‘SNL’ May Avoid FCC Probe Over “Sh*t” Talk From Studio Audience During Weekend Update Skit

Proving the rules are no game, Saturday Night Live may have been saved by the clock from finding itself in the crosshairs of the Federal Communications Commission.

A shouted-out “sh*t” from the Studio 8H audience last night during a call-and-response bit from Ego Nwodim during the NBC late nighter’s Weekend Update segment slipped by network censors on the East Coast and on Peacock. The word, one of George Carlin‘s famous seven words you can’t say on TV, was bleeped out in the Pacific and Mountain time zone feeds and since bleached from SNL‘s social media pages.

The reaction from the ticketed crowd of less than 340 was in response to veteran castmember Nwodim’s Ms. Eggy stand-up persona repeatedly setting up the audience last night. Specifically, SNL MVP Nwodim whooped out “These men ain’t what?” in a routine mocking the White House Correspondents Association suddenly dropping a rightfully teed off Amber Ruffin as its emcee for this year’s DC dinner.

As Weekend Update hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che expressed varying degrees of shock at the crowd’s spontaneous profanity, Nwodim quipped, “We’re finna get fired for that” and “Y’all gonna have to pay for that, Lorne’s [SNL creator Lorne Michaels] gonna be mad at y’all.”

Maybe, maybe not. The FCC‘s own guidelines may actually provide SNL with a reprieve.

“Broadcasting obscene content is prohibited by law at all times of the day,” the commission’s guidelines read. “Indecent and profane content are prohibited on broadcast TV and radio between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when there is a reasonable risk that children may be in the audience,” the FCC adds, giving a clear indication of grant of stay to SNL, which airs beginning at 11:30 p.m. ET.

Aided by a slight delay, the West Coast and Mountain SNL broadcasts cleansing of the “sh*t” would appear to have handled any FCC backlash for the show, which airs in primetime in those regions.

With no mention of streamers like Peacock, the FCC rules go on to say: “Because obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment, it is prohibited on cable, satellite and broadcast TV and radio.  However, the same rules for indecency and profanity do not apply to cable, satellite TV and satellite radio because they are subscription services.”

They add: “Enforcement of the obscenity, indecency and profanity rules usually begins with complaints from the public that FCC staff review for possible violations. If an investigation is warranted and the FCC finds a station in violation of its rules, it has the authority to revoke a station license, impose a fine or issue an admonishment or warning.”

That direction could make all the difference, especially when it comes to an activist FCC.

Having said that, with SNL and even Nwodim no stranger to complaints from the public to the FCC over the years, Donald Trump loyalist and current FCC chair Brendan Carr has made a cottage industry in recent months of trolling and roughing up broadcasters and other outlets with politically motivated investigations — as CBS’ 60 Minutes and NBC’s SNL itself have discovered over Kamala Harris’ appearances on their networks during last year’s election.

Deadline has reached out to the FCC for reaction about the “sh*t” that went down on last night’s SNL.

Natalie Oganesyan and Ted Johnson contributed to this report