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Post by chemikalman on Jun 1, 2005 13:25:30 GMT -5
I heard that the PTC (Parents Television Council) is having a representative today on the NPR program called "Fresh Air". The show airs in about 1 1/2 hr (3:00 CST) and will be replayed at 10:00 p.m., CST. The PTC is a group that pressures advertisers to pull sponsorship of shows that they consider unsuitable because of nudity, violence or profanity, etc. They have targeted The Shield ever since it came out. Those of you who answered the icebreaker questions on our site ("Interrogation Room") may remember a question about whether you think broadcast TV should have different standards than cable. That relates to what I think the PTC should consider--TS is not on the open airwaves. It is the responsibility of people who have cable and young kids to monitor what they watch. Well, I'm preaching to the choir, now, aren't I?
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Post by chemikalman on Jun 1, 2005 23:15:30 GMT -5
I listened to the interview. It was with Tim Winter, who is Executive Director of the PTC. He wasn't as unreasonable as I thought he would be. He mentioned The Sopranos and Deadwood (both HBO) but not any specific basic cable shows by name. He did say basic cable is the most "egregious", however, mainly because you are stuck with a bunch of channels you may not want because they come in a package. Winter didn't have much to say about the "V chip" or other filters. He did remark that if kids want to, they can find ways to access those channels.
He said he did not believe the FCC should regulate basic cable unless the industry refuses to go to an a la carte plan, whereby people can order only those channels they want. Ironically, the guest who preceded him, Frank Rich of the New York Times, said it was the religious channels that opposed this type of "cafeteria plan" because they would lose out.
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Post by qb on Jun 2, 2005 4:30:27 GMT -5
Doesn't FX even have a commercial right before the violence and language warning...for the V chip?? Kids won't die from hearing some nasty language--actually it was Assinvader banging his whore that bothered me (what, three times?)--only because it was during a run of eps showing women in degrading scenes. However! I know (1) women in those situations *are* often degraded (2) the objective of the writers is not to present feminist ideology and (3) my eyeballs weren't going to melt. When I watch The Shield, I know what I am going to get (well, at the very least) in terms of language and images. Would I want to watch it with my stepdaughter? Ah, no... but she can go watch it in her room and then we have something fun to talk about the next day! (Actually, she's Nip/Tuck fan so we talk about that)
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