"SURVIVOR," THE EMMYS
TARGETED BY THE PC POLICE

September 15, 2006

Is it just me or have the PC police been out in force the last few weeks when it comes to all things televised? I think I first heard the sirens when CBS unveiled their hook for the new season of "Survivor," which debuted on Thursday with contestants divided by race into tribes. Show producers insist that the gimmick is another twist on the "Survivor" sociological experiment and actually a response to charges that the show hasn't been diverse enough in its casting recently. The PC police have countered that assembling teams based on color sends the wrong message and could reinforce harmful stereotypes.

To all of which I reply: People do know this is "Survivor" we're talking about, right? You know, the show that brought us Richard Hatch competing in challenges naked and Johnny Fairplay faking the death of his own grandmother. Why attach any social significance to a show that, while often entertaining, clearly deserves none? Two other thoughts. One, the contestants will surely only be split by race for a few weeks before the patented "Survivor" tribe shakeup comes along. Two, any "Survivor" fanatic can tell you that people on the show usually buddy up early on with people their same age or race. (After all, when you're put on a deserted island with strangers, you don't have much else to go on.) Young guys tend to forge an alliance with each other. As do older women and African-Americans and anyone else that sees a face that looks somewhat like theirs. This season's twist circumvents that tendency and may actually freshen up the show.

Elsewhere on the dial, the PC police also threw a fit shortly after the Emmys aired a few weeks back thanks to a show-opening skit that had host Conan O'Brien's plane crashing into the deserted island from "Lost." NBC was accused of being insensitive because a Kentucky plane crash that same morning resulted in 49 deaths. No doubt, the real crash was a horrible tragedy, but it seems preposterous that NBC would be accused of being insensitive. The bit was prerecorded weeks before, and it was clearly nothing more than a good-natured spoof of ABC's spooky island drama. I watched in sadness that morning as CNN broadcast details of the crash, yet when the Emmys aired, my mind never once turned to the Kentucky tragedy. Despite what the PC police would have you believe, one has absolutely nothing to do with the other. (NBC apologized anyway.)

The past month's worst display of PC policing, however, came with CBS' Sunday broadcast of "9/11," the Peabody Award-winning documentary detailing the horrible terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on Sept. 11, 2001. Not only did the ultraconservative American Family Association protest the airing of the special because the film includes a good heaping of expletives spoken by firefighters under duress, but an astonishing 10 percent of CBS affiliates also refused to carry the special because they feared the FCC would fine them for all the swearing. CBS was right to show the documentary unedited (as it has twice before). 9/11 was one of the worst days this country has ever seen and sanitizing what happened is a disservice to all who suffered it. The AFA boycott was ridiculous but expected since those people are certifiable. (In 2004, they protested a Veterans Day airing of "Saving Private Ryan" because of the language and violence contained within.) One-tenth of affiliates refusing to broadcast the documentary was a shocker, though. Even the FCC must be able to acknowledge the difference between a gritty, unedited snapshot of one of the United States' most historically hellish days and Janet Jackson popping her boob out during the Super Bowl.

Then again, many people will tell you the FCC is the PC police made real -- a nefarious force charged with making sure the broadcast networks never have a chance to grow past their bland, non-threatening primetime schedules. And if the affiliates never put up a united front to challenge that, I'm afraid the PC police may affect what we watch