Dean Norris Going From Sex Gifs on Twitter to F-Bombs on 'Law & Order'

Profanity is pretty great! I often censor it in my articles here to avoid getting into hot water with ads (I think?), but also because while swearing is dandy, a few well-placed asterisks can make a curse word hit even harder (or funnier). Some of my favorite shows, like Arrested Development, turned censoring themselves into an art form. But rules about language on television have been getting more lax for years. We are well past networks saying “we’re going to say s*** tonight, you won’t believe it!” Now, Chucky will say the f-word before his show even starts.

There are plenty of reasons TV networks have dialed back their fear of dirty words. “Prestige” television making its way to cable networks (or mostly, at the time, AMC) forced their hands in many ways. If they wanted the elevated shows, which people craved, they had to allow more “adult” content. So, shows like Breaking Bad were allowed to push the envelope a bit more. Many former restrictions were upended further when streaming became huge, because streaming services set their own standards and practices. So, when the WWE finally moved its flagship show from the USA Network to Netflix, fans thought restrictions on language may have disappeared, but that hasn’t exactly been the case (at least, not on Netflix).

The WWE made a huge deal about their move to Netflix, even if the highlight of the first night involved Hulk Hogan getting booed for being a racist piece of s*** (and maybe his MAGA support, but the Trump-friendly Undertaker appeared the same night and was welcomed by fans). Wrestling fans have expected a more “hardcore” product since then, and while things like blood and some foul language have been allowed, Netflix hasn’t given them free reign. Several f-bombs were censored just this past Monday night.

Why is Netflix keeping the WWE from going full “Attitude Era?” My guess is they paid for something meant to appeal to families and would like it to (mostly) stay that way. Ironically, Vince McMahon spent well over a decade turning the WWE into a more family-friendly product which has been a boon for business. There are plenty of fans who want to see the product grow and mature and get nasty, but Netflix seemingly doesn’t want to abandon children just yet. Meanwhile, Peacock doesn’t give a f***.

Peacock has been the home for WWE’s PLEs (Premium Live Events, formerly Pay-Per-Views) and back catalog since 2021. The acquisition of their programming was huge for the then fledgling streaming service, and that plus exclusive rights to The Office helped keep it afloat. However, Peacock’s contract with WWE expires in 2026. They could lose one of their biggest moneymakers and are going all in during their last year in what feels like an attempt to appease older fans. So, before current WWE champion Cody Rhodes was betrayed by John Cena a couple weeks ago, he told Dwayne The Rock Johnson to “go f*** [him]self!”

WWE and Peacock played up what a huge deal it was, and while it was overshadowed moments later by Cena’s long-awaited heel turn, the moment sent a clear message to fans and advertisers. Peacock is where the f-bombs are! You may get that s*** elsewhere, but Peacock, who I legally have to refer to as “The Bad Boys of Streaming” is f***ing tired of not being able to say f***, and so is former prestige star and man with the funniest Tweet ever, Dean Norris.

If you don’t know what Tweet I’m talking about, Ask Jeeves about Dean Norris Sex GIFs. Even with the outdated search engine you’d be more adept at searching than Norris was when he fired off that Tweet. But the man has grown and changed since then. Now, he’s on Law & Order: Organized Crime (the 37th L&O spinoff?). That show is on Peacock, and aside from working with Christopher Meloni, Norris is psyched for the freedom the Bad Boys of Streaming will bring him.

“We finished it in January. It’s going to be great,” Dean Norris explained to TVInsider. “There’s a lot of family stuff between me and my good buddy Chris Meloni, and I think you guys are going to love it. I’m really excited because it’s on Peacock. We can say the F word. It’s a lot edgier, it’s a lot more intense, and so it’s been kind of freeing in a way, creatively, to be on streaming, on Peacock, instead of on the network.”

I don’t disagree that being on streaming would be more creatively fulfilling than appearing on a network show. It still is just so funny to me that the lead-in is “We can say f***!” That’s the silver tuna. They get to strap on their big boy pants and say f*** so you know it’s serious. Meanwhile, on the same service, you can watch Conclave, a mature, cross-over, Best Picture nominee that manages to creatively tackle mature themes and yet maintain a PG rating with nary a curse word to be found.

Not every show or movie should be held to that standard. Language is beautiful, even the cusses, and large swaths of people use swearing to express themselves for creative reasons or because they stubbed their toe on the same f***ing kitchen chair for the third day in a row. But just adding curse words doesn’t guarantee quality or even maturity. Sometimes, it’s the opposite. So, while Norris is celebrating his newfound freedom, I wouldn’t get too excited just because his new show has a full-ride scholarship to F-U.

Since this piece ended up being more about cursing than Norris, here is the aforementioned Tweet. It’s still up on the hell site that is X instead of hanging in The Louvre. Like a well-placed F-bomb, it is very simple but highly effective.