Standards and Practices, Part 2

Well, I guess some standards still exist and some lines cannot be crossed without consequences.
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XM Radio Suspends Opie & Anthony

WASHINGTON and NEW YORK, May 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- XM Radio announced today that the company has suspended Gregg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia, hosts of "The Opie & Anthony Show" and ceased broadcast of the show for 30 days, effective immediately.

XM Radio deplored the comments aired on "The Opie & Anthony Show" last week. At the time, the company strongly expressed its views to Opie and Anthony, and they issued an immediate apology.

Comments made by Opie and Anthony on yesterday's broadcast put into question whether they appreciate the seriousness of the matter. The management of XM Radio decided to suspend Opie and Anthony to make clear that our on-air talent must take seriously the responsibility that creative freedom requires of them.

As a company, XM provides customers with tools to control what they listen to on XM. "The Opie & Anthony Show" appears on one of XM's explicit language channels (XL). Whenever a radio is tuned to an explicit language channel, the letters "XL" continuously appear on the screen. XM frequently mentions on its explicit language channels that the content may be inappropriate for certain listeners and tells how to "block" channels that feature this type of content. Channel blocking is available through xmradio.com or by calling 1-800-XMRADIO.

Keeping The 'Lights' On

Excellent news was confirmed on Monday.

NBC renewed "Friday Night Lights," one of the best - if not the best - television programs of recent years.

In addition, NBC says that repeats of the first season will begin airing on Sunday, May 27. Pass the word. As previously discussed, this is a high-quality program that Baby Boomers and their children and grandchildren should support.

Standards and Practices

People who know me well are a little surprised that I haven't yet mentioned one of the things that is making this Baby Boomer's journey into the Third Third most enjoyable: XM Satellite Radio.

One day, I will wax poetic about XM and what it delivers. One day...but not today.

Today, in a bit of an echo of the Don Imus situation, I am compelled to speak harshly about something that was broadcast on XM this past week.

This is difficult for me because I am such a fan of XM and such a proponent of free speech, so I think I'll begin with this description of the event, posted on the web by someone else:

"Warning: Extremely Vulgar Language. XM Shock Jocks Opie and Anthony engage in discussion about forced sex with the Secretary of State. A studio guest, Homeless Charlie, begins describing the scenario as the hosts laugh and encourage him. Anthony talks about the horror for Rice as the guest is "holding her down" and assaulting her. They invite Charlie to be a regular guest."

If you want to hear this for yourself, and I don't particularly recommend it, you can access an audio clip here. A full New York Times account of the resulting controversy can be found here.

Some people I know, also XM fans, are shrugging their shoulders about this. Just a skit, they say. You could hear the same thing on HBO or Saturday Night Live. Some other shock jocks are expressing alarm, saying that criticism of O&A shows that it is becoming a "dangerous time" to be on radio.

Let's be clear. This was not a 'skit.' This was not a comedy routine you would see on HBO. It was not a segment of Saturday Night Live. It would have been edited out of any program broadcast on any television network in this or virtually any other country.

This was a detailed, profanity-laced discussion about forcible, violent sex - also known as rape - on someone, a discussion that appeared to approve of that act and made light of it.

If someone were to rationalize this away, what is next?

Is it OK to have a similar, approving discussion about, say, slavery?

The genocide of Armenians, Jewish people or others?

A forcible, violent sex attack on a six-year-old child?

This was an abuse of free speech every bit as much as yelling 'fire' in a crowded theater is an abuse of free speech, and - in my opinion - it should be condemned as such.

Back in the '60s and early '70s, the most popular weatherman in New York City, the largest market in the country, was Tex Antoine. One night, his weather report came on right after a news report about a violent rape of a five-year-old girl.

Antoine said, on the air: "With rape so predominant in the news lately, it is well to remember the words of Confucius: 'If rape is inevitable, lie back and enjoy it.' "

He was suspended and ultimately fired. His career essentially ended that night.

I don't remember anyone raising free speech issues or complaining that it was becoming a dangerous time to be on television.

Imus and Civility and Us

You know, I've been wanting to post about The Imus Affair since the moment news broke Thursday that he'd been fired by CBS, but I found myself hesitating and now I think I know why:

The situation compels us to confront a fundamental facet of our generational...duality.

Many of us are children of the '60s, even if we were born earlier - or later. The events of those years and of the 50s and 70s -- the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War, Watergate and Nixon, etc. -- propelled us toward a particular embrace of free expression, which in turn has taken us down a variety of paths.

For the most part, those were beneficial paths. We tend, more than previous generations, to be more open and candid with each other and with our children (and, now, grandchildren). This is good.

Unfortunately, another of those paths has led us to the casual use of profanity. And yet another has led some people to a place where they believe they have a right, almost an obligation, to say anything that pops into their heads. After all, free expression is limitless, right?

Well...maybe not so much.

And that's where the duality comes in. On one hand, we remember our younger, liberated, idealistic selves - the people who vowed that they wouldn't be all bound up like so many of their parents. On the other hand, we are older, wiser, more experienced, in many ways - hold on now - more conservative.

We, or at least I, believe that civility has some value, and we - at least I - mourn each erosion of it.

So:

1. We can defend Imus' right to say pretty much anything, with the proviso that if you don't like what he says, you simply turn off the radio and/or pull your advertising.

2. Or we can say, 'Listen. Enough is enough. He inflicted great pain on a group of admirable young women - and many other people. He has a history of it. This sort of behavior is, among other things, uncivil. Perhaps he has a right to say anything he likes, but his bosses also have a right to impose standards of what they will tolerate under their flag.'

Personally, I'm cheered that so much of this nation was genuinely appalled by what Imus said. And by what Mel Gibson and Michael Richards said last year. I think a case can be made that the nation, as a whole, is beyond this sort of thing now and in many ways is ahead of some of its media figures.

And so, I lean toward No. 2 above. I lean there with some discomfort, but there you go. As Stevie Nicks said in Landslide: "Even children get older. And I'm getting older too."

What do you think? Click the comment button right below this post.

Keep The (Friday Night) Lights On

First, a reminder that the finale - either season or ultimate - of "Friday Night Lights" is on the air tonight (NBC, 8 p.m. EDT, 7 p.m. CDT). For more information and to learn why we should care, see the previous BoomVista post on this subject.

Second, word is surfacing that six additional scripts have been ordered, a terrific leading indicator that the series will be renewed.

Third, Susan sends along this advice from today's San Jose Mercury News:
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By Charlie McCollum
San Jose Mercury News

Want to save "Friday Night Lights"? Here are some things you can do:

Go to fan site www.fnl-online.com, which outlines its campaign to keep the show on the air.

Write to Kevin Reilly, president of NBC Entertainment, at 3000 W. Alameda Ave., Burbank, Calif. 91523. Be polite. He loves the series.

E-mail your thoughts to NBC by going to www.nbc.com/Footer/Contact_Us. Go to the pulldown under "questions not found on the FAQ page." Use the pulldown to find "Friday Night Lights" and send your message.

Our Kind of TV Program - And It Needs Our Help

Friday Night Lights is not on the air Friday nights and, though the lights illuminate a football field (and much more), the program is not really about football.

It is about life and family and persistence and values. And marriages and kids, and health and priorities.

It is about the things we always cared about and find ourselves caring about ever-deeper as we grow ever older.

This is, in the view of many people, not only the best new program of this season, but the best program on TV. Period. If you bemoan the current state of television, trust me - Friday Night Lights is the antidote and you owe it to yourself to give it a try. (NBC, Wednesday nights, 8 p.m. EDT, 7 p.m. CDT)

It is shot with hand-held cameras. Some of the dialogue is clearly improvised. The music and landscapes and emotions strike deeply. If you don't tear up at least twice an hour, you need a soul transplant.

Oh, by the way, it just won a Peabody award. Here is what the citation said:

"No dramatic series, broadcast or cable, is more grounded in contemporary American reality than this clear-eyed serial about the hopes, dreams, livelihoods and egos intertwined with the fate of high-school football in a Texas town."

One of the actors, Kyle Chandler, who masterfully plays the lead role of Coach Taylor (above), recently said there are two kinds of television viewers - those who have not yet seen Friday Night Lights and those who are addicted to it. The darn thing is worth watching just to savor the relationship between Coach and his wife, also wonderfully played by Connie Britton (also above). But there is so much more going on here.

If you haven't seen Friday Night Lights, this week could be your last chance. For this season and maybe forever.

The program is on the ratings bubble. NBC executives, not generally known for their heart and compassion, are said to love the program and are looking for a reason to renew it, despite borderline ratings.

If you've seen the program or you see it this week and want it to survive, you can lobby for it by filling out a comment form. Maybe it will help. It certainly couldn't hurt.

You can watch a representative excerpt (highly recommended, though again this is about much more than football) and even entire episodes, though it certainly isn't easy watching an hour-long TV program on your computer screen.

Also, there is a chance that the entire first season will be rebroadcast on Bravo, the cable network owned by NBC. We'll be monitoring that and will keep you advised.

(Have you seen this program? What do you think? What do you think of television in general these days, especially when compared to the 50s and 60s? Click the comment link right below this post and join the conversation.)