Sunday, Jul 20, 2008
Warning: The way a right-wing "parents" group is wasting the FCC's time might just make you (dare we say it?) "pissed."
Jan 27, 2005 | On Monday, the Federal Communications Commission announced that it had rejected 36 complaints of indecency brought by the right-wing Parents Television Council against TV shows like "Friends," "The Simpsons," "Scrubs" and "The Gilmore Girls."
This may seem like an encouraging development, depending on how you felt about the FCC's recent fining of TV and radio networks thanks to Janet Jackson and Howard Stern, or its prolonged deliberation over whether Bono's uttering of the F-word -- in joy, as an intensifier -- at the 2003 Golden Globes deserved sanction, or how its "indecency" crusade was used to frighten TV stations away from airing "Saving Private Ryan" (also found by the FCC this week to be A-OK).
But don't relax just yet (yes, we're talking about you, SpongeBob and Buster) -- because a review of the 36 complaints by the Parents Television Council causes two distinct reactions, neither of them relief: 1) Are five, well-compensated, publicly paid adults at a government agency really sitting around discussing whether or not Austin Powers can say "testicles" on prime time? And 2) Who are these PTC "monitors" who spend all their time watching TV and getting overheated when someone on "Scrubs" says "nipples"? (Are they well-compensated? And if so, are there any openings?)
PTC's complaints -- as summarized by the FCC in its findings -- are reprinted here:
1. "Everwood," September 16, 2002, 9 p.m. EST: a character remarks to another: "I got this black eye because of you, dick."
2. "Fastlane," September 18, 2002, 9 p.m. EST: one character threatens another by stating: "...in my next life I'm coming back as a pair of pliers and pull off your nutsack."
3.. "Girls Club," October 21, 2002, 9 p.m. EST: a young female attorney says to an older male attorney: ". . . those power dicks are going to start giving me trials." The attorney responds: "Is that what you call us? Power dicks?"
4. "Girls Club," October 28, 2002, 9 p.m. EST: a female character remarks: "I'm not feeling too sexual these days . . . . Especially here, I'm having a little trouble with one of the power dicks."
5. "Dawson's Creek," October 30, 2002, 8 p.m. EST: one character remarks to another: "Listen, I know that you're pissed at your dad for flaking on you. It doesn't mean he's a bad dad, and it doesn't mean he doesn't love you. Another character responds: "No, it just means he's a dick."
6. "Dawson's Creek," December 11, 2002, 8 p.m. EST: one character tells another: ". . . you're being a dick."
7. "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me," January 8, 2003, 8 p.m. EST: musical number during which the title character's naked torso and genital area are blocked by objects, furniture, and, in one instance, by his hands. Later scenes include the use of the phrase "fat bastard," and the word "testicles." In another scene from this film, a male and a female character are in bed together, but no sexual or excretory organs or activities are depicted or discussed.
8. "NYPD Blue," April 8, 2003, 9 p.m. CST: a character states: "That dickhead in a wheelchair."
9. "Friends," May 1, 2003, 8 p.m. EST: a female character and her husband encounter the husband's former girlfriend at a medical office. After a conversation concerning fertility treatment, the female character says that she has to go because she's got "an invasive vaginal exam to get to."
10. "The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer," May 12, 2003, 9 p.m. EST: one scene depicts two female characters and one male character in bed together; all three are under the covers and there are no sexual or excretory organs or activities depicted. Another scene depicts a male character tying a female character to a bed and then applying ice to her abdomen. The female character moans and writhes. A third scene depicts a maid undressing while a male character surreptitiously watches. A portion of the side of the maid's breast is shown, but her nipple is not exposed.
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