by Ed Vitagliano
(AgapePress) – One of television's most controversial writer/producers is crafting another envelope-pushing moment that may introduce breast nudity for the first time on a network television drama — courtesy of Disney/ABC.
Steven Bochco is expected to launch his new courtroom drama Philly this fall, adding its edgy content to his already bawdy portfolio. Bochco's productions always contain material that sling shots past previous standards, whether it was NYPD Blue (nudity, language), Public Morals (language), or Brooklyn South (violence). The last two series were developed at CBS and died early deaths in 1996 and 1997, respectively, while NYPD Blue has been an ABC hit since 1993.
TV Guide obtained a copy of the pilot episode of Philly, and promptly designated it bluer than Blue, and said the new show “expands the meaning of ‘partial nudity' beyond the bare backsides that have become an NYPD Blue staple.” In one early scene in the pilot, a woman unhooks her bra to expose her breasts. If Disney/ABC allows it, it will be the first time in television history that a woman exposes herself on a network drama.
At least one industry insider, former NBC executive Roz Weinman, expects Disney/ABC to allow Bochco the freedom to include the scene. “Bochco always pushes the envelope. It's a way for him to get free publicity early on,” he told TV Guide. “ABC has a history of supporting him, so I think he'll be able to shoot pretty much what's in the script. The breasts will somehow get in.”
In any case, Philly is getting rave reviews upstairs. ABC Entertainment executive Lloyd Braun said the new show is “absolutely fantastic.”
Critics Blast Hollywood's Use of Sex, Violence to Undermine Traditional Values
by Bill Fancher and Jim Brown
(AgapePress) – Hollywood is continuing its full-fledged assault on religion and the family, according to Brent Bozell of the Parents Television Council. He says the attacks are increasing in subtle ways.
“There needn't be a reference to Christianity, even morality, to identify the anti-Christian, anti-family swampland that has become television,” Bozell says. “And one needn't look at late-night, pay-per-view cable to find it either. It's right in front of us — on broadcast network television, on prime time, even during the eight o-clock so-called 'family hour.' And it's being targeted directly, specifically to children.”
Bozell says research supports the fact that vulgar language, violence, bigoted attitudes toward religion and the family, and sexual content are increasing at alarming rates. He believes the industry no longer cares who it offends.
“The rules governing profanities and obscenities are being hurled out the window, one after another,” he says. “Characters regularly swear at [other] characters — at friends, at spouses, at parents — using unspeakable language unheard of [on the air] just two years ago.”
Bozell also says the values Hollywood is promoting are a far cry from those of the past. He maintains the industry promotes sexual promiscuity as the norm and traditional morality as outdated.
A columnist for The Boston Herald seconds Bozell's concerns, saying a steady diet of television is a “do-it-yourself lobotomy.” Don Feder says television teaches us to be materialistic, violent, and sexually irresponsible.
In a column focused on National TV Turnoff Week (April 23-29), Feder offers a variety of opinions and statistics about TV's drain on U.S. culture. He notes that the average child has been exposed to 360,000 commercials by age 18. According to Feder, it is no wonder we have become a nation of “hyper-consumers, whose lives are largely dedicated to acquisition.”
Feder also says TV has shaped the “savagery” into which we are sinking. For example, he says the average child will witness 16,000 dramatized murders by age 18. In addition, he points to a 1999 study which found that per-hour sexual content on the TV networks was three times greater than a decade earlier.
Elsewhere on the entertainment scene, at least one high-profile celebrity is still upset at Democrats for not doing more to keep George W. Bush out of the White House. Barbara Streisand reportedly met recently with Democratic House Leader Dick Gephardt, television producer Norman Lear, actor/director Warren Beatty, and others in Hollywood in an effort to create a “Democrat-only” cable network that she hopes will help change that.
In response to that report, movie critic Michael Medved says Hollywood elitists just have a tough time losing elections. He asks, “Do people in the entertainment industry truly believe that you can enhance your popularity and your standing and the devotion of your fans by announcing before a national election, 'Well, if George W. Bush wins this White House, I'm leaving'?”
Medved says having a man who exhibits character other than that which Hollywood promotes makes life unbearable in America for some of those Hollywood elitists.
“Do you know how many people [in Hollywood] said that [they would leave the country if Bush was elected] … and how many of them are still here?” he asks. “Cher promised to sell her house the day after the election; she didn't do it. Alec Baldwin promised … Robert Altman promised … they're all still here. The only one who kept his promise was Johnny Depp, who is going into 'harsh, permanent exile' in Paris.”
Medved says threats such as those will never be heard from people on the other side of the cultural divide.
(This update courtesy of Agape Press.)
