Sep 30, 2024 - News

When "Law & Order: SVU" was too raunchy for Utah

Erin Alberty

Mariska Hargitay as Detective Olivia Benson and Christopher Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler acting on a street scene in "Law & Order: SVU." — Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni in "Law & Order: SVU." Photo: Jessica Burstein/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images

This week marks 25 years since Salt Lake was in a minor moral panic over a gritty new TV show that had just premiered, shocking audiences across ... well, Utah, anyway: "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."

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🎶 Clunk clunk. 🎶

What drove the news: NBC affiliate KSL, which is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, got out the bleeper for the series' second episode and was trying to swap the 8pm show with the 9pm "Dateline."

Behind the curtain: "KSL edited out the word 'penis' twice and deleted the last word in the phrase 'Shove it up your ass,'" The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

The intrigue: KSL was the only affiliate to complain about the content of "Special Victims Unit," an NBC vice president told the Tribune.

Catch up quick: In its history both as a CBS and NBC affiliate, KSL has frequently jettisoned shows altogether, scrapping programming including the 1970s game show "Match Game" as well as "Garbage Pail Kids," "Picket Fences," "Hannibal," "The New Normal" and competitive poker.

Utahns often lump "Saturday Night Live" into that category, but it actually was booped in 1995 for a then-popular local sports talk show.

Reality check: Even SVU producer Dick Wolf had misgivings about the show's airtime, arguing the content was too adult for 8pm.

The show eventually moved to a later time slot and KSL stopped censoring it.

The bottom line: "Law & Order: SVU" is now one of the longest-running primetime TV shows ever made.

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When "Law & Order: SVU" was too raunchy for Utah

Previously in Old News

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