Precision F-Strike/Live-Action TV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Simon: ...son of a bitch!

    • Earlier, in "Safe," River spouts the only "normal" curse she's ever spoken onscreen, to highlight just how badly her latest round of madness is driving her.

River: Stupid son of a bitch dressed me up like a gorram doll!

    • Book, being a preacher, hardly ever swears, either in English or in Chinese, but in the episode "War Stories," when Zoe and Wash return from Niska's base and Book learns that Niska has cut off Mal's ear, he lets loose with one of the worst Chinese swears on the show, translating to "filthy fornicators of livestock."
    • In "The Train Job", after Mal realizes what they just stole from the train (medicine), he lets out a self-loathing "Son of a bitch."
  • In Dexter, the eponymous main character swears very rarely - if he does drop the f bomb, he's either quoting someone "Not fucking good at all, apparently," or things have just gone straight to hell for him. "Oh, fuck."
    • Subverted by his sister, who primarily speaks in Cluster F-Bomb. It's even lampshaded when she does not swear.
    • Starting with Season 4, he started to swear at least once in every episode, from cases where he thinks he's really screwed, to... a bit confusion situations, but not that confused to warrant such reactions. This includes "What the fuck is going on here?" to a strangely emotion-filled human-line which he shouldn't say so easily: " 'the fuck?!"
      • Not necessarily, he's become generally more human as the series progresses. Each season arguably tracks a step in his emotional development.
      • Consider also that in the 4th and 5th seasons he is under far more stress than ever before for a variety of reasons, not least of which is his becoming a parent, and then a single parent.
  • Life On Mars has some great examples:

Ray: I haven't been to the pub for 36 hours.
Sam: Shit.

  • In Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 3, the Mayor is quite Affably Evil; acting fairly friendly towards the heroes he's planning on destroying, and generally being an all around nice guy (who wants to turn into a giant snake monster). When Buffy puts Faith in a coma, the Mayor actually loses his composure and calls her a whore.
    • Subverted by the season finale, where he rushes into the library in his giant snake demon form...and sees tons of C4. His last words? "Well, gosh!"
    • Vampire Willow makes excellent use of this trope when she's sent back to her world, the Wishverse, only to emerge in the middle of a massive melee and be immediately impaled on a plank. She has just enough time to get out "Oh fu-".
  • The season 3 final of Heroes had two, from Claire and Sylar respectively. The show usually shies away from profanity, so Sylar's "The truth. Stings like a bitch." came across especially powerfully.
    • There is a much earlier example in an early episode of season 1 after Nathan has told thousands of people that Peter is suicidal. Peter punches his brother and shouts, "You son of a bitch!" To which Nathan calmly replies, "Careful, Pete. That's our mother you're talking about."
  • In a M*A*S*H episode, Radar (who never swears) shocks Hawkeye and B.J. when he says, "Oh.....HELL!" in frustration when he feels they are not taking Potter's horse's illness seriously. When they say "What?" in surprise at his exclamation, he clarifies: "You heard me! H-E-double toothpicks!!"
    • In an earlier episode, "Mad Dogs And Servicemen," Col. Blake tells bed-ridden Radar, who was bitten by a feral dog, that the dog was not rabid and he won't have to get any more rabies shots.

Radar (to God): A deal's a deal, Sir. No more "hells," "damns" and especially not the big one.

  • Spaced was allowed just the one "fuck" per show, according to the DVD commentaries. They went to some lengths to make sure that they used it in the funniest way possible.
  • In the UK version of The Office, a show which rarely if ever used the word "fuck", David Brent tells Chris Finch to fuck off in the Christmas Episode when he makes lewd and inappropriate remarks about Brent's new girlfriend. It's easily the Crowning Moment of Awesome for Brent, and the show.
  • The Star Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever", which ends with a heartbroken Kirk telling his crew "Let's get the hell out of here." (The word "hell" didn't exactly feature much on television during that era.)
  • Absolute Power: "Oh shit." Said by Charles when he realizes he's about to be arrested.
    • There's another example in episode one of the first season:

Charles: Nigel, I have some good news! Little bit of bad news first.
Nigel: Oh?
Charles: Your career, as we have hitherto understood it, is fucked.

  • The Middleman used this in the first episode, despite the fact the word in question was actually bleeped. The fact that his one and only swear word immediately followed a discussion about how odd it was that he never swears makes it all the funnier, as well as making it clear just how badly wrong things have gone.
    • And when in an alternate universe the alternate Middleman drops Cluster F Bombs all the time, the difference is made very clear.
  • Lampshaded in Flight of the Conchords:

Murray: I'm so angry I feel like swearing!
Brett: Oh, you wouldn't swear at us, Murray...
Murray: * long pause* ...Go fuck yourself, Brett! * storms off*

    • Made perhaps funnier because Rhys Darby (the comedian who plays Murray) swears a LOT in his stand-up routines.
  • Red and Kitty Forman of That '70s Show don't swear too often (Red's Once an Episode instances of calling someone a dumbass aside), but when they do, you know they are well and truly pissed. Both of them actually have instances where they dropped a Cluster F-Bomb that was censored with beeps. There's also one that was alluded to after Red discovered that Eric and Donna were engaged.

Eric: watching Red from the other side of a patio door I'm trying to read Red's lips so I know what he's saying, but I can't make it out that well. He keeps calling me a "stupid duck". * beat* Ahhhh.

    • Kitty is so holy and innocent that she can't even find it in her to tolerate the use of the word "ass", as common and not too offensive as it is. So when Kitty gets pissed and starts with the Red Forman-esque language, it can send shivers down one's spine.

Red: Donna wanted to get back together and you said no?
Eric: I said no.
Red: You said no?
Kitty: DUMBASS!

    • There was one instance in the Dona and Eric Are Engaged arc where Red commends Eric for sticking to his guns, which drives Kitty to lose all sense of composure or decorum and she screams at Red, using several sound effect bleeps in the space of about thirty seconds. It was the only time in the series that Kitty lost her composure like that, and it was the funniest, coolest moment of the series.
  • Robert Klein opened the very first HBO comedy special in 1975 by celebrating the fact that he was allowed to drop a consequence-free "fuck" on television.
  • The live action Sailor Moon generally had mild or no swearing, but in Makoto's/Sailor Jupiter's debut we got this exchange:

Makoto: How could you play with these girls' hearts like that?
Youma (still in human disguise): Because it's fun.

Makoto: ...Fuck you! * Punches the youma in the face.*

    • Interestingly, Makoto has been known to say "shit" (widely translated from the Japanese "kuso") a few times in the anime proper.
  • The hosts on MythBusters, particularly Adam, have a tendency to swear when something goes terribly wrong on a build. Or Adam hurts himself. Again.
  • Chappelle's Show had significant amounts of this trope. The more well known examples were when Wayne Brady starts swearing, and when he recounts Disneyland's Mickey Mouse greet him with " Oh, ho ho!! I'm, Rick James BITCH!!" In a high-pitched voice.
  • On the Top Ground Gear Force Comic Relief special, James May (who is normally pretty even-tempered, and doesn't normally go much beyond "Oh, cock" when things go pear-shaped) gets irritated with Clarkson for destroying his shed:

May: [brandishing a large timber] What time is this program on? Is it 10 o'clock?
Clarkson: Yeah.
May: Is it 10 o'clock on BBC 2?
Clarkson: Yes.
May: Are we beyond the Watershed?
Clarkson: Yes.
May: You're a fu--

Hammond: Guys!

  • Didier Drogba's (somewhat justified) rant into a TV camera after Chelsea were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League by Barcelona:

- "It's a disgrace, it's a fucking disgrace!"

  • Inverted in The Thick of It: Malcolm Tucker drops Cluster F Bombs constantly, but when he holds back on the swearing it's a sign that he's really angry.
- "If you don't run and get me some cheese I'll pull your head off and give you a spinedectomy."
—"In my quest to try and make you understand the level of my unhappiness, I'm likely to use an awful lot of what we would call 'violent sexual imagery', and I just wanted to check that neither of you would be terribly offended by that."

- "Sorry, sorry, I know you disapprove of swearing so I'll sort that out. You are a boring F-star-star-CUNT."

  • In the season 1 finale of Stargate SG-1, O'Neill (two Ls) refers to something just explained to him as "Bullshit." This was when the show was on Showtime, where swearing isn't as taboo, but even then there was very little profanity on the show.
    • Although it's a mild swear word, there's a scene in Stargate SG-1 when Daniel Jackson has just died (sort of) and come back. His first word is a slightly annoyed "crap". Not even the worst swear word ever used on the show, but still hilarious.
    • Episode?
      • Avatar, most likely.
    • Indeed, one must be specific when referencing a Daniel Death. When asked, there are anywhere from 6 to 22 deaths, if one includes alternate timelines/alternate universes/alternate Daniels etc...
    • In Moebius Pt 2. when a stun grenade is thrown nearby, Jack gets out "Ah, sh—" just before it goes off.
  • "School's Out", the finale for Degrassi High, had one so memorable (on a series that had, until this point, never been very graphic or profane) that it became a Memetic Mutation in Canada. Watch it here.
  • Supernatural had a case of this in the fifth season. In all of Castiel's appearances up to this point, he had been very formal and very grave. Then "Free to Be You and Me" comes along and we see not one, but two examples of this:

Cas: Come and get me, you little bastard.
and
Raphael Castiel, I am warning you. Do not leave me here. I will find you.
Castiel: Maybe one day. But today, you're my little bitch.

    • Castiel has always been extremely respectful of his father/God, but in 'Dark Side of the Moon', also in Season 5 he finds out that God is walking the Earth, knows about everything that's happening, and doesn't care to get involved.

Castiel: I believed in you, you sonovabitch.

  • Cat Deeley has a reputation of being a very quiet, composed, sweet girl. It makes this appearance on a British parody show even funnier.
  • All in The Family had Edith go through menopause, and shout "Damn it!" during one of her mood swings out of nowhere. The episode is worth watching just for the audience's stunned reaction.
  • In Star Trek: The Next Generation, Jean Luc Picard is almost always well composed, diplomatic, and well spoken. However, in one episode he let loose with an exasperated "merde," which means "shit" in French (his native language).
  • Babylon 5 doesn't have a lot of swearing, besides the occasional "Oh hell," but manages to pull the occasional Precision F-Strike. The two most striking characters to pull this off are Timov, one of Londo's wife: in the middle of some very mild verbal fencing she manages to drop a "Bitch" that leaves everyone speechless. And, of all people, Delenn gets not one, but two. The second one has her barging in the room yelling "Bastards," shocking Sheridan: "Did she just...?". The most memorable however has to be:

Delenn: Abso-fraggin-lutely damnit. I have been studying your use of language. Do you approve?

    • Sheridan has a really nice one in his small altercation with Kosh Naranek. It's not a true f-word. The implication of the words used, and the way they are delivered (to one of the most powerful entities in the show) however, definitely qualifies it as a precision F-Strike.

Kosh: Leave. Now.
Sheridan: No!
Kosh: Disobedient!
Sheridan: Up yours!

    • There is one simultaneously Awesome and Funny moment in Season 3 when Marcus knocks out everyone in a Downbelow dive. But the awesome line starts with an instance of Getting Crap Past the Radar...because he uses a British swear word that isn't well-recognized in the US:

Marcus: Bugger! Now I have to wait for someone to wake up.

  • In an episode of Mad About You Jamie invites Paul's mother to stay with them for the night, confident that the offer will be refused. When Paul's mother gratefully accepts the invitation, Jamie smiles broadly, turns to Paul, and almost under her breath mutters "Shit."
  • In the Bones episode, "The Baby in the Bough", Dr. Brennan gets one of these, in what is also both a CMOA and a CMOH. "There was a BABY in that car, you son of a bitch!"
    • Also, in "The Man with the Bone:" "Where the hell are my bones?!"
  • In the Big Love episode "Sins of the Father", Margene drops an "F you, Barb!" in front of Nikki and Barb after Barb accuses of her of being a cradle robber. She doesn't even use the word, but as the characters are polygamist fundamentalists it has the intended shocking effect.
  • In the ER episode "On the Beach", Dr. Mark Greene (dying of a brain tumor) falls when trying to get out of bed. He pounds the floor and utters a frustrated "SHIT!"
  • Captain Darling from Blackadder the Fourth keeps a diary during his time as a pencil pusher safe behind the lines during World War I. Upon being sent to the front lines in a misguided attempt by his insane boss to give him an honorable duty, he makes one last entry: "Bugger."
  • Lampshaded and parodied by Gus in an episode of Psych. "Shawn, you know I don't swear very often, so this is a big deal: what the hell was that about?!"
  • A 1970s Houston Oilers football game was being broadcast live on ABC's Monday Night Football, when the camera focused ona lone spectator in a section of the stands. Seeing he was on camera, the man gave the camera the finger. Announcer Don Meredith then quipped, "Well, there's somebody who thinks Houston's number one."
  • "Nobody expects the Sp--oh, bugger!"
  • Kurt pulls one off in Glee. Everyone's jaws just drop.
  • Red Dwarf is generally very low on swearing (thanks partly to its liberal use of Unusual Euphemism), which is used to this effect on the few occasions where they use real swear words (such as the 'Twat it!' line in Polymorph).
  • Conan O'Brien appearing on The Chris Rock Show to interview Pootie Tang:

Pootie: (Long string of unintelligible words.)

Conan: I'm sorry, but what the fuck are you talking about?

  • Deadwood, of all shows, had a brilliant Precision F-Strike when upright, straitlaced, intimidatingly classy Alma Garrett urged E. B. Farnum to sell her his hotel: "What is it you males say? 'Shit, or get off the chamberpot'?"
  • There is a consistently high level of swearing in Skins but Katie's Series 4 episode is pretty effective in its "I'm Katie Fucking Fitch. Who the FUCK are you!"
  • Fred MacCauley makes use of this in a stand-up comedy routine he performed on Mock the Week. Watch it here.
  • In the British sitcom Drop the Dead Donkey the normally aloof Sally Smedley briefly finds religion and is nice to everybody. This situation comes to an end when she breaks up with her boyfriend. Unaware that she's back to normal, poor downtrodden George asks her an innocent question, to which she replies: "Oh, FUCK OFF, George!"
  • In the premiere episode of the Starz series "Camelot," while witnessing a tender reunion between Arthur and his biological mother, King Lot sneers and mutters "Oh, fuck this."
  • In BBC's Merlin, in which the worst language ever to be used is "damn", Arthur learns that he's been served with an arranged marriage and lets out a vehement "WHAT THE FFFFF---" before the camera cuts away.
  • There's a pretty dramatic one from Scully in The X-Files episode 'Beyond the Sea'. It's particularly effective since, before this, she rather came across as The Stoic. When she learns that an (alleged) psychic's information has led her partner Mulder into a trap, seriously injuring him, and it was partly her fault for believing him, we get this exchange...

Scully: You set us up. You're in on this with Lucas Henry. This was a trap for Mulder because he helped put you away. Well, I came here to tell you that if he dies because of what you've done, four days from now nobody will stop me from being the one that'll throw the switch and gas you out of this life for good, you son of a bitch!

    • That's because it's Mulder. As mentioned on that page, Mulder and Scully are each other's Berserk Button.
  • Conan O' Brien had Ray Romano as a guest on his new TBS show. Ray related a story about a website with the classic "Fuck, Marry, Kill" game and took the time to ask if was okay to "say the F-Word" on cable. Ray goes through the story and uses "Eff" for every instance of the word. He was ranked against Drew Carey and Jerry Seinfeld, with 8 out of 12 votes in the "Kill" column. Whereas some people might view this as bad, Ray said, "It's really only the second worst choice, 'cause if you're not gonna fuck me just kill me."
  • In New Zealand in 1979, Arthur Baysting, as his comedy alter ego Neville Purvis, dropped the F-bomb during the end credits of his character's namesake show - the first incidence of its type on New Zealand TV. The show was immediately cancelled amidst the ensuing controversy, and Baysting was forced to work in Australia for some years.
  • Being a family program, Doctor Who usually keeps the language pretty clean - the Doctor in particular. Therefore, when he greets River Song in A Good Man Goes to War with a furious "Where the HELL were you today?" it's a true sign of how uncharacteristically angry he is.
  • Coupling has a few examples:
    • In the Rashomon Style episode about Patrick and Sally's first kiss, we see a scene from Sally's memory in which Susan complains about how she's always stuck with calling a taxi for the office drunk. "It's becoming part of my job description." Sally tells her this is "a bit unfair." We then see Patrick's version of events (though he was not present for this exchange), in which Sally is the aforementioned "office drunk", and declares that "That is a fucking shame!
    • The final episode has two - one from Sally when she finds the engagement ring in Patrick's cupboard (though this quickly turns into a Cluster F-Bomb), and one from Susan while in labour: "Steve, GET ME A FUCKING EPIDURAL!"
  • There's this Belgian game show, Blokken, that's been on the air for 18 seasons now. It's trivia combined with Tetris. Here's a clip from a celebrity edition. Most of it's in Dutch, but at about 2:10 in, the guy in the yellow shirt says to his opponent, "Bart... shut fuck up." (Yes, that's exactly how he said it.)
  • In Sherlock episode "A Scandal In Belgravia", John gets one. Since he's so far managed not to swear even on finding a human head in the fridge, it seems pretty serious...
  • During the seventh season of Survivor, there was an episode where two former allies, Shawn and Jon, were forced to vote against each other by the rest of their tribe. Shawn(when voting for Jon) gives a fairly drawn out and detailed explanation of why he's voting for him, but when it's Jon's turn, he simply looks at the camera and says "Fuck you". Shawn is then voted out 4-1.
  • There's a great deal of swearing all over the place in Boardwalk Empire, but it's well into the second season before Richard Harrow gets an F-bomb, growling "I don't...fuckin' believe this" upon discovering that Rothstein has made a business deal with Nucky.
  • A clip from an ABC master tape of The $10,000 Pyramid from 1974 that surfaced on YouTube had Dick Clark asking celebrity guest Tony Randall what one must not do at the Pyramid. Randall brought the house down by simply quipping "You don't say 'shit!'"
  • Normally, the Top Chef judges don't indulge in any cursing compared to the cheftestants. However, when she guest judged season two, episode three of Top Chef Canada, season one host Thea Andrews had every right to shout an F-bomb when one of the cheftestants nearly ran over her pregnant body in his rush to get ingredients during the start of a Quickfire Challenge.
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