As television executives gear up for the new season, they're starting to complain that the FCC's decency rules are just too vague.
Six months after the Super Bowl, writers, producers and network executives are in a state of confusion about what they are allowed to say and show on television. Some contend that election-year posturing in Washington — along with Jackson fallout, residue of Bono's celebratory expletive during the 2003 Golden Globes and even regulatory moves against Howard Stern and other radio shock jocks — is resulting in the most conservative television environment in years. Others say they barely feel the chill. . . .
[N]early everyone is wondering just how to spot the elusive line they're not supposed to cross. "The problem is the F.C.C. is trying to enforce a standard that doesn't exist," says Jeff Filgo, executive producer for "That 70's Show." "It's almost like they're saying: `What's indecency? That's for us to know and for you to find out.' You don't know if you've done anything wrong until you get letters." Damon Lindelof, a former co-producer of "Crossing Jordan" and a creator and executive producer of the new series "Lost," is equally perplexed. While "you can't say `goddamn it' on network TV," he says, some expletives are fine: "You can't say `Jesus Christ' as an exclamation, but you can refer to him as someone who made wine out of water. Where is the line? I wish I knew."
Chilling ensues.