Cussing on German television

Recently, I've been watching a German TV series (Türkisch für Anfänger) on youtube. It's the first German-language original series that I've ever seen and I had some questions about a certain cuss word that is used.

More than a few times, I've noticed the characters using various forms of "ficken" ("Schnellficker-Hose," "Du Ficker," usw.)  I was a bit surprised at first.  I was always under the impression that ficken was the equivalent of "to f*ck," which is why I found it unusual to be used in a show, probably aimed at the teenage demographic.  Is it normal for ficken to appear in such a TV show?  Am I simply misunderstanding the connotations of the word in German?  If ficken is allowed, are there any words that are generally prohibited from German television?

Sorry if I come off like a Puritanical American, but any comments on this would be greatly appreciated!

(If it helps to answer any of the questions, the show aired on Das Erste.)