PTC Puts NBC on Naughty List
If it was up to the Parents Television Council, NBC would be getting coal in its stocking this Christmas.
The conservative watchdog organization is calling on the network to rethink its decision to post an uncensored version of a Saturday Night Live skit on both its own Website and YouTube, in which the word dick is used multiple times.
The skit in question features host Justin Timberlake and cast member Andy Samberg singing a holiday tune about presenting their ladyfriends with the very special gift of their male members, wrapped up in a box with a bow on top.
"It's my dick in a box," the duo croon in the song's explanatory refrain.
When the skit aired on SNL, NBC bleeped out the word dick a total of 16 times. However, since the FCC has no jurisdiction over the Internet, the network was able to leave the online clip uncensored.
As of Friday, more than 4 million people had watched the clip on YouTube, with countless others taking it in through NBC's official site, much to the dismay of the PTC.
"This is a new low for NBC," PTC president Brent Bozell said in a statement. "Clearly, the network will stop at nothing to find loopholes for its indecent programming to reach the public."
In NBC's defense, the version airing on YouTube contains a cautionary warning, lest viewers are unclear as to what they are about to watch.
"The following sketch contains explicit lyrics that were not contained in the orignal [sic] broadcast," reads a message appearing before the video begins.
On NBC's site, both the censored and uncensored versions are available. Those who want to watch the unbleeped version must affirm that they are over 18 as of Dec. 15, 2007—a date that may have been a typo on the network's part.
"Moving objectionable content that would not meet FCC standards directly to the Internet is blatantly irresponsible and unacceptable," Bozell stated.
In an interview with the New York Times, SNL producer Lorne Michaels said that posting the equivalent of a "director's cut" of the show on the Internet "will be the exception" in the future.
However, he opined that other networks would be likely to follow NBC's lead in using the Web to broadcast material deemed inappropriate for the airwaves.
Despite its decision to put the clip online, NBC wasn't allowing just anyone to post the uncensored version of the skit. All unauthorized versions of "Dick in a Box" were being yanked from YouTube at the network's request.
The skit is something of a follow-up to NBC's last viral hit, "Lazy Sunday," which featured Samberg and former SNL cast member Chris Parnell rapping about topics such as eating cupcakes and taking in a matinee of Chronicles of Narnia.
After "Lazy Sunday" popped up on YouTube and became an instant Internet sensation, NBC ordered the site to remove it, later making the clip available for purchase through iTunes Music Store.
The network and YouTube have since reached an agreement where NBC allows certain programming to be posted to a dedicated network page.
Former Jeffersons actor dies
Actor Mike Evans, who played Lionel Jefferson in the television comedy series All in the Family and The Jeffersons, has died. He was 57.
Evans died of throat cancer Dec. 14 at his mother's home in California, according to his niece, Chrystal Evans.
Evans also co-created and helped write Good Times, one of the first TV comedy series to feature a primarily black cast.
Born in Salisbury, N.C., Evans and his family moved to Los Angeles when he was a child. After studying acting at Los Angeles City College, he landed the role of Lionel in the 1970s sitcom All in the Family.
Evans kept the role when The Jeffersons — an All in the Family spinoff — launched in 1975. The hit series centred on Archie's black neighbours from Queens, now living in a luxury apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
Evans's Lionel was the college-student son of Louise and George Jefferson, the wealthy owner of a chain of dry-cleaning stores.
When Evans left the show to work on Good Times, he was replaced by Damon Evans (no relation). Following a four-year absence, Mike Evans returned to The Jeffersons from 1979 to 1981.
Evans also appeared in the 1976 TV miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man, as well as in the TV series Love, American Style and The Streets of San Francisco.
His last role was in a 2000 episode of Walker, Texas Ranger.
"Museum" comedy set to rule Christmas box office
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Hollywood is hanging out a number of stockings as Christmas weekend arrives. Among the new movies, broad appeal is the name of the game. Three of the five wide releases this frame carry a PG rating as studios look to lure nice audiences rather than naughty ones.
The Ben Stiller comedy "Night at the Museum," which has been generating positive buzz for some time, is likely to dominate the weekend. Insiders put the four-day haul for the Twentieth Century Fox effects extravaganza in the $35 million-$40 million range.
Two sports-themed movies -- MGM's "Rocky Balboa," which bowed Wednesday, and Warner Bros. Pictures' "We Are Marshall," based on the 1970 Marshall Universaity football team tragedy -- also are looking to claim their share of the till. "Rocky" already won its first round, grossing an estimated $6.2 million Wednesday to claim the title of top-grossing film for the day.
Universal Pictures' Robert De Niro-directed spy movie "The Good Shepherd" is courting the adult audience.
With Christmas Eve falling on Sunday, that night will be a quiet one at the box office, making weekend totals difficult to predict. On Christmas Day, there are two other developments that will further complicate holiday weekend estimates.
On that day, MGM will target disaffected teens and holiday scrooges as it opens "Black Christmas," a horror flick from the Weinstein Co. Meanwhile, Paramount Pictures will expand "Dreamgirls," which it co-produced with DreamWorks, to 852 theaters. The Bill Condon-directed musical performed strongly in special "roadshow" engagements that launched in Los Angeles and New York last weekend.
Still, it is shaping up to be a big weekend at the "Museum." The Shawn Levy-directed film features a slew of young and veteran comedians. The film stars Stiller as a hapless night watchman at the Museum of Natural History who must combat the creatures that come alive at night. Ricky Gervais, Robin Williams, Steve Coogan also are cast, along with Owen Wilson in an uncredited cameo. Mickey Rooney and Dick Van Dyke co-star as two old-time watchmen.
"Rocky" is on track to generate close to $30 million for its six-day opening run. The $24 million film expands Friday to 3,017 theaters from 2,752. Although observers initially viewed it as a joke considering Sylvester Stallone's career downturn and the diminishing returns of its predecessors -- "Rocky" has turned into a comeback story in its own right.
Generating primarily positive reviews (it has earned a 75% positive rating on RottenTomatoes.com), the film was also written and directed by Stallone, whose character comes out of retirement for one last go-round. Burt Young plays his manager Paulie for the sixth time, and Milo Ventimiglia (NBC's "Heroes") co-stars as Rocky Jr.
Warners will bow the inspirational sports film "Marshall" from director McG ("Charlie's Angels"). The movie centers on the aftermath of the 1970 plane crash that killed the entire Marshall University football team and its coach. Matthew McConaughey stars as the Huntington, W.Va., team's new coach who tries, along with the school's dean ( David Strathairn) and the surviving players, to keep the program going. Matthew Fox (ABC's "Lost") co-stars as his assistant coach.
Universal unveils De Niro's "Shepherd" in 2,218 theaters. Centering on the early history of the CIA, "Shepherd" stars Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, Alec Baldwin and De Niro. The film could be handicapped by its nearly three-hour running time, but the stellar cast could help it break through. Industry watchers expect the film to gross in the $10 million-$12 million range.
On Christmas Day, MGM will play against type with "Black Christmas," a remake of the 1974 horror picture, updated by writer-director Glen Morgan ("Willard"). "Christmas" revolves around a group of sorority sisters who are harassed by menacing phone calls and are killed one by one during their Christmas break. The film has religious groups protesting its Christmas Day release date, which, as most protests do, should add to the movie's profile as provocative counterprogramming.
A slew of limited releases also bow this weekend. Perhaps the highest-profile film is Warners' "Letters From Iwo Jima," the companion piece to Clint Eastwood's "Flags of Our Fathers," which disappointed at the box office two months ago. Depicting the same World War II battle shown in "Fathers," "Letters," also directed by Eastwood, tells the Japanese side of the story.
Receiving early accolades from various critics groups, "Iwo Jima" stars Ken Watanabe as the American-educated general who leads the Japanese resistance in the famous battle. It opened Wednesday on five screens in Los Angeles and New York.
Warner Independent Pictures also launched its limited bow of "The Painted Veil" on four screens Wednesday in Los Angeles and New York. A long-gestating adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's novel, the film stars Edward Norton and Naomi Watts as an unhappy married couple who resurrect their relationship while living in China during a cholera epidemic.
Sony Pictures Classics is unveiling "Curse of the Golden Flower" in Los Angeles and San Francisco Friday, a day after the Chinese-language film from acclaimed director Zhang Yimou opened in New York.
Universal opens Alfonso Cuaron's R-rated "Children of Men" on Christmas Day in 16 theaters. The well-reviewed film stars Clive Owen, Julianne Moore and Michael Caine in a dystopian British future where women are unable to reproduce.
Miramax Films opened "Venus" on Thursday in Los Angeles and New York. The R-rated take on a May-December romance, directed by Roger Michell, stars Peter O'Toole in an Oscar-worthy role as an older man whose daily routine is altered when the grand niece (Jodie Whittaker) of his best friend comes to visit.