Phew - there were a lot of abbreviations in that title! The FCC
has just proposed (on Jan. 25th) a $1.4 million fine regarding the
now-famous (or infamous?) shower scene in the February 25, 2003 broadcast
of Emmy Award-winning American TV police drama NYPD Blue.
In the scene, Det. Connie McDowell, played by Charlotte Ross, fiddled
with the bathtub faucet, derobed, lingered at the mirror and towel rack,
and then got into the shower. Nude.
Fifty-two ABC affiliates will be named. The FCC posted this PDF of "Notice of Apparent Liability For
Forfeiture," stating, "In our assessment of whether broadcast material is
patently offensive, "the full context in which the material
appeared is critically important...The Commission received numerous
complaints...The complainants contend that such material is indecent and
request that the Commission impose sanctions against the licensees
responsible for broadcasting this material."
You may be shocked,
but we're going to agree with the FCC here. Although we find the
majority of this great blog post that we stumbled upon to be similar
to our feelings on the subject and the body image presented - and we
aren't fans of censorship - this likely would not have happened
if ABC had arranged to bump the scene forward one hour for that
episode only.
It aired at 9:00 pm Central Standard Time and
Mountain Standard Time. In which case, the FCC is just doing their
job with regard to what is acceptable for which programming times are
deemed appropriate for daytime TV, determined by Congress. So if you
disagree with this and are blaming the FCC, you're barking up the wrong
tree.
Commissioner Deborah Tayler Tate said in a statement, "Our
action today should serve as a reminder to all broadcasters that Congress
and American families continue to be concerned about protecting
children."
"The law is simple. If a broadcaster makes the
decision to show indecent programming, it must air between the hours of 10
p.m. and 6 a.m. This is neither difficult to understand
nor burdensome to implement."
That being said - if you're over 18
(or 21 where applicable), the scene of Charlotte Ross', deemed brave and
powerful, is here. Hey, this doesn't mean someone's going
to pull Ross' PETA ad, does it?
Wait!
There's more!
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