song sung from the perspective of a paranoid John Birch Society member, who claimed to find communists 'everywhere, even in his chimney, toilet, and glove box.'
Although Sullivan gave the performance the green light, a CBS executive found the song too controversial after hearing it during the dress rehearsal. He objected to lyrics like, 'Now Eisenhower, he’s a Russian spy/ Lincoln, Jefferson, and that Roosevelt guy/ To my knowledge there’s just one man/ That’s really a true American: George Lincoln Rockwell,' the founder of the American Nazi Party. Dylan was given a choice: either sing a different song or alter the lyrics. Instead, he decided to skip the show altogether.
5. Reference to Recreational Drug Use
Network censors also took issue with The Ed Sullivan Show’s plan to feature The Doors, a rock band led by Jim Morrison. The group chose a song titled 'Light My Fire,' which included the line 'Girl, we couldn’t get much higher.' Fearing that viewers would interpret the line, in the context of the song’s title, as a reference to smoking marijuana, they insisted Morrison change the lyric to 'Girl, we couldn’t get much better.' Morrison agreed to the change, but when he performed live on television, he kept the original line. As a result, The Doors were banned from returning to the show.
4. One-Night Stands and Elvis’s Pelvis
Two other acts that faced censors’ objections and demands for changes were The Rolling Stones and Elvis Presley. Like The Doors, both performed on The Ed Sullivan Show—The Rolling Stones on January 15, 1967, and Elvis Presley on September 9, 1956.
Mick Jagger, the frontman of The Rolling Stones, was instructed to change the lyrics of the song 'Let’s spend the night together' to 'Let’s spend some time together.' Sullivan made it clear that the request was non-negotiable, stating, 'Either the song goes, or you go.' Jagger agreed to the change, but not without expressing his displeasure by rolling his eyes each time he sang the altered line.
Elvis Presley’s lyrics may have been tame, but his movements were anything but. His hip gyrations were so provocative that the show’s producers insisted the camera only film him from the waist up. Despite this, Presley still captivated the audience, and his electrifying performance contributed to $1 million in pre-sales for his hit single 'Love Me Tender.' He went on to make two more appearances on the show, each filled with equally compelling performances.
3. Brassiere and Briefs Models
TV commercials weren't immune to censorship either. While mannequins had been allowed to model bras on television, real women weren’t permitted to do so until 1987. On May 4 of that year, NBC aired the first-ever commercial featuring a woman wearing a brassiere, the Playtex Cross Your Heart bra. Hercules P. Sotos, Vice-chairman of Playtex, remarked that it was about time, stating, 'I don’t see why it should be taboo to show a woman in a bra. It’s much more effective in showing the product’s attributes than a manikin.' Edward H. Meyer, Chairman of Grey Advertising, Inc., who produced the ad, agreed, adding, 'We’ve had a whole generation of kids who grew up thinking that when a woman takes off her blouse, she turns into a manikin.'
It seems that Fruit of the Loom executives thought what was good for women in advertising should apply to men as well. They followed Playtex’s example and planned to air a campaign showing a male model in briefs. Like the Playtex ads, these were also produced by Grey Advertising, Inc. Network executives attributed the public's growing acceptance of these kinds of ads to a 'shift in public taste,' while industry analysts suggested that the increasing acceptance of condom advertising on certain stations might have been a factor in 'opening the door' for such advertisements.
2. Cartoon 'Nudity'
TV censors were always cautious about sensuality, but they certainly drew the line at nudity, which led to several cartoon characters being banned. Betty Boop wasn't the only animated figure who faced such scrutiny. Warner Bros.’ Tweety Bird also came under fire for appearing too 'naked' in his first cartoon. Originally pink, Tweety was deemed inappropriate, and animator Bob Clampett had to repaint him yellow, giving him the appearance of feathers to satisfy censors.
1. Cartoon Sensuality
Betty Boop, the iconic flapper created by Max Fleischer, made her transition from the big screen to TV in the 1950s. By that time, many of the censorship issues regarding her had already been worked out between Fleischer Studios and the Motion Picture Production Code. Betty’s short skirts, garter, and flirtatious persona had been targeted by the Code, which led to changes in her character. Her hemlines were lengthened, her garter removed, and she was transformed into a more conservative, responsible figure—a 'nanny' who embodied maternal values.
Even after her transformation, Betty Boop still faced censorship on TV. As noted by Jere Guldin, former vault manager of the UCLA Film and Television Archives, one 1933 Betty Boop feature, 'Old Man of the Mountain,' was never aired on TV. The episode featured scenes of Betty in her underwear and even included a moment where her butt was licked. To make it more appropriate, there was a gap in the film, and Betty reappeared fully clothed.
