ABC Dissing the FCC (and Its Audience)

I believe that free speech is absolute. (Read the second paragraph. I successfully sued the state of Virgina to protect my right to state this.) I also believe that the uproar over ABC's airing of Saving Private Ryan lacks substance. On the other hand, I believe that critics of ABC's opening to Monday Night Footbal have a valid complaint that it was over-the-top.

In the scripted introduction to "Monday Night Football," Nicollette Sheridan, who portrays the serial divorcée Edie Britt on the popular ABC series "Desperate Housewives," wore only a towel as she flirted with Philadelphia Eagles receiver Terrell Owens in an otherwise empty locker room. After asking Owens to miss the game, Sheridan dropped the towel; the camera showed her upper body from behind. Owens, smiling broadly, said the Eagles would have to win without him, and Sheridan leapt into his arms.

Yesterday, a league spokesman called the sketch "inappropriate and unsuitable for our 'Monday Night Football' audience," and the league office expressed its displeasure to ABC executives. ABC Sports apologized, saying in a statement, "We agree that the placement was inappropriate."

It's not that saying f*** and s*** on television has no adverse social consequences while Nicolette Sheridan bearing her back does. Saving Private Ryan was a scheduled movie with ample warnings about its content. That being said, I am a unapologetic advocate of free speech, but I am also an advocate of adhering to social norms and standards. This film, however, was of historical value, and the fact that it included content--albeit controversial--relevant to historical accuracy (even if not absolute accuracy it certainly expressed the reality of specific historical situations) makes including the objectionable content largely unavoidable. It was beneficial that it aired on broadcast television as a means of teaching a historical episode to households lacking access to cable or satellite television. If you regarded the known content objectionable you could have easily switched channels or left the television off.

The Monday Night Footbal opening, on the other hand, served no other purpose than to generate publicity for ABC's newest hit show. And generate publicitiy it did. But it crossed two lines:

1. It defied community standards without any social merit. (ABC indeed has a right to air what it pleases within FCC standards, but it also has a responsibility to the community that it serves.)
2. More importantly, it was unexpected. Much like the Super Bowl halftime show, young kids were likely exposed to content that parents would otherwise have blocked had they known beforehand that it would be aired.

ABC, in its desire to promote its other show, did so at the expense of viewers who they had to know would find it offensive. I found it idiotic rather than offensive, but I can certainly understand and side with the critics.