Movies like Slap Shot and The Last Detail (87 f-words) were among the first examples of what later became a thriving parallel universe: TV versions of foul-mouthed and violent movies. You haven't lived until you've seen Goodfellas cut for TV. All 250-odd obscenities are just gone, replaced by ridiculous euphemisms ("melon-farmer", indeed) and tin-eared pseudo-cussing. See The Usual Suspects on TV and the phrase "you fucking cocksucker" becomes "you fairy godfather", which, come to think of it, is no less homophobic. Die Hard gives us Bruce Willis in his wifebeater vest yowling "Yippee-ki-yay, Mr Falcon!" And so on.
My own favourite example of this was in the TV-edited version of, I think, Blue Jean Cop where a suspect was threatened with prison and a cell with a "big, black, kinky fella", which I felt was a better line.
There's also an extra on the Shaun of The Dead DVD which makes the case for "Prink!" being an insult of choice.
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