Local NBC affiliate KSL has decided to delay the network's airing of "Schindler's List" on Sunday, Feb. 23, for 90 minutes. Instead of starting the film at 6:30 p.m., Ch. 5 will start it at 8 p.m.
Which proves one thing - KSL programmers are smarter and more sensitive to viewers than their counterparts at NBC. (At least in this particular instance.)Let's make a couple of things clear right off the top. The Oscar-winning "Schindler's List" is not only an outstanding film but an important one. Steven Spielberg's stunning movie will help keep the memory of the Holocaust alive so that, hopefully, it will not be repeated.
But it is also an R-rated film that will be airing on NBC with minimal edits. Whether any basically uncut R-rated film belongs on network television is questionable.
That NBC expects its affiliates in the Central and Mountain time zones to begin airing such a film at 6:30 p.m. on a Sunday evening is, arguably, irresponsible. (Not that starting it at 7:30 p.m. in the Eastern and Pacific Time Zones is such a great idea.)
"The network, in our opinion, made a mistake in asking us to clear it at 6:30 on a Sunday evening - way too early for young people," said Steve Lindsley, KSL's vice president and general manager. "We believe 8 o'clock serves our viewers but at the same time protects some of the younger viewers."
He's absolutely right.
Over the years, I have not always agreed with KSL's programming decisions. I have disagreed quite strongly with some of them.
But in this case, I applaud what they're planning for the broadcast TV premiere of "Schindler's List."
It's not like KSL is trying to hide the movie. In addition to a special half-hour Holocaust-related edition of "Dateline" that Ch. 5 will air at 7 p.m. Sunday, KSL is also airing a half-hour documentary of its own - "Utahns Remember the Holocaust" - at 7:30 p.m.
And at 8 p.m., chances are greater that parents will be in control of the TV set and some of the youngest viewers will be in bed.
Let's face it. If this were any movie other than "Schindler's List," the nudity and foul language would never be allowed on NBC, let alone on KSL. And - as great as the movie is - it also contains unnecessary excesses.
There are sex scenes that have nothing to do with the Holocaust plotline. And the frequent use of the foulest of foul four-letter words is difficult for a broadcast network - or a local station - to defend.
The 6:30 (or 7:30) p.m. starting time is an economic decision, pure and simple. It's so that affiliates can air their regularly scheduled 10 (or 11) p.m. newscasts. The thinking of NBC and most of its affiliates is: Better to expose young children to the movie at early evening hours than to lose the revenue from the late news.
KSL, by the way, is pre-empting its lucrative late newscast.
(And, while NBC is getting a lot of praise for airing "Schindler's List" - particular because it is to air without commercial interruption - this is not altogether an altruistic move on the network's part. It was tied to the deal that NBC signed to air "Jurassic Park" - a blockbuster at both the box office and in the TV ratings.)
NBC is applying a TV-M rating to "Schindler's List" - the TV equivalent of an R rating. It is, to this point, the only TV-M broadcast scheduled on any broadcast network.
And Spielberg himself will be warning people about the film's content in an introduction he taped for broadcast just before NBC begins airing it.
"I want you - and especially parents - to know that `Schindler's List' is more explicit and more graphic than anything you may have seen before on network television," he says.
"While every parent should make a judgment for their own family, I do not personally believe this is a film for the very young. My younger children, for example, of elementary school age, have still not seen `Schindler's List.' If they were of high school age, I would want them to."
KSL also plans to make an additional advisory of its own. And, for Ch. 5, the question of responsibility has always been of great concern. Because the station is owned by the LDS Church, some viewers assume that anything KSL airs is family friendly.
"That continues to be a great concern of ours - that parents, once they hear that we're airing it, will assume it's an edited version appropriate for families," Lindsley said. "We strongly suggest that they pay attention to the TV-M rating and act accordingly."
KSL also deserves a good deal of credit for its foresight in this matter. When NBC first announced its plans to air "Schindler's List," Lindsley traveled to Burbank, Calif., to meet with NBC West Coast President Don Ohlmeyer and express his concerns.
Ohlmeyer asked him for an outline of those concerns - and the NBC executive took that to Spielberg.
This is particularly important because in Spielberg's original contract with the network, it specified that no editing of any kind could be done to the movie. Spielberg ended up making some edits, including "shadowing" the sex scenes and - perhaps - trimming some of the offensive language.
The fact is, however, that exactly what form the movie will take won't be known until Sunday night. Indications from NBC are that the profanities will not be edited out.
If that's the case, KSL will be making some edits of its own to delete that most foul of four-letter words.
(NBC will begin transmitting the movie at 5:30 p.m., leaving KSL minimal time to make any edits of its own before it begins airing "Schindler's List" at 8 p.m.)
Just to make it clear, KSL will not be editing the strong violence and scenes of suffering or even Holocaust-related nudity, just the sex scenes and the unneeded profanities.
Certainly, there will be some who criticize KSL for any editing it does. But, again, such edits will in no way harm the integrity of the movie.
KSL deserves applause, not criticism, for its stand.