News TV-MA Star Trek shows now TV-14

[Cap'n Calhoun]

(Not sure if this is "News", but seemed like the best fit.)

Just noticed that all of the new Star Trek shows have been changed from TV-MA to TV-14 on their relative series description pages on CBS All Access. (All other CBS All Access Originals are still TV-MA on their descriptions with the exception of Tooning Out the News.)

I had been wondering if this would happen with Lower Decks, which initially had TV-MA on their series page despite every episode being TV-14 (most if not all censored to do so). And I know IMDb already started treating Discovery as TV-14 (with TV-MA episodes) rather than TV-MA. (It even treats Short Treks as TV-PG.) Though it seems a bit odd to list Picard as TV-14 rather than TV-MA when 8 out of 10 episodes got an MA rating...

Anyway, between this, the self-censoring of Lower Decks, and what felt like the toning down of Discovery last year (excepting "Point of Light"), curious if this is a sign that they're re-evaluating the audience they're aiming at for future seasons. Maybe I'm just reading into it because I'm not a fan of the "edgier" scenes in the new shows, but it's definitely curious that they've all been reclassified, deeper meaning or no.

(Vaguely related, I notice Netflix reclassified TOS, DS9, and ENT as TV-14 [unless they've been that way for a while and I just didn't notice], meaning TOS on Netflix and PIC on CBSAA now have the same series rating. TV ratings are so confusing...)

 

[The Old Mixer]

I've moved this to GTD as it's about currently running shows.

 

[Cap'n Calhoun]

I've moved this to GTD as it's about currently running shows.

Thanks.

Also, just to clarify since I'm realizing this isn't consistent everywhere, I based this on the series descriptions on the Roku version of the CBS All Access app.

The Android App still has TV-MA on the "About" pages for Lower Decks and Discovery, though it does have TV-14 for Short Treks and Picard.

The web site doesn't appear to display overall series ratings anymore, at least not in any place I've checked.

 

[Lord Garth]

Except for a few instances, DSC really should be classified as TV-14 anyway.

I had a different idea about what the show was going to be during the first season and the TV-MA rating had my expectations set accordingly. Along with the notion that "Anyone Can Die". I thought Discovery was going to be more like Battlestar Galactica. The second season showed they didn't want to do that anymore.

With Picard, I think in two weeks the last episode of the first season will have been Six Months Ago, so I think it's safe to say -- without worrying about breaking spoiler policy -- that if the F-bombs were cut out of PIC, then it could be TV-14 as well.

These shows aren't exactly HBO's Oz. Still my gold standard for TV-MA.

 

[1001001]

Ive seen some X Rated Star Trek. Hilarious stuff.

As for Lower Decks I don’t know why they are censoring all the swear words, but I don’t like it. This is a pay service, like HBO.

I say Fuck the bleeps!

 

[Vger23]

I have to be honest. I'm torn on this topic. For me personally, I don't mind the swearing and sexuality. But (and we all have our own values and methods...I've chosen mine I guess), I really don't feel comfortable having my kids see some of that stuff, and I see it as a bummer because I'd love to watch new Trek with them like my dad did with me.

I guess that's my problem...but I do wish it was different.

 

[Cap'n Calhoun]

I have to be honest. I'm torn on this topic. For me personally, I don't mind the swearing and sexuality. But (and we all have our own values and methods...I've chosen mine I guess), I really don't feel comfortable having my kids see some of that stuff, and it I see it as a bummer because I'd love to watch new Trek with them like my dad did with me.

I guess that's my problem...but I do wish it was different.

Yeah, some of the new stuff makes me directly uncomfortable, but more often I just feel sad that I can't recommend this to the "next generation"... So if this is a sign they're toning it down a little, I'll be pretty happy with it. Even if plenty of people don't mind R-rated Trek, I can't imagine there's a ton of demand for it.

As for Lower Decks I don’t know why they are censoring all the swear words, but I don’t like it. This is a pay service, like HBO.

I see where you're coming from, though not only do I personally prefer them slightly toning it down, I think some of the jokes are actually funnier when the bleeped item is ambiguous and you're left to figure out what they meant. (And since it will usually be obvious, it only works as part of a larger pattern.) Found the same thing with Arrested Development. The bleeps were just flat-out funnier than the words themselves, and sometimes they even built jokes around it. YMMV though.

 

[KepperC]

Unsure what the OP is on about. CBS All Access still has the episodes that were TV-MA listed as TV-MA. Nothing has changed?

Lower Decks is probably censored because the filmmakers want it that way, for the laughs. Or maybe as they’re advertising the show on MTV and Nickelodeon, they’re keeping it TV-14?

 

[Tim Thomason]

If I recall correctly (which I probably don't), all of Discovery S1 was originally TV-MA, which received some complaints because many episodes didn't feature any objectionable language or violence (and, of course, the language being an American thing). When S2 rolled out, they toned it down and most episodes, including the premiere, were broadcast with TV-14. "Point of Light", with its disemboweled Klingon and beheaded infant, was TV-MA, but it was the lone aberration. Picard pushed language and violence (Icheb's friendly eye-gouging) to get a respectable TV-MA in most episodes, although a few episodes (Nepenthe) could've gotten away with a much lower rating. Lower Decks seems to be striving for TV-14, as all its episodes (even the latest with highly graphic violence) has been awarded that. I think the cartoony nature allowed an on-screen beheading in Lower Decks to get a lower rating than the ones barely seen in Picard with its higher rating.

 

[Cap'n Calhoun]

Unsure what the OP is on about. CBS All Access still has the episodes that were TV-MA listed as TV-MA. Nothing has changed?

To clarify, I'm talking about the overall "series" rating on the main page. Individual episode ratings are still the same. But I'm curious if the series reevaluation is a signal of how they're viewing it moving forward. Or maybe it doesn't mean anything; no idea.

Mentioned this above too, but also wanted to repeat that I'm only seeing this on the Roku CBS app series page so far. (Clarification: I'm referring to the CBS All Access App on Roku, not the general Roku series search.) Android app still has TV-MA for everything and cbs.com seems to have removed the series ratings from all of the show descriptions entirely. So not sure if this is a change that got reflected on the CBS Roku app first for some reasons. Could be a mistake, I guess, but it's odd that it only affected Star Trek shows. (Roku's CBS app still shows all other CBSAA shows as TV-MA.)

To make things even more confusing, I just noticed that if you search Amazon Prime Video, it shows Discovery season 1 as TV-14, season 2 as TV-PG, and season 3 as TV-PG... on the search page. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=star+trek+discovery
But then if you click on season one or three (but not two), it lists them TV-MA?? (Season 2 stays TV-PG.) https://www.amazon.com/The-Vulcan-Hello/dp/B077M2959Q https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B07YS2L6WY

Seriously, American TV ratings are so confusing and inconsistent.

 

[Cap'n Calhoun]

If I recall correctly (which I probably don't), all of Discovery S1 was originally TV-MA, which received some complaints because many episodes didn't feature any objectionable language or violence (and, of course, the language being an American thing). When S2 rolled out, they toned it down and most episodes, including the premiere, were broadcast with TV-14. "Point of Light", with its disemboweled Klingon and beheaded infant, was TV-MA, but it was the lone aberration. Picard pushed language and violence (Icheb's friendly eye-gouging) to get a respectable TV-MA in most episodes, although a few episodes (Nepenthe) could've gotten away with a much lower rating. Lower Decks seems to be striving for TV-14, as all its episodes (even the latest with highly graphic violence) has been awarded that. I think the cartoony nature allowed an on-screen beheading in Lower Decks to get a lower rating than the ones barely seen in Picard with its higher rating.

Yeah, this pretty much matches how I view it.

I'll add in that the relatively family-friendly Short Treks also has many of its episodes rated TV-MA, and I'm not entirely sure why, and that's coming from someone who's relatively prudish and doesn't curse. I think it's probably from light PG-13 language that's used infrequently enough that it doesn't catch my attention, but that's my best guess.

 

[Tim Thomason]

On a cursory search of Amazon Prime (which links to CBS All-Access), Lower Decks the series is TV-MA, but all six episodes individually are TV-14. I don't know if that means we have a TV-MA ep coming up, or they just slapped the rating on all the new Star Trek shows.

This is a little concerning, because I imagine these series ratings might block these (and many others?) from being viewable under parental locks and family-safe services, even if individual eps are fine.

 

[Oddish]

What about the ones with F-bombs? I though that was an automatic MA. Or is it like movies now, where you can have one F-word and keep a PG-13 rating, but two knocks you to R?

 

[CuriousCaitian]

Well, if Strange New Worlds has a lower rating, then we'll know they're easing back on the more graphic stuff. Something lighter, for want of a better word, is certainly needed, I'd say; for sake of variety, if nothing else.

Both DSC & PIC are rated 15 overall in the UK, the second-highest rating, largely due to the violent content - we tend to be stricter on it than the US - and from what I've read of Lower Decks in this thread it would likely get the same rating when and if it airs here. If SNW gets an MA/15, then the only new Trek show with a family-friendly rating would be the Nick series Prodigy.

That seems a little imbalanced, but there's still lots to be seen, not least any other series that might be in the pipeline.

 

[Cap'n Calhoun]

What about the ones with F-bombs? I though that was an automatic MA. Or is it like movies now, where you can have one F-word and keep a PG-13 rating, but two knocks you to R?

Yeah, that confuses me for Picard in particular if it's possible they're re-rating it. Think Discovery only had one episode that used them, so I can see considering it TV-14 with TV-MA episodes, at least viewing it purely on language.

Then again, I think some shows (possibly including Trek?) give an automatic TV-MA for s#!+. (Told you I was a prude.) So I think a lot of the TV-MA episodes of Discovery and Short Treks are rated for that reason. (Though that's definitely not consistent from series to series. I've seen some TV-14 series drop it constantly.)

 

[C.E. Evans]

I think it's a combination of more previously considered edgier content being more acceptable these days and CBS wanting these shows to eventually air outside of CBS All Access. I too thought it was odd that Lower Decks would bleep out words that weren't on Discovery and Picard. While i expect that DIS and PIC would eventually be edited for cable or regular TV, it seems that LD was already done so. Then again as alluded upthread, the self-censoring of language in LD may simply be a deliberate creative choice.

Now violence, on the other hand...we love violence. You can push that pretty far without it being slapped TV-MA.

 

[Kor]

IMDB now also lists STDisco as overall TV-14.

What about the ones with F-bombs? I though that was an automatic MA. Or is it like movies now, where you can have one F-word and keep a PG-13 rating, but two knocks you to R?

This doesn't mean individual episode ratings are changing. It just means the series overall is listed as TV-14 as a general indication. Maybe they're basing it on the number of TV-14 and TV-PG vs. TV-MA episodes, or something like that, instead of just automatically listing the entire series at whatever the maximum rating is for any particular episodes in the series.

...
Now violence, on the other hand...we love violence. You can push that pretty far without it being slapped TV-MA.

Yeah, several years ago I figured I would try to give NBC's "Hannibal" a try, as it was TV-14. I quickly found it pretty unwatchable. Apparently they managed the TV-14 by making all the blood a slightly odd color.

Kor

 

[Oddish]

Ironically, the F word no longer shocks people. You want to make people crap bricks, use something racist or homophobic.

 

[Tim Thomason]

Ironically, the F word no longer shocks people. You want to make people crap bricks, use something racist or homophobic.

Yep. The F word has been replaced by the F word.

 

[Lord Garth]

Yep. The F word has been replaced by the F word.

I call it "The Other F-Word".