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Posted on 02/04/2004 12:41:02 AM PST by Timesink
Some NBC affiliates are so uneasy about the scene planned for the first night of sweeps that at least one station group executive described himself Tuesday as "considering what my options are" should NBC decide to air the hour with the exposed breast. "You're not going to find the stations very willing to take the heat," said the station group executive. "I think people are going to be backing off big-time."
NBC had no comment at presstime but is aware of the potential for some affiliates to refuse to air the episode. Senior network executives had screened the scene for members of the NBC affiliates advisory board during a Las Vegas meeting held in conjunction with NATPE in mid-January.
At the time, affiliates expressed what were described as "concerns" about the scene and whether it is, even if done in good taste, essential to the drama, but no final decision was reached. After the board discussion, some affiliates had been told that award winning "ER" executive producer John Wells was unwilling to cut the scene.
Now many affiliates are even more concerned. The post-Super Bowl climate has every station owner feeling super sensitive.
There is a pending FCC investigation of the Super Bowl incident. Last week some stations were fined for earlier incidents and the White House endorsed a call for a ten-fold increase in fines for indecency on TV. There are already indecency hearings on Capitol Hill scheduled and more being threatened.
In light of the atmosphere of fear which has been created, even a tastefully shot, full-on glimpse of a bare breast in a network primetime show inspires less academic and more fearful discussions and concerns. That context led the group executive to predict that should NBC keep the breast scene in, there could be significant defections by affiliates who won't air the show.
John Wells was unavailable for comment. #
...especially considering the view of the antique hooter we all saw last Sunday.
They were the first ones that came to mind and probably not the best. Other posters have suggested other and better examples.
And of course, the critical shadow scene in "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective."
Like PAX?
While it sounds unappealing and stupid to me it doesn't sound equivalent at all.
The German/Italian film "Liane Jungle Goddess" (made in the late 1950s) was sort of a female Tarzan story. The white gal Liane (boasted as the German Bridget Bardot) walked around topless in the movie (until the safari "civilizes" her by giving her some clothes). The American and Canadian movie promotional materials showed shots of the naked "savages" but made sure to use shots where the white "savage" was discretely covered by her long hair.
In all my years of watching PBS, I've never seen shots of topless natives in Miami or European beaches or at Mardi Gras in New Orleans. There were thinly veiled white breasts in "I, Claudius" though.
Careful what you ask for:
KRON-TV fined $27,500 for indecent exposure 'Puppetry' show performer flashed genitals on cameraThe Federal Communications Commission fined the owners of Bay Area television station KRON $27,500 Tuesday for broadcasting a live news segment in which a performer from a stage show flashed his genitals.
The penalty is the maximum allowed for a single infraction and was only the second fine in the FCC's history for a television broadcast, according to one commissioner. [snip] The KRON incident occurred on the morning of Oct. 4, 2002, when the two members of a traveling theater act titled "Puppetry of the Penis" were invited to the station's San Francisco headquarters. After a brief discussion about the show -- which features performers twisting their privates into shapes resembling people, places and things including a hamburger and the Loch Ness Monster -- a camera panned over "Puppetry" member David Friend's uncovered genitals, which flashed on screen for less than a second.
KRON maintained from the beginning that the station hadn't intended for viewers to see the penis, and station owner Young Broadcasting Inc. challenged the fine. But the FCC maintained in a nine-page ruling that KRON failed to take adequate precautions "despite its awareness that the interview involved performers who appear nude in order to manipulate their genitalia. Under these circumstances, the airing of the indecent material during the interview was clearly foreseeable."
"While hard to believe, this appears to be only the second time the commission has ever found a television broadcast to be indecent,'' said Commissioner Kevin Martin.
While the FCC said the incident could have been prevented, KRON employees were clearly horrified the moment Friend was exposed. Members of the morning news team apologized repeatedly on the air immediately afterward.
KRON General Manager Paul "Dino" Dinovitz continued to express regret on Tuesday after hearing about the FCC decision.
"It's unfortunate,'' Dinovitz said. "It happened, and we're very sorry about it."
While the FCC ruling is officially a proposal that allows the station to seek a reduction or cancellation of the fine, Dinovitz said he considers the matter over.
"Our intention is to pay the fine,'' he said.
Friend and Simon Morley had been doing promotions for "Puppetry,'' which opened at Theater on the Square later the same month. Friend and Morley also said the exposure was accidental but acknowledged that ticket sales spiked after the controversy.
The FCC started its investigation on the day of the broadcast after receiving a complaint from a viewer.
Lawyers for Young defended KRON, pointing out that the station apologized repeatedly and suspended three employees after the incident. The FCC also rejected an argument by Young that compared the "Puppetry" news coverage to the 1997 uncut broadcast of "Schindler's List," which contained full frontal nudity when it aired on NBC.
"By contrast, the manner of presentation of the complained-of material ... was pandering, titillating and shocking... ,'' the FCC ruling states. "We note, in particular, the off-camera employees' comments urging the performers to conduct a nude demonstration, and the partially off-camera demonstration to the show's hosts.''
I'm just hoping that it doesn't involved whipped cream...
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SHEILA JACKSON LEE SAYS LIVE ON C-SPAN THAT THE BEST EVER 2004 SUPERBOWL UPHELD FAMILY VALUES.
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