On Tue, Jul 20, 2010 at 12:28 PM, Tom Wolper <[email protected]> wrote:
> I see the issue of the Family Guy (and dropping Fresh Air on the MS > NPR station) from a different angle: broadcast media are getting so > defensive that they'd rather censor themselves than risk being > involved in a controversy. In the Family Guy story, Fox didn't reject > the story idea, they allowed MacFarlane to complete the episode and > then they decided not to air it. They didn't wait for audience or PTC > or Catholic League reaction, they just decided not to take the chance > of airing it. > > MacFarlane blames the audience, but the audience hasn't had a chance > to see it or judge it. In past circumstances, the series creator would > blast the network for dropping a finished episode based on > controversial content. In this case MacFarlane lets Fox off the hook > and blames the audience instead. > But I think that is because MacFarlane* has a pretty savvy and reasonable understanding of how things work. This is not a case of someone (particularly the Big Someone) at Fox being offended by the material and keeping it off the air. It is a case of competent broadcasters making a business decision about how their audience will react (and I guess how the government regulators might react). When he says the audience is getting dumber, I don't think he means that only dumb people are anti-choice. I think he means a smarter audience would A) not object to different points of view being aired and B) be able to laugh at themselves. Who he might be letting off the hook is not Fox so much as the FCC. ------------------------------------ * Full Disclosure: I have a close relative who does some work for the Family Guy. It is not a high level job, and the relative has only casually met MacFarlane a few times, and I of course have never met him. I have not talked to my relative about this particular issue, though I have talked previously about the ethos on the show about offending people. I have only seen a couple of episodes of the show, and none in recent years. -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
