Despite concerns about the sex, nudity and violence in his upcoming ABC series "NYPD Blue," producer Steven Bochco plans to make only one minor change in the show's pilot and no changes in the overall direction of the series.
That pilot includes brief nudity, vulgar language and a graphic shooting. Only a rather prolonged sex scene toward the end of the hour has been changed.Bochco said that ABC executives "assured me . . . that this show would go on the air as delivered if that's what I wanted to do," Bochco said.
At the same time, they expressed concern about the length of that sex scene.
In the end, he cut 15 seconds out, but that cut "does not eliminate any of the nudity."
"Candidly, I said to ABC, I can't imagine what perceived problems this edit will solve for them," Bochco said.
Those problems include a number of affiliates that have said they will not air "NYPD Blue" in its current form. And what Bochco seemed to be saying is that this one minor change probably won't change the minds of executives at those affiliates.
(Utah's ABC affiliate, KTVX-Ch. 4, currently has no plans to pull "NYPD Blue" from its schedule.) Bochco, the creator and producer of shows like "Hill Street Blues," "Doogie Howser, M.D." and "L.A. Law," brought this controversy on himself - despite his assertions that it was a creation of the press - by stating publicly that he wanted to do an R-rated television show. "NYPD Blue" is not R-rated by movie standards, but it is probably PG-13. Added to that was the news that the actors and actresses in the show had to sign contracts with clauses that included them agreeing to do nude scenes.
"I always made the distinction between what we would do and an R-rated picture," he said. "Obviously, we're not going to be doing some of the things that you would be doing in an R-rated motion picture.
"What we wanted to do was create a show that, in fact, went significantly further in terms of language and sexuality. Because in 1993, you're competing with cable. . . . I think that we can't compete anymore unless you can paint with some of the same colors that you can paint with when you're making movies."
Bochco repeatedly aired his view that the controversy over the show is inconsequential.
"There is nudity in the show. It's tasteful. It will continue to be tasteful," he said. "You will continue to see it in the series. Not necessarily all the time or in every episode.
"We simply are very pleased to access a more adult degree of sexuality in the show."
There is no frontal nudity in the pilot. There is also almost no male nudity, although Bochco said, "You will see male nudity as well as female nudity, within what we all hope are tasteful bounds."
As to the affiliates threatening not to air the show, Bochco waved the red flag of censorship in their faces.
"I would personally hope that the affiliates would have the courage to allow their viewers to make that judgment for themselves, and not function as sort of a public censor," he said.
Despite the graphic shooting scene in the pilot, Bochco said his show is not particularly violent.
"I personally don't think that violence is going to be a particular issue in the series," Bochco said. He added that he does not believe that "NYPD Blue" should carry the violence warning that the networks are going to institute in the fall.
And the producer also said that this isn't the show he really would have liked to do and that - if he could have - he would have done a show even stronger than "NYPD Blue."
AN OPINION: Perhaps the least believable statement about "NYPD Blue" came from Bochco's co-creator and co-executive producer, David Milch.
"To be able to do stories that involve sexual relationships, it's just an enormous burden off the writers," Milch said. "It opens things up for us that weren't available before.
"And whether or not it's credible to you, we did not want to do sexual stories in order to titillate the audience and get a bigger viewership. . . . It just lets us do better, more human stories."
What baloney. A big - the biggest - reason for the sexual content in "NYPD Blue" is to attract a larger audience. The scenes in question are not necessary to what is, overall, an above-average crime show.
What Bochco is really looking for here is a hit. This is the fifth series he has delivered to ABC under his 10-series, exclusive contract, and he desperately needs a hit.
Only "Doogie Howser, M.D." has really worked. "Cop Rock" and "Capitol Critters" were out-and-out bombs, while "Civil Wars" limped along unsuccessfully for a couple of seasons.
"NYPD Blue" is nothing new or groundbreaking. Bochco has gone back to his own past and resurrected "Hill Street Blues," and - in order to pull in more viewers - has sexed it up. It's a ploy for ratings, nothing more, nothing less.
And the real danger here is that if it's a hit, who knows what the networks will serve up next year in the way of nudity, sex and violence? Because, although Bochco obviously disagrees, there's a big difference between cable television - which the viewer must actively pursue inviting into his home - and broadcast television, which can be an uninvited guest.