with the censors. Italian slang words were always part of Dean's "schtick" on and off camera. When he slipped Dean would wink at us, we got the picture. Only astute translators of Italian cuss words would understand what he was saying. The trouble started during a comedy bit with Bill Dana when Dean quipped "fan culo." A very few prudish viewers, took the words literally, and barraged NBC censors with their letters objecting. NBC reprimanded Greg Garrison and Dean with a terse warning, "make sure it never happens again." All of Dean's remarks uttered in Italian would be censored from the show. Dean was not a happy camper. During commercial breaks he would mutter Italian expletives about the censors. Dean's amazing "parolacce" vocabulary reminded me of my dad, who schooled us, in our younger days, with every Italian curse word ever spoken by Roman scholars.Mike Colonna
No comments:
Post a Comment