The Bedford Diaries, the WB network's latest
drama, is all about sexy undergrads--some straight,
some experimenting, some possibly gay--taking it
off and turning each other on. If it sounds too hot
for network TV, it is. Two scenes of the premiere episode
set to air Wednesday night have been cut, one being a
lusty kiss between two young women.
The network made
the edits--the other sliced scene showed a girl
shoving her hand down her pants--but the reason
for the censorship remains debatable; network brass
say it came out of the Federal Communications
Commission's recent close monitoring of
"explicit" and "indecent"
content. Since the cuts were preemptive, though, it's not
clear whether the FCC would have defined the gay kiss
as "explicit" or "indecent." A
plotline involving an affair between a professor and a
student and scenes of graphic sexual
discussions remain.
The network,
which made the uncut premiere episode available on its Web
site, wouldn't officially comment but released the following
statement: "The WB takes its responsibility as
a broadcast network very seriously, and we have always
been mindful of the FCC's indecency rules. While we
believe that the previous uncut version of The
Bedford Diaries is in keeping with those rules, out
of an abundance of caution, we decided to make some
additional minor changes to the premiere episode of
the series, which is set to debut Wednesday, March
29."
Last week the FCC
proposed millions of dollars in fines, mostly against
CBS affiliates for showing an episode of Without a
Trace that featured a teen orgy. CBS stations also had
to pony up $550,000 for flashing Janet Jackson's
breast during the 2004 Super Bowl.
Even with the FCC
cracking down, gay television producer William Burgess
remains skeptical about the WB's Bedford
Diaries decision. "Is two girls kissing any more
offensive than a man and a woman?" Burgess asked.
"What [the WB] is saying is that they think the
kissing could possibly be obscene, which is
absurd." (The Advocate)
