Goodbye "Sopranos," "Daily Show," "South Park," "Deadwood," Dave Chapelle

[DeepModem Mom]

Remote Control
By Bernie Sanders

....Since his inauguration address, President Bush and his right-wing colleagues in Congress have launched a full-scale effort to limit and control the programming Americans are able to see and hear over the airwaves and the Internet. In short, they’re going after your computer, your radio and your remote control.

In March, the House passed legislation to dramatically raise “indecency” fines for broadcast television imposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to $500,000. Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), chairman of the House Commerce Committee, heralded the high fines, saying, “This legislation makes great strides in making it safe for families to come back into their living room.”

Emboldened by this success, conservative leaders like Barton and Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) are threatening to go even further. For the first time, they want to apply indecency standards to cable, to satellite and even to the Internet....

***

If Stevens and Barton have their way, it means goodbye to “The Sopranos,” goodbye to Jon Stewart’s “Daily Show,” goodbye to the boys of “South Park,” goodbye to “Deadwood,” goodbye to Dave Chappelle and goodbye to many other shows enjoyed by millions. Faced with strict FCC censorship rules, all of these programs will be removed from television altogether, substantially rewritten, or banished to late night.

Let’s keep in mind that these are not shows broadcast on public airwaves but rather on cable programs that consumers select and pay for. Apparently the right-wing ideologues believe they know best what programs Americans should be allowed to purchase and view. If these regulations are imposed on paid cable and satellite networks, it will have a chilling impact on freedom of expression in America. Today, they are going after Howard Stern and Tony Soprano. Tomorrow, who will be their target? Will it become “indecent” to criticize the president?...

http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/2098/

[Hobarticus]

1. They've always been free to go back into their living rooms...

No one said they HAD to watch something they don't like.

[FreedomAngel82]

38. Exactly

This is just so stupid. They also have TV blocker's. Whatever happened to parenting and being responsible? I don't want the government telling me I can't watch "South Park."

[UTUSN]

2. That'll Teach "South Park" n/t

[LSparkle]

4. If you saw last night's SouthPark, you'll be worried about content, too!

It was hilarious but I've never seen anything more scatalogical or just plain gross ... but I laughed my ass (hahahaha) off anyway.

[SoCalDem]

3. Lots of commercials out here already...decrying the "uneven"

regulation ..The minute I heard one, I KNEW this was where they were headed..controling what's on cable..

I know one thing.. if they do manage to "family-fy" cable and HBO & Showtime, people will cancel it.

The ONLY reason we got cable, was to get HBO & Showtime because of the Sopranos, Deadwood, Dead Like Me, and other shows on cable..

Imagine Tony Soprano saying "Aw, Shucks!"

[QuettaKid]

6. $$$$

Don't you think there is way too much $$$$ involved for this to ever happen? Isin't the porn industry something like a $9 billion a year industry in the US?

[MadHound]

9. My thoughts also

Stevens and Barton's little decency campaign is going to go right into the buzzsaw of big media money. It is one thing to fuck around with the four broadcast networks, but when these yahoos start threatening the bottom line of HBO, Showtime and other cable networks, they're going to get creamed. Too much money, too much influence in these big media corporations for this kind of censorship to go on.

[alfredo]

25. CNN may even say something less than generous about the Junta.

I doubt it.

[BeHereNow]

13. Well, isn't this a fuckin' mess...

Does this fuckin' mean my fuckin' favorite
show, fuckin' "Deadwood" is fuckin' going to
be fuckin' taken off the fuckin' air?
It's the fuckin' only fuckin' tv I fuckin' watch!
Fuck!
BHN (Imitating my favorite fuckin' Deadwood character...)

[Contrary1]

14. Hard to tell which character

you are imitating there. B-)
My favorite show too!

[SoCalDem]

15. Mine too..now that they cancelled Dead Like Me

before that it was a tie..

[MsTryska]

16. Umm...should you throw in a cocksucker or two?

just to get into the full Deadwood spirit and all.

[MisterP]

22. Dick Cheney's on Deadwood?

:D
kick

[BeHereNow]

24. ROLF!

No, but any day now I fully expect
his character to arrive- he will naturally
play the guy who runs the company store
for the railroad workers.
BHN

[okieinpain]

32. you just had to mention dead like me. damn.....

[Caution]

5. Please let them succeed. please.

If they do, the dems only need to run saying "You want your tv shows back? Elect us and we'll get rid of these whacko right-wing rules"

[sarcasmo]

7. This is all about getting Howard Stern off the air. The talk of censoring

cable TV and satellite did not start until Howard announced his move to Sirius. The Focus on the Family whipping boy can't be touched while he is on satellite, unless of course the FCC can control satellite and cable. I will dump my cable when this passes. I don't feel it's an if this passes, with these nut jobs it's only a matter of time.

[demgrrrll]

8. Sad as I am to say this it may be an issue like this that gets folks off

the couch.

[Kerrytravelers]

31. I agree.

I've always felt that most Americans won't care until * messes with their American Idol, their MTV or their smut. Blow up other countries? :shrug: Take away civil liberities? :shrug: Screw with the environment?:shrug: Hold fradulaent elections? :shrug: Nominate every nutcase they can find for the bench or cabinet positions? :shrug: Make up fake terror alerts to distract? :shrug: Lie about their opponents?:shrug: Use taxpayers dollars to fund their propaganda machine? :shrug: Fuck with my tv?!?!?!?!:wtf:

[DeepModem Mom]

33. Outstanding post!

[FLSurfer]

10. Where can I look up who

Voted and How.
I'm curious who voted for this legislation in the house.

[Touchdown]

11. Admit it. It was Queer as Folk that runied all this, right?

One of them saw two guys getting it on and sweating, and they blew gaskets. I bet that's what it was. As Swerengen says..."Cocksuckers!"

[leftchick]

21. I think it Was Queer Eye for the Straight Guy

on Bravo. You can't have straight men co-minglin with them "queers". :eyes:

[markus]

12. Frankly some of those shows should only come on after 10 pm

I would add Sex in the City, which is not airing on USA early in the evening central time.

I love South Park, but I would not let my kids (13 and 100.

This is the real values debate, the one that drives suburban parents to want to vote for the GOP, although they've never really lifted a finger to do anything that might interfere with Hollywood's cash flow.

I am a knee jerk pro-choice, pro-gay rights sort of guy. When people on the North Dakota Progressives mailing list suggested we all to out to a rally to save the Happy Hooligans ANG wing (these were the guys who, as fate might have it, would have shot down Flight 93 if it had come to that), said, uh, wait a minute. (That's about tantamount to getting an OBL tatoo in Fargo ND).

But I have a real problem with not recognizing the most critical aspect of the values debate.

The real values debate in this country--the one potential swing votrers care about--isn't about who owns Jesus, its about what's on TV or Top 40 Radio.

[Zodiak]

19. Yeah....I reluctantly agree with you

I can agree with that...it is true that what is on TV and Top40 radio does matter to this liquid group of middle-class voters who only pay attention to it because it is in their living room.

But I would also like to remind these people that the same executives who put this "blue" programming on TV are the same ones that give millions to Republican efforts. If this went through, it would indeed be the snake biting its own tail.

That is why it will not go through. Trashy, rush-to-the-bottom TV is what keeps the proles looking the other way. It is our version of the Roman Colosseum.

[sakabatou]

36. Wait... one of your kids is 100

Just fooling with you...

[CornField]

17. Anyone else see the irony in this?

Supposedly families have been forced away from the Internet, video games and television, right?

Why are all these other groups upset about the rising obesity rates in our nation's young people from being COUCH POTATOES?!?!

Ya just can't have it both damn ways.

[Book Lover]

18. So then these shows only

get overseas distribution, and US citizens will have to torrent or satellite them...

[raysr]

20. Malloy said

last nite he thought AAR would be gone soon.

[Ilsa]

30. I missed that comment.

Why? Censorship of political discussion?

[Deja Q]

23. WHere's Rupert Murdoch making (or being) an example here?

He owns FOX, the #1 name in lewd television, 18 years running.

He's whined about low-brow shows too.

Didn't stop him from reviving Family Guy and allowing American Dad on the air...

He seems a bit two-faced. And it's odd how the purveyors of morality are also the purveyors of greed. The two don't work together.

[newfaceinhell]

26. I thought they'd decided they liked South Park....

:shrug:

[Frederik]

27. Well we don't need to watch Sopranos

we can just follow what goes on in the White House.

[DeepModem Mom]

34. Good one!

[Deja Q]

28. Will they come into our homes, take our box sets, and refund us our money?

If not they can go sod off.

[paineinthearse]

29. Is this THE Bernie Sanders, the next Senator from Vermont?

[DeepModem Mom]

35. Indeed, it's the one and only Bernie!

[fujiyama]

37. He kicks ass

He'll make a great senator.