Jenny Slate Drops F-Bomb on Her Saturday Night Live Debut – Will the FCC attack?

Ooops!  The latest addition to Saturday Night Live's 'not ready for prime-time players' definitely lived up to that moniker last night.  Jenny Slate was in a rapid fire skit with Kristin Wing in which the two skated close to profanity several times, with Slate finally crossing the line – dropping a pretty clear f-bomb.

Yowza.  So, standards and practices folks are no-doubt having a heart attack over this about now, but don't worry – it's not illegal.  Whether NBC will be upset or not from a production standpoint is another matter entirely, but according to the FCC the f-word is perfectly okay after 10pm – networks have just tried to maintain good taste over the matter.

According to the FCC "The “safe harbor” refers to the time period between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., local time. During this time period, a station may air indecent and/or profane material." Obscene material, though, is not allowed.  Further more, the FCC considers user of the 'F-Word' to fit the "Indecent/Profane" definition, but not obscene.  So NBC and their affiliates are off the hook for this Saturday Night Live boo-boo, unless a new precedent is set.

A few years back NBC got into hot-water when U2's Bono got all potty mouthed on the Golden Globes.  The matter rought some pretty heavy condemnation for NBC, and put other broadcasters on notice.  It did not, however, redefine the 'safe harbor' of 10pm to 6am.

So, maybe a good question here is: was this slip-up an accident, or a publicity stunt?  Whether it was on purpose or not, it is definitely getting Saturday Night Live some attention.