Posted on 11/17/2004 3:54:17 PM PST by churchillbuff
The nation's chief media regulator expressed disappointment Wednesday over the steamy locker room opening to ABC's "Monday Night Football" broadcast.
AP Photo
"I wonder if Walt Disney would be proud," said Michael Powell, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (news - web sites). ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co.
The opening, which has generated complaints to ABC and the FCC (news - web sites), featured actress Nicollette Sheridan in the locker room, supposedly dressed only in a white towel. She drops the towel and jumps into the arms of Philadelphia Eagles star Terrell Owens. Sheridan was shown only from behind and above the waist after dropping the towel.
Powell questioned the judgment of those who decided to air the scene.
"It would seem to me that while we get a lot of broadcasting companies complaining about indecency enforcement, they seem to be continuing to be willing to keep the issue at the forefront, keep it hot and steamy in order to get financial gains and the free advertising it provides," Powell said during an interview on CNBC.
An FCC spokeswoman said the agency has received a number of complaints about the ABC broadcast, though she declined to say how many.
The complaints will be reviewed and the commission will decide whether or not to open an investigation that could result in a fine against the network. The maximum indecency fine is $32,500 per incident.
ABC quickly apologized for the locker room intro. And the NFL called it "inappropriate and unsuitable for our 'Monday Night Football' audience."
ABC has broadcast "Monday Night Football" with a five-second delay this season, a precaution after singer Janet Jackson (news)'s "wardrobe malfunction" at February's Super Bowl halftime show — when singer Justin Timberlake (news) ripped off part of Jackson's outfit, exposing her right breast to a TV audience of some 90 million people.
CBS is protesting a proposed FCC fine of $550,000 for the halftime show.
As for his tenure at the agency, Powell said he'd be around for "a while yet."
"I still am having fun. There are still things that are really significantly important to me to complete," he said. "Right now, I just have no plans of going anywhere."
____
Do they advocate adultery like the ABC program does?
The shocking truth about the FCC: Censorship by the tyranny of the few -
With not much original reporting, I discovered that the latest big fine by the FCC against a TV network -- a record $1.2 million against Fox for its "sexually suggestive" Married by America -- was brought about by a mere three people who actually composed letters of complaint. Yes, just three people.
http://www.buzzmachine.com/archives/2004_11_15.html#008481
Back when Americans were proud and men were men, we wouldn't have stood for a network pimping a soap opera in the opening minutes of the game.
I would not want my eight year old to see that intro but I take parenting very seriously and do not permit my eight year old to watch NFL games due to the criminals that are on the field and the beer and Viagra commercials.
I have been listening to callers on Fox Sports Radio for the past 2 nights about this story...
One guy said "I don't think it would be a big fuss about it if it was Peyton Manning, instead of T.O." alluding to racism in the uproar over this stunt.
What that caller doesn't realize and what most liberals don't realize, is that a) Peyton Manning wouldn't have agreed to that open; and b) this last election proved one thing, there are 60,000,000 ticked of moralists out there...
And there's nothng MSM can do to stop the turning tide.
No, what I am saying is that the smut shown on the MNF intro was no more offensive than many beer commercials and much less offensive than a Viagra Commercial.
Therefore, my I control what my kids watch on TV and for the young ones NFL games are not a viewing option.
I thought Liberals were the ones who worshiped the Nanny State!
From this article:
NEWSWEEK: A league of her own- Nicollette Sheridan isn’t a desperate housewife (this is NEWS?)
...Now she's heating up our TV dinners again as the local strumpet in ABC's "Desperate Housewives." She spoke to NEWSWEEK's Nicki Gostin.(first question)So you play the neighborhood slut.
If you must put it like that. I prefer to think of her as the neighborhood hussy or harlot.
Oh, so the NFL is made up upstanding citizens none of which have been charged or convicted of crimes?
Cue the music... We're not gonna take it, oh no we ain't gonna take it... no we're not gonna take it any mooooorrrreeeee
Ray Lewis AND Jamal Lewis wer both charged with crimes, copped to pleas and are now devout christians.(along with Ed Reed, Tony Dungy, and a LARGE number of other players)
A person like you, who has no kids, cannot understand that parents are not able to sit continously in front of the TV with their finger tensed on the "off" button in case the Hollywood Stupid Class decides it's a good time for another ambush.
Think first, comment second.
I don't support these bums, anyway. They are grossly overpaid, and all you hear about is their arrest records....I don't watch, and neither do my kids. We're usually watching the history channel.
I do not seem to recall reading in the Constitution that the First Amendment will be abolished if 60 million people vote for one candidate or the other.
Perhaps, we ought to be real Conservatives as opposed to whinning Liberals and respect the First Admendment and permit natural market forces to control what is on the TV. If the ratings for MNF go down next week perhaps ABC will learn what people like and what they do not like to watch on TV.
However, if you need the Nanny State to help you raise your children I feel very sorry for your kids.
Don't be a Liberal, Take Responsibility for your own Kids.
I Like Powell!
Not lately. I don't have TV, not for four years now.
So you're saying that it IS something I should expect, if I watched football.
Wouldn't it be great to be an athlete and when interviewed, say something like "this crappy beer is cheap slop and the only people I've seen with it are total losers."?
Then apologize the next day, since apologizing the next day makes everything OK.
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