Post-Super Bowl, Bare Breasts on 'ER' Raise Alarm (Nipplegate II, Coming Thursday Night on NBC)

TelevisionWeek ^ | February 3, 2004

[Timesink]

Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2004

Post-Super Bowl, Bare Breasts on 'ER' Raise Alarm

Only days after the firestorm created when Janet Jackson exposed her breast during the Super Bowl, plans to air an episode of "ER" on NBC Thursday evening that includes a view of an elderly female patient's bare breast are raising serious concerns among the network's affiliates.

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. #

[ErnBatavia]

Turn your head and cough, please.

Better than the dreaded "Roll over on your side and bring your knees to your chest"...(accompanied by the snap of the exam glove being put on)

[Old Professer]

There you go again, mixing grapes and raisins.

[GOPJ]

Thanks for the ping.

[ClancyJ]

No, they are not.

In addition, I am getting really sick of watching men pee in every movie too. What is it with these people that it is absolutely necessary to have a scene in the bathroom.

Don't you know they are just chomping at the bit to arrange for a scene with women in the john?

Now, just why am I supposed to enjoy watching men in the bathroom? Where is the romance, the intrigue? How come all of their plots have to have urinals in them?

[ClancyJ]

What is PAX?

I do enjoy Turner Classic Movies. I enjoy watching movies where there are several story lines in one movie, where all the ends tie up as believeable. These were real stories to be remembered.

I use to enjoy weekly renting a movie. Yet, time after time, I had that "Yuck" feeling after seeing it, or I was left hanging as to why someone killed all those people, or there were great lapses in credibility of events, or I felt I had just wasted two hours.

Note - by the way - we rented "24" and thoroughly enjoyed watching all the shows. Great, great entertainment leaving you clicking the button to go on to the next show.
Best viewing since Lonesome Dove.

This is the wave of the future - exciting serial type shows that make you rush to see the next episode. Most fun to watch on video - so we are not watching the current season - will watch the tape of four shows weekly. Brings to mind the weekly serialized movies shown in long ago theaters.

[Unassuaged]

I will bite. Men have niples because all fetuses were female to start with.

[Unassuaged]

So,chattel slavery was not the end, millions of deaths due to Socialism, ect, not either, but a bare breast is a sign of the end?

[lainde]

How tiresome! BTTT

[panaxanax]

"Men have nipples because all fetuses were female to start with."

Okay, if that's true then why don't I have a vagina? I just checked and didn't see anything that remotely resembles one.

[panaxanax]

"Men have nipples because all fetuses were female to start with."

That's creepy. Who's idea was it for us to all start out as girls? Why not begin as males?

I'm so confused!!

[Political Junkie Too]

You know, I saw that ER episode.

ER ran a repeat last week that showed an elderly black woman being brought into the ER with her granddaughter in tow. The doctors ripped open the woman's shirt, exposing her breasts, to attach probes while the girl was yelling "No! No!"

Since NBC has been announcing four "All New" ER episodes for the February sweeps, was this to be a second breast exposure of an elderly patient?

-PJ

[Unassuaged]

I suppose the default/base model needs to be able to reproduce.

[Political Junkie Too]

Well, I saw tonight's ER, and they pixilated the scene in question. In this episode, it was an elderly Haitian woman with Whooping Cough that they try to revive. NBC did a circular shot around the table while the doctors tried to revive the patient, and when they rotated to an exposed shot of the woman, they pixilated the naughty bits.

However, nobody said anything about the repeat episode last week that we saw with the other elderly woman and her young granddaughter. So, NBC made a big deal about editing out this week's scene while staying mum about last week's.

-PJ