Utahns will not be watching "God, the Devil & Bob" on their local NBC affiliate tonight.
Of course, neither will any other American television viewers, from California to the New York. Nor in Alaska or Hawaii, for that matter.Midway through its scheduled six-week tryout, the network has yanked the series. But not because of its content -- which is why KSL-Ch. 5 and about 20 other affiliates in various cities refused to air it -- but because the ratings were awful. As was the show.
(And to digress for a moment, it's times like these that my flagging faith in the intelligence of the American viewing public is bolstered a bit.)
Not that any of this was unexpected. NBC executives had to know that some of their stations were not going to be happy with what they saw in this far-from-funny animated comedy. And just about anybody who had actually seen the show could tell you that it had "bomb" written all over it.
(It's being replaced by reruns of "Just Shoot Me" for a while.)
But to get back to the question of KSL's actions regarding "God, the Devil & Bob," a (very) few e-mailers complained to yours truly that the powers-that-be at Ch. 5 were censoring what comes across television screens here in Utah. To which I can only say -- yeah, so this is different from what stations in every city do every day of the week?
Stations make decisions constantly about what they will and won't carry. No Salt Lake TV outlet carries the syndicated "Queen Latifah" talk show -- does that mean they're somehow censoring our right to see the program?
I suppose, in a sense, they are -- if you accept the premise that we're somehow guaranteed in the Constitution or somewhere the right to see a particular television program.
Of course, there's a big difference between syndicated shows and network fare. And it's a great deal less common for network affiliates to refuse to air network programs. But that, too, happens every day of the week.
First of all, let's deal with some misinformation that's been out there (even on some Web sites you can link to from KSL's own site). Yes, Ch. 5's management did say that it did not find "God, the Devil & Bob" funny (which it wasn't), but that was not why the show was pulled. It was pulled because it was offensive; because it was scheduled early in the evening (7:30 p.m.); and because, as an animated program, it was certain to attract children who should not be watching such a show. If NBC programmers were responsible, they would never have put the show on, let alone in the timeslot they did.
And, remember, NBC doesn't own KSL's broadcast license. It's up to Ch. 5 to decide what's an appropriate use of that license.
Which is not to say that I would ever deny anyone the right to disagree as vocally as they wish with any decision made by any local station. I'd encourage anyone and everyone to let local programmers know what you think and why.
(Although it would be nice if they heard what viewers like as well as what they don't like.)
And, as anyone who has read this column over the past 10 years knows, I've often disagreed with decisions made by KSL myself. Sometimes quite strongly. Just as I've applauded the station for other decisions. Just as I've disagreed with and applauded decisions made at other stations.
I remain, however, somewhat mystified at the inconsistency exhibited by many who are unhappy with KSL. The Saturday late-night parallel bears repeating:
KSL has never carried "Saturday Night Live," a decision for which the station has often been bombed with brickbats.
(Although much of that criticism was not particularly well informed. When Ch. 5 became an NBC affiliate, it offered to air "SNL" later on Saturday, both because of its content and because of the successful local sports shows -- most notably "SportsBeat Saturday" -- it was unwilling to displace.)
Meanwhile, CBS-owned KUTV-Ch. 2 has never aired the CBS-syndicated "Howard Stern Radio Show," one of only two CBS-owned stations that doesn't. The folks at Ch. 2 didn't think whatever ratings the show might get (and it hasn't done well nationally) would be worth the protests and hassles they'd receive. To date, I have yet to hear one person complain that Ch. 2 is "censoring" Howard Stern.
It's not exactly the same situation as Ch. 5 and "SNL," but it's close. The big difference in the reaction seems based on ownership alone.
Ch. 2 is owned by a huge corporation based elsewhere. Ch. 5 is owned by the Utah-based LDS Church.
'Nuff said.