Concerned about the recent decision by the Federal Communications Commission to fine television networks for material deemed indecent, the WB network will broadcast a new drama next week that it has censored over the objections of the program’s creator.
But first, the network will offer the uncut version of the pilot episode on its website, starting today – a further example of the new strategies that network television may be pursuing, both to escape government-imposed restrictions and to find alternative ways of reaching viewers. It is the first time a network has offered on another outlet an uncut version of a program that it has decided to censor.
The show, “The Bedford Diaries,” was created by Tom Fontana, whose résumé includes the award-winning shows “St. Elsewhere” and “Homicide” for network television and the far more graphic prison drama “Oz” for HBO, a pay-cable channel with no content restrictions.
The pilot episode of “The Bedford Diaries,” which concerns a group of college students attending a class on human sexuality, already had been accepted by WB’s standards department. After the FCC decision last week to issue millions of dollars in fines against broadcast stations, WB chairman Garth Ancier asked Fontana to edit out a number of scenes, including one that depicted two girls in a bar kissing on a dare and another of a girl unbuttoning her jeans.
“I said no,” Fontana said Wednesday. “I told him I found the ruling incomprehensible. He said the censor would do the edit.”
The decision, several network executives said, could represent a further step in the spread of alternative means for television programs to reach viewers, including iPods and computers.