Visit the Photo Place

After boob-tube show, activism doesn't seem that 'controversial'

CBS won't air political activism, but depravity is apparently OK.

Date published: 2/5/2004

LET'S JUST SAY I have a few things I want to get off my chest.

You'll recall that CBS refused to air a couple of advocacy commercials during the Super Bowl because they were "controversial." That's a real hooter--I mean, hoot--in light of what the network did broadcast.

Who will ever again take CBS executives seriously when they try to define "controversial" for the rest of us? It will be hard not to remember them as the bozos who broadcast a peep show during the Super Bowl--not to mention some raunchy beer commercials and a spot for an anti-impotence drug that advised men to see a doctor if the medication causes them to have an erection lasting more than four hours.

Are future CBS Super Bowl broadcasts going to have to carry NC-17 ratings?

Of course, it was the MTV-produced halftime show, featuring the pop singers Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake, that sparked the most attention and, yes, controversy. CBS claimed to be shocked--shocked!--that the singers had made such a boob of the network.

But when I did a Google search after the game to stay abreast of the latest developments in this story, I found an article on MTV.com, dated Jan. 28, in which Jackson's choreographer promised "shocking moments" during the show. Accompanying the article was a revealing photo of Ms. Jackson--pretty much a notice of coming attractions, it turns out.

Let's assume, though, that the bosses at CBS really were unaware that the halftime show would be so lewd. The fact remains that both CBS and MTV are owned by Viacom. Surely we can hold Viacom account- able--or is corporate accountability not in style this year?

This brings us to another absurd aspect of this story. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell, in a statement released Monday, said he had instructed the regulatory agency to open an immediate investigation into the Super Bowl show.

"I am outraged at what I saw during the halftime show of the Super Bowl," Powell said. "Like millions of Americans, my family and I gathered around the television for a celebration. Instead, that celebration was tainted by a classless, crass, and deplorable stunt. Our nation's children, parents, and citizens deserve better."

Follow us on

Date published: 2/5/2004