TMC
02-10-2022, 11:04 PM
https://www.nickiswift.com/761624/the-shady-side-of-the-hallmark-channel/
Their censorship has come under fire
https://www.nickiswift.com/img/gallery/the-shady-side-of-the-hallmark-channel/their-censorship-has-come-under-fire-1644358058.webp
Hallmark aims to entertain and not offend, though the lengths it takes to guarantee that its content does not alienate families has garnered a fair share of criticism. While its original programming fits its protocols to a T, the channel also airs a handful of syndicated sitcom classics like "Golden Girls, "Reba," and "Frasier" which don't always live up to the network's squeaky clean standards.
In 2011, defunct news site theSOP (https://web.archive.org/web/20180221162123/http://thesop.org/story/20110710/bleepin-censorship-on-the-bleepin-hallmark-channel.html) pointed out that the channel was censoring words like "a**" and "hooker" during reruns of "Frasier" and "Golden Girls," even though the shows' original dialogue had been allowed on television. The network told theSOP that the censorship occurred because its "Standard & Practices [policies] are very conservative" and "There are words and phrases commonly used on other cable channels ... that [the network] deem unacceptable." Considering both sitcoms were known — and beloved — for their characters' often promiscuous conversations, it seemed a bit like overkill.
The network's Standards & Practices department got the channel in hot water again in 2014 when they "[muted] the word 'God'" while showing 1994 film "It Could Happen to You," per Inquisitr (https://www.inquisitr.com/1215439/the-hallmark-channel-offends-audience-members-but-not-for-the-reason-you-think/). The censorship was misread by viewers as a way of removing God from its content and the network was forced to issue a statement that they muted the word to "[stay] on the side of caution to not offend, as our Standards & Practices department categorized it as God was being used in vain" (via Christian Today (https://www.christiantoday.com/article/hallmark.channel.mutes.god.in.re.run.of.nicolas.cage.flick.it.could.happen.to.you/36946.htm)).
Their censorship has come under fire
https://www.nickiswift.com/img/gallery/the-shady-side-of-the-hallmark-channel/their-censorship-has-come-under-fire-1644358058.webp
Hallmark aims to entertain and not offend, though the lengths it takes to guarantee that its content does not alienate families has garnered a fair share of criticism. While its original programming fits its protocols to a T, the channel also airs a handful of syndicated sitcom classics like "Golden Girls, "Reba," and "Frasier" which don't always live up to the network's squeaky clean standards.
In 2011, defunct news site theSOP (https://web.archive.org/web/20180221162123/http://thesop.org/story/20110710/bleepin-censorship-on-the-bleepin-hallmark-channel.html) pointed out that the channel was censoring words like "a**" and "hooker" during reruns of "Frasier" and "Golden Girls," even though the shows' original dialogue had been allowed on television. The network told theSOP that the censorship occurred because its "Standard & Practices [policies] are very conservative" and "There are words and phrases commonly used on other cable channels ... that [the network] deem unacceptable." Considering both sitcoms were known — and beloved — for their characters' often promiscuous conversations, it seemed a bit like overkill.
The network's Standards & Practices department got the channel in hot water again in 2014 when they "[muted] the word 'God'" while showing 1994 film "It Could Happen to You," per Inquisitr (https://www.inquisitr.com/1215439/the-hallmark-channel-offends-audience-members-but-not-for-the-reason-you-think/). The censorship was misread by viewers as a way of removing God from its content and the network was forced to issue a statement that they muted the word to "[stay] on the side of caution to not offend, as our Standards & Practices department categorized it as God was being used in vain" (via Christian Today (https://www.christiantoday.com/article/hallmark.channel.mutes.god.in.re.run.of.nicolas.cage.flick.it.could.happen.to.you/36946.htm)).