The
TV producer (Steven Bochco) and the reverend (Don Wildmon) are up to their
old tricks again. The TV producer's gone and made another cop show (Brooklyn
South) and the reverend's gone and protested.
Every
TV season seems to bring a clash of these two titans. They clashed over
NYPD Blue and the short-lived, quasi- comedy, Public Morals. This fall,
it's Brooklyn South.
Wildmon's
American Family Association has launched a petition drive, urging CBS affiliates
to demonstrate "civic and moral responsibility" by refusing to air the
Bochco-produced series.
Brooklyn
South, about the beat cops of a gritty New York precinct, is set to premiere
on CBS on September 22. The pilot featuring a scene depicting a character's
head being blown apart by a bullet--is expected to be the first network
show to get tagged with a TV-MA rating (for adults only) when it airs.
Subsequent (and presumably, milder) episodes likely will be rated TV-14
(not recommended for kids under age 14). Bochco's production company could
not be reached for comment Friday.
CBS
Entertainment president Leslie Moonves is a staunch supporter of Brooklyn
South, which has been given the network's plum Monday night at 10 p.m.
time slot (replacing Chicago Hope, which moves to Wednesdays). He has flatly,
if impartially, declared it "the best new television drama this season."
The buzz on the show at the recent TV critics press tour was also strong.
Wildmon's
organization isn't as impressed. It declares Brooklyn South, "the most
violent program" in CBS' history. The group is distributing petitions through
its Website.
CBS
certainly can't be accused of hiding Brooklyn South's penchant for violence.
Moonves has publicly declared the blood-and-gore "extreme," and called
that head-blowing bullet bit "shocking." At the same time, though, he defends
the violence, saying it's not gratuitous.
The
American Family Association doesn't buy that line. "(Moonves) seems to
be bragging on the fact that Brooklyn South is going to be gory and violent,
and I don't think that is the direction most Americans want to take," Wildmon's
son, Tim, the group's vice president, told Daily Variety.
