-Caveat Lector- September 2, 2001 As Cable Applies Pressure, Network TV Spouts Expletives By JIM RUTENBERG Aaron Sorkin, the executive producer of "The West Wing" on NBC, says he hopes to break a longstanding network taboo this coming television season: he wants a character to curse in a way that uses the Lord's name in vain. Steven Bochco, the executive producer of "Philly," a new legal drama on ABC, has proposed having a character use a scatological reference that has never before been uttered on an ABC series — one considered tougher than the profanities already in use on his police drama, "NYPD Blue." CBS executives say that writers are submitting scripts for programs that include every crude word imaginable, including one considered to be on the furthermost reaches of decorum (let's just say it has to do with the making of stem cells). None of these ideas, all hatched in the frenzy that precedes the fall television season, has yet been cleared by a network censor. If the experience of the last year or two is any indication, there will be heated discussions about them and, probably, some new leeway granted. The give-and-take between censors and producers is a time-honored ritual in broadcast television, and standards have eased gradually over the decades. But the struggles behind the scenes are growing more strident and more complicated — making some people wonder where the boundaries of taste will settle in the next few years. Broadcast television is under siege by smaller cable competitors that are winning audiences while pushing adult content. In that climate, broadcast is fighting the perception that its tastes are lagging behind those of a media- saturated culture whose mores have grown more permissive. The networks are also trying to satisfy advertisers who are tight with their money in difficult economic times and are grasping for a younger audience that has grown up with potty-mouthed realism. So network censors are becoming more lenient. Last television season, CBS allowed the use of the commonly used word for dung in a live production of "On Golden Pond" and received no major protest. An entire episode of "The Job," on ABC, revolved around the joyous visits by the main characters, police officers, to a massage parlor that offered a particular sort of sexual favor. Even early-evening programs like "Friends," on NBC, make regular references to masturbation and bodily functions, areas that broadcasters previously ignored. In an episode of "Boston Public," shown at 8 p.m. on Fox, a female student performs oral sex on a male student in return for his agreement not to run against her for the student body presidency. "What's really happening now is a transformation to the daily normalization of this," said Robert Thompson, professor of media and pop culture at Syracuse University. "It's commonplace to hear erection jokes on `Friends' at 8 o'clock; even gentle little programs like `Everybody Loves Raymond' have the kind of stuff that, when it played on `Three's Company' 20 years ago, made the PTA go completely ballistic." Of course, broadcast television, which is available to every home with a television set, can only go so far. It still has to appeal to the largest audiences possible and operate under the decency standards enforced by the Federal Communications Commission. But whatever it ultimately tries this season, which begins this month, will be watched particularly carefully within the industry because there is growing pressure to walk a very fine line. The networks are flanked in most homes by cable channels that do not face similar restriction. In recent months, increasingly large audiences have been lured to anything- goes cable programs like "The Sopranos" and "Sex and the City" on HBO — posing a greater threat to the networks' market share. A few months ago, "South Park," an animated show on Comedy Central, parodied the restrictions by using the four-letter word for dung 162 times in one episode. "We do have a responsibility, and I do think we're a broadcaster in the broadest sense," said Jeff Zucker, the NBC Entertainment president. "On the other hand, we have to open our eyes and understand we have to adapt." NBC has been the most public of the major broadcast networks in discussing the conundrum facing its industry. This spring, Mr. Zucker's boss, the chairman of NBC, Robert C. Wright, sent a letter to network executives and the Hollywood creative community asking how the acclaim for "The Sopranos" — with its graphic violence, language and sexual situations — "impacts mainstream entertainment and NBC in particular." NBC's solution, like those of the other networks, has been greater leniency. For instance, in the spring, Mr. Sorkin submitted a scene for the finale of "The West Wing" in which the president's secretary describes his father with a five- letter anatomical reference. Alan Wurtzel, NBC's president for research and media development, who is in charge of network standards and practices, initially refused to let Mr. Sorkin use it. Mr. Sorkin, however, pleaded strongly for it, arguing that the character, by her nature a prim woman, was making a serious statement by using an epithet. "It was the right word and the slightly startling nature of it was really what you needed," Mr. Sorkin said. Just days before the episode was to be shown, Mr. Wurtzel relented. "Here was the point that won me over," Mr. Wurtzel said. "I know who this character is, and the very fact that you would never think she would say that is significant — all of a sudden there is a resonance with respect to that dialogue." Mr. Wurtzel sits at the point of impact in television's clash between morality, taste and creativity. He said he believed strict standards were necessary given the diverse spectrum of viewers NBC attracts in an average prime-time audience of 11.6 million people. But he said producers were pushing particularly hard these days to show more adult content, and that much of the audience seems open to it. Mr. Wurtzel attributes this not so much to the popularity of programs like "The Sopranos" and the foibles of Bill Clinton, but to the growth of shock radio. "What's happened is there's been almost a legitimizing of saying certain words and themes that people, say five years ago, would never articulate," Mr. Wurtzel said. "My objective is to get things on the air, within our standards, with the understanding that our standards are continually changing and evolving and are trying as best as they can to reflect where the society is. Once I have a sense of that, there are certain programs I can permit to go out a little further." NBC is not alone. Executives at CBS, traditionally considered the more conservative of the big networks, said last week that a new program about a town with people who can transform into wolves, "Wolf Lake," will contain a warning for partial nudity. CBS executives said the first episode contains a particularly revealing sex scene. "I think it's a 10 o'clock show and people will know after we get done with all of our promotion that `Wolf Lake' is not your typical show," said Carol Altieri, the CBS vice president for program practices. "It's kind of dark and eerie and weird and wonderful and, quite frankly, I'm going to try to test the waters a bit on this, give this some latitude and see how our audience greets it." This is not to say that anything now goes. Dick Wolf, the executive producer of NBC's "Law and Order," said censors have never been more sensitive when it comes to race and ethnicity. And Mr. Bochco, the executive producer of "Philly," said that as far as he was concerned, standards have not loosened enough when it comes to adult language and situations. He said he was particularly galled when ABC's censors refused this summer to use the common word that refers to the refuse of a bull. "It's a pretty silly thing, when you look at it in the context of a show like `The Sopranos,' which people by the millions tune into, to have that argument with ABC broadcast standards and lose it," Mr. Bochco said. Olivia Cohen-Cutler, the ABC vice president for broadcast standards and practices, said the word had never been uttered in an ABC series before and she did not intend to break that tradition. Still, Mr. Bochco said he would probably try to get the word in another episode. The question now among television executives, producers and media watchdog groups is how far things will go — and how far the public will allow them to go. So far, there has been little outcry. And the F.C.C. said the number of indecency complaints involving television remained negligible and no actions had been taken against stations for network programs this year. Federal decency standards cover broadcast television and radio from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., when children may be watching. Ultimately it may be advertisers who put the brakes on things. Recently, Procter & Gamble (news/quote) showed its influence when CBS decided against showing some reruns of episodes of "Family Law" that the company had refused to sponsor. Those episodes, however, dealt with issues like gun control and the death penalty, not language or sex. Producers plan to keep pushing hard. "Broadcast television can grow up as the rest of the country does," Mr. Sorkin, the producer of "The West Wing," said. "And there's absolutely no reason why we can't use the language of adulthood in programs that are about adults." Steve Wingate, Webmaster ANOMALOUS IMAGES AND UFO FILES http://www.anomalous-images.com <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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