Lack of Pryor Restraint

When I was a kid we only had three channels, 3, 5 and 8. Later we got UHF (Ultra High Frequency)and added channels 43 and 61.  Channel 43 was always snowy and had mostly reruns of old tv shows. Saturdays was Superhost, Marty Sullivan in real life, showing Three Stooges shorts or old (very old) movies.

Most of my tv time was spent watching shows like Petticoat Junction, Green Acres, My Mother The Car or Bewitched. Tv time meant mostly that tv was on while I studied chess. The only serious tv time was Johnny Carson. My mom and I would watch it for the comedians. I loved watching all the classic comics like Henny Youngman, Jack Benny, Phyllis Diller, Kaye Ballard and Buddy Hackett. I particularly liked Woody Allen's early stand-up and Albert Brooks. Their timing was so incredible.

When we got cable tv everything changed. Not only were we able to have a variety of channels but we had complete uncensored comedy acts. The first one I remember vividly. Richard Pryor was on HBO and telling some hilarious stories and using the inappropriate word that starts with Mother, over and over. My mother was laughing hysterically. I walked in surprised because NO ONE ever swore in my mom's house. I had never even heard my dad swear.

As the show was ending I asked my mother how she could laugh when he used the word Mother******? Her hand shot out faster than Muhammad Ali's and tagged me across the side of the mouth. I protested saying that Richard Pryor had used the word ten times in the past five minutes. My mom just glared, pointed at the tv and said, "He's a professional!"

links: digg this    del.icio.us    technorati    reddit