Decency Advocates Applaud NBC Decision to Cut Flesh in 'ER' Episode
by Allie Martin and Jenni Parker
February 6, 2004
(AgapePress) - In the wake of the recent uproar over indecency in this year's Super Bowl halftime show, officials at NBC decided to edit the nudity from a scene of Thursday night's broadcast of the television show ER.Reportedly the episode of the popular medical drama was to include a scene in which an elderly female patient's breasts are exposed. Pro-family groups got wind of the scripted exposure and put both NBC and the FCC on notice.
Parents Television Council president Brent Bozell suggested that only deafness or extreme arrogance could account for NBC's failure to heed the recent uproar over the baring of Janet Jackson's breast during the Super Bowl halftime show and recognize that American families are fed up with gratuitous nudity on television. Bozell stated that if published reports about the ER scene were true, then "every one of NBC's affiliates should expect maximum fines from the FCC for violating decency standards."
The American Family Association also made preparations to launch a protest against NBC if the network allowed the nude shot to air. But according to AFA special projects director Randy Sharp, NBC's network officials listened to their local affiliates, who did not want to be the focus of an FCC investigation. He says NBC was warned that if the nude scene were broadcast as planned, AFA would ask its supporters to "go to bat just like they did with CBS and the Super Bowl."
Randy Sharp | |
Since the offensive MTV-produced Super Bowl halftime show, AFA has been urging members to register their outrage over that broadcast's many violations of community decency standards. So far more than 61,000 concerned individuals have accessed the AFA website to fill out and print official complaint forms to be filed with the FCC, condemning CBS and its local affiliates for airing the raunchy halftime spectacle.Sharp notes that the FCC has been cracking down lately on indecency standard enforcement, and powerful grassroots responses like the outcry over the Super Bowl sleaze help to keep the pressure on the commission to punish violators. "This is a good step for the American family," he says. "We're finally getting prime-time family hour back to some extent. We've got a long way to go, but this is a great start."
On the Wednesday before the ER episode was to air, AFA chairman Don Wildmon warned NBC chairman Bob Wright and several dozen NBC affiliates that they would face a similar reaction from angry viewers if the scheduled "breast nudity scene" aired Thursday night.
In a letter to Wright, Wildmon wrote, "AFA is prepared to ask supporters to file formal FCC complaints against all NBC affiliate stations which choose to air this program." Reuters News Service reported early Thursday that the network had decided to pull the scene after hearing from a number of affiliate stations.
"It's clear to us, NBC affiliates didn't like the prospect of going through an FCC investigation," Wildmon says. "We're glad they stood up to the bully network and demanded the scene be cut."
Following the announcement that NBC had chosen to excise the nudity from the broadcast, the PTC's Brent Bozell issued a statement, saying "NBC has made the right decision to not air this obviously offensive scene," and adding, "We hope to see more responsible decisions like this in the future from all of the broadcast networks."
