THURSDAY - NEW WB SHOW EDITED ON AIR UNCENSORED ON WEB

The WB plans to present an unedited version of the pilot episode of its new series The Bedford Diaries that network censors decided to cut following the FCC's decisions to fine broadcasters for what it deemed to be indecent programs, the New York Times reported today (Thursday). According to the newspaper, network chairman Garth Ancier contacted the show's producer, Tom Fontana, after the FCC decision and asked him to remove a number of scenes from the show. "I said no," Fontana told the Times. "I told him I found the ruling incomprehensible. He said the censor would do the edit." Fontana, whose credits include St. Elsewhere, Homicide and Oz, said that the "message" the WB is sending by putting the episode on the Internet is that viewers will now "be forced to go alternative ways ... if they want to see the real thing. ... It's like they're telling people that broadcast television now has much less interesting stuff than you see on the Web or cable."

23/03/2006