A Show of Indecency

I watch tv about as much as the average person. More than I should, but in all fairness, it's mostly on for background noise. (Not that a toddler in the house doesn't already provide enough of that.) Mostly, I watch a lot of sitcoms, a few new ones and a lot of old ones in syndication or on DVD. I figure life is full of enough drama without having to watch it in graphic detail in my home.

So I had no plans (for the above reasons and other soon-to-be obvious ones) to watch the WB's new show, The Bedford Diaries, set to air at 9pm. Wednesday evening. I really didn't know much more about the show than what the previews revealed, which was more than enough for me. The Bedford Diaries is a show about a college class entitled "Sexual Behavior and the Human Condition". The "diaries" in the show's title refer to the assigned video diaries that the students have been asked to keep on their personal sexual experiences. Enough said....I don't have any desire to watch.

However, as I was searching around on the internet for something to blog on, I clicked on a video report from CNN.com which not only talked about the show, but aired some of the controversial footage. I say controversial because apparently the WB has chosen to do a little self-censoring, and will no longer be airing (at least on tv) the original program. Out of fear that they will be fined by the FCC, the WB deleted approximately 2 minutes worth of footage from tonight's debut episode. Some of the footage cut, according to a report for the Boston Globe: "a girl with a hand in her pants, two girls kissing on a dare. A close-up of a woman modeling nude for an artist has been cut, but wider shots of the scene will remain. The bare behind of a streaker will be blurred. A silhouetted shot of a woman's bare breast will be altered so the nipple isn't visible." However, the full, un-edited version will be available via the internet on the show's website.

According to Washington Post staff writer Tom Shales, "It's possible, of course, that the WB has trumped up its own stir about possible fines and post-broadcast censorship for "Bedford Diaries" premiere to generate publicity and make the FCC look ridiculous. The publicity will do no harm, and the FCC looks ridiculous already. Ridiculous -- but dangerous."

Mr. Shale's article also referred to the FCC as, "the Bush administration's busybody FCC" and intimated that the reason CBS has been hit so hard by the FCC is because of "a grievance held by members of the administration or the White House itself." Mr. Shales also says, "But unquestionably, the FCC's new activism -- threatening and levying enormous fines...has had the proverbial chilling effect on networks and producers."

Interestingly enough, in all the articles I read in researching this post, none of them mentioned that the FCC had done anything except fine other shows/networks for indecency. They haven't said word one to the WB about this show. Of course, it is likely that they would have, because it would seem that The Bedford Diaries either already has or almost certainly will violate the decency standards the FCC has already set. Decent people (like me, if I was to watch) would complain and the FCC would actually enforce it's rules. Heaven forbid!

So for once, a network did a little (and it sounds like it may still not be enough for most decent folks) self-censoring in order to stay out of trouble. No one forced them, and since they are still airing the uncut version on the internet, they really aren't doing that much editing anyhow. Isn't this the way guidelines are supposed to work? The FCC sets the rules, the tv networks voluntarily follow them or they face punishment. Seems like a pretty simple concept, but apparently Mr. Shales thinks the rules are "ridiculous and dangerous".

Well Mr. Shales, I think forcing indecent programming on network tv
(and cable tv for that matter) is ridiculous and dangerous. So knock it off or pay the fine. It's your choice.