1.   I LOVE LUCY (1952)

      This is perhaps television's most notorious example of censorship. When Lucille Ball became pregnant with Desi Jr., her condition was incorporated into the show. Because of sensitivity to questionable language, CBS consulted a minister, a rabbi, and a priest to find a way to present Lucy's pregnancy in an unoffensive manner. It was decided that Lucy could be "expecting" or enceinte (French for "pregnant"), but the word pregnant could not be used.

2.   MARTIN LUTHER (1956)

      This biographical film on the German religious reformer was scheduled for its U.S. debut on Chicago's WGN Television during Christmas week, 1956, but was abruptly canceled because of angry protests by the city's Roman Catholics. "We object to you showing the film because it makes a hero out of a rat," they asserted. Protestants objected in turn, as did the National Council of Churches, which claimed the decision was "a blow to religious liberty." But the network wouldn't change its mind; WGN officials said they didn't want to be "a party to the development of any misunderstandings or ill will among persons of the Christian faith."

3.   U.S. STEEL HOUR (1956)

      Rod Serling wrote a teleplay about the 1955 kidnap-murder of Emmett Till, a black Mississippi teenager who whistled at a white woman. However, the program's producer wanted to avoid the subject of racism. He directed Serling to change the black victim to a Jew, spare him from being murdered, and move the story north into New England. These changes were made, but otherwise the story that aired was the tragedy of Emmett Till.

4.   PLAYHOUSE 90 (1959)

      During the April telecast of Abby Mann's award-winning Judgement at Nuremberg, the sponsor, the American Gas Association, succeeded in having references to gas extermination of Jews omitted. In one instance in which the phrase "gas ovens" remained in the script, the words were bleeped during the telecast. The AGA claimed, as justification for these deletions, that the Nazis had used cyanide gas-not cooking gas, as it claimed the words implied-to kill their victims.

5.   THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS COMEDY HOUR (1967)

      Responding to CBS censorship of such terms as freak out and sex on past shows, Tommy Smothers and Elaine May performed a skit about two censors who painstakingly changed the line "My pulse beats wildly in my breast whenever you're near" to "My pulse beats wildly in my wrist whenever you're near." The spoof contained no profanities, yet CBS censors cut it entirely from the program.

6.   THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS COMEDY HOUR (1968)

      CBS censored the display of a Mother's Day card that read, in part, "War is not healthy for children and other living things... We who have given life must be dedicated to preserving it. Please talk peace." CBS gave as its reason-besides the excuse that it didn't permit "political positions"-the explanation that the Los Angeles mothers' group that distributed the card hadn't been cleared by the House Un-American Activities Committee.

7.   THE MERV GRIFFIN SHOW (1970)

      Radical Abby Hoffman appeared on The Merv Griffin Show in April, 1970, a few months after the trial of "the Chicago 8" ended. The censors did not allow the viewers to see his shirt, which was fashioned after an American flag. Every time the camera showed Hoffman, the torso of his body was masked out by a blue square, revealing only his head and hands. Acoording to Hoffman, the censors had made no complaints on earlier occasions when Ricky Nelson, Raquel Welch, Roy Rogers, and Ryan O'Neal had worn the same type of shirt on TV.

8.   HAPPY DAYS (1974)

      ABC decreed, as the first season was being taped, that Fonzie (Henry Winkler) could not wear a black leather jacket because it made him look like a hoodlum. He was supposed to wear sweaters, unless he was riding his motorcycle, when he would be allowed to wear his leather jacket in the interests of safety. To evade ABC's dictum, the program's producer kept Fonzie on or very near his motorcycle-leaning on it or polishing it-during every scene.

9.   LAUGH IN (1977)

      A skit about modern promiscuity showed a family of four women-each from a different generation-getting ready to go out seperately for a night on the town. When the youngest woman told her mother that she might stay out all night if she met a man she liked, NBC changed the mother's warning-"Don't forget to take your pill"-to "Be careful," because the network objected to the implication that women plan in advance to have sex.

10.  JAMES AT 15 (1977-1978)

      In the 1977 pilot, James's request for a "condom" was changed to "be prepared," then later cut altogether because NBC wanted no hint of birth control, despite the resultant suggestion of sexual irresponsibility. Later, in an episode aired in February, 1978, James could not use a condom when he made love to a Swedish exchange student because, NBC reasoned, the fear of pregnancy should erode their relationship and emphasize the point that sex holds serious consequences.

11.  NBC MOVIE-THE SUNSHINE BOYS (1977)

      When Walter Matthau called George Burns a putz- a Yiddish word literally meaning penis but used commonly to denote a jerk-NBC dubbed the word with shmo-another Yiddish word for jerk or boob. Later, when Burns wrote the word putz on a mirror for Matthau, the shot was cut altogether.

12.  SOAP (1977)

      When this contraversial show went on the air, ABC made the following script changes: Mention of CIA involvement in Vietnamese opium smuggling was deleted; the character Burt Campbell underwent a name change to avoid association with the Campbell Soup Company; all comments about Sun Myung Moon were excised; and whenever the Mafia was mentioned, the scene had to include a positive Italian-American character to balance the negative stereotype.

13.  WELCOME BACK, KOTTER (1977)

      In one episode, a beautiful young teacher falls in love with the show's hero, Gabe Kotter. Trying to get out of an awkward situation, Kotter told her, "You don't want to marry me. I eat crackers in bed." The woman replied, "That's all right. I'm used to crumbs in bed." The censors objected to the implications of sexual promiscuity and had the scriptwriters change her reply to "I eat crackers, too. I'm used to crumbs in bed."

  ...AND ONE FROM TURKEY

      In August, 1979, the Muppet Show was removed from Turkish television during the month-long Ramadan fasting period. It was thought that the character of "Miss Piggy" would be offensive to devout Muslims who consider pigs unclean.