8 O'CLOCK AND ALL'S NOT WELL : NETWORKS UNDER FIRE FOR ADULT-ORIENTED BENT OF `FAMILY HOUR' PROGRAMMING.Byline: Lynette Rice Daily News Staff Writer The pleas of parents, politicians and media watchdog groups again have failed to persuade networks to completely honor the once-hallowed family viewing hour, 8 to 9 p.m. - before the kids go to bed. A good half of the network ``family hour'' fare in the upcoming fall lineup appears adult-oriented, much of it featuring grown-ups talking trash and trying to bed each other. Media analysts attribute the trend to the threat from cable and computers and on increased competition for 18- to 49-year-old viewers, the consumer demographic advertisers want to reach. ABC's ``Roseanne'' and NBC's ``Friends'' and ``Mad About You'' are set to return to their cherished 8 p.m. time slots this fall, despite increasing complaints about their sexual content and use of expletives. Along with cheesecake mainstays ``Melrose Place'' and ``Beverly Hills Beverly Hills, city (1990 pop. 31,971), Los Angeles co., S Calif., completely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles; inc. 1914. The largely residential city is home to many motion-picture and television personalities. , 90210,'' Fox Television plans to put its new ``L.A. Firefighters'' - which is sure to show some skin and start a few fires, to boot - at 8 p.m. Sunday. ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. has a new round of Gen X-inspired sitcoms that will likely draw upon the popular and racy rac·y adj. rac·i·er, rac·i·est 1. Having a distinctive and characteristic quality or taste. 2. Strong and sharp in flavor or odor; piquant or pungent. 3. Risqué; ribald. 4. comedy ``Friends.'' All of this comes despite a renewed call for more family viewing. Two weeks before the networks began announcing their fall lineups, the conservative Virginia-based Media Research Center and 74 members of Congress urged programmers in an advertisement in the Daily Variety trade magazine to voluntarily ``dedicate one hour of prime-time programming to the promotion of positive values.'' The bipartisan group included U.S. Rep. Howard ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Calif.; Sen. Tom Harkin Thomas Richard "Tom" Harkin (born November 19, 1939) is a Democratic Senator from Iowa, serving in his fourth senate term. A Democrat, he is currently Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. Early life Harkin was born in Cumming, Iowa. , D-Iowa; and Rep. Joseph Kennedy, D-Mass. ``If this is totally the case of being market driven, then it sure says some bad things about our country,'' said McKeon, who acknowledged that he does not watch much prime-time TV. ``I don't believe people are that far gone,'' he said. ``This is a good, common-sense type compromise. Use those that have a good message for one hour. I don't think that's asking too much.'' The only possible concession to pleas for more family-oriented programming came from CBS (Cell Broadcast Service) See cell broadcast. , which publicly touted its 8 p.m. lineup as ``family-friendly.'' CBS is bringing back Bill Cosby William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr., Ed.D. (born July 12 1937) is an American actor, comedian, television producer, and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a vanguard role in the 1960s action show I Spy. in a new sitcom. Returning ``Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman'' and ``The Nanny'' are in CBS' prime-time family entertainment schedule, as is Gerald McRaney's new ``Home of the Brave'' at 8 p.m. Tuesdays. The network is moving its racy ``Cybill,'' which aired at 8 p.m. Sundays last season, to 9:30 p.m. Mondays. Yet the overall fall ``family hour'' lineup is largely skewed skewed curve of a usually unimodal distribution with one tail drawn out more than the other and the median will lie above or below the mean. skewed Epidemiology adjective Referring to an asymmetrical distribution of a population or of data toward adults. At least half of the shows in the 8-to-9 p.m. schedule would appeal more to adults than to children, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. an informal review of publicity descriptions of new programs and past story lines from returning programs on ABC, CBS, NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. , UPN UPN User Principal Name (Microsoft Windows 2000) UPN United Paramount Network UPN Unión del Pueblo Navarro (Navarrese People Union) UPN Umgekehrte Polnische Notation and WB. The new lineup includes comedies about attorneys who balance the high pressure at work and home, a ``thirtysomething''-like drama that explores love from start to finish, ongoing adventures of a police psychiatrist and life at a major New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of tabloid newspaper. ``This is an easy dog for politicians to kick,'' said Michael Sullivan Michael Sullivan may refer to: Michael Sullivan
``Clearly, NBC has made counterprogramming In broadcasting, counterprogramming is the practice of offering programs to attract an audience from another station airing a major event. Television The main events counterprogrammed are the Super Bowl and the Oscars. decisions to more adult comedies earlier in the evening and had some success with it. I don't see them voluntarily backing away with it,'' Sullivan said. ``This is a political reaction, probably a reaction to wider, special programs than things that are now available on TV in terms of uncut movies and cable shows. I think the broadcast networks have done a great job.'' Representatives for ABC, NBC and Fox declined repeated requests to discuss the fall ``family hour.'' NBC head Don Ohlmeyer Don Ohlmeyer (born Donald Winfred Ohlemeyer, Jr., February 3, 1945, in New Orleans, Louisiana) is an American television producer and former president of the NBC network's West Coast division. He grew up in the Chicago-area and attended Glenbrook North High School. told advertising executives at the network's fall schedule presentation in New York recently that the TV ratings system now being devised would prove that network shows are almost all G and PG, with occasional PG-13 versions of R-rated theatrical films. Even CBS, which is promoting its family fare, was careful not to appear to have bowed to any pressure in assembling its fall lineup. ``This schedule was designed with viewers in mind, not politicians,'' said CBS spokesman Chris Ender. ``This was the response to what we believe is the viewers' need. We wouldn't have presented it if it wasn't viable.'' Media Research Center chronicled four weeks of ``family hour'' programming from 8 to 9 p.m. during the 1995 season. The group found that profanities, such as ``a--,'' ``b----'' and ``b------,'' were used 72 times within 117 hours of programming. The watchdog group also: Singled out ABC's ``Roseanne'' for an Oct. 17, 1995, episode in which the lead actress reacts to Kathie Lee Gifford's child-rearing advice: ``All I need is a book that will teach my kid to kick Cody's a--.'' Reported that NBC was, by far, the most vulgar, averaging 1.26 profanities for every hour of family hour programming. ``Mad About You'' was the dubbed the worst offender, followed by ``JAG'' (which was picked up by CBS for the fall). Found that premarital sex was not only condoned but was included or referred to in more scenes than was sex within marriages by an 8-to-1 ratio. Found that Fox TV lead with 25 references to sex in the dialogue or plot line. ``We don't want to see the return to `Little House on the Prairie' and `Happy Days' ... I'd just like to see more values like what was on those shows. `Home Improvement' is `Happy Days' in a lot of ways, as far as values. Importance is placed on respecting authority, discussing your problems,'' said Sandy Crawford, Media Research's director of entertainment. Crawford said she sees reason for hope in the new season. ``They're not adhering to the (family hour) concept across the board, but I think they are making steps in the right direction,'' Crawford said. ``CBS has its new show `Home of the Brave,' which is a `Touched by an Angel' spinoff. That sounds like a real winner. `Angel' was moved to 8 p.m., and `Second Noah' was moved back to 8 p.m. on ABC. Those are three really good steps.'' TV analysts believe a return to the family hour is wishful thinking wishful thinking Psychology Dereitic thought that a thing or event should have a specified outcome . Overall viewership for ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox is down from 40 million viewers last season to 37.5 million this season - just below two-thirds of the available prime-time audience of 96 million viewers. In addition, videos, computers and multiple cable networks are encroaching on the network audience. ``Ever since the major networks began losing their market share to cable networks, you've seen them react in nontraditional manners,'' said David Davis David Davis, the name of several people, may refer to:
``There are a significant number of strong content movies on cable, pay cable as early as 8. The networks have to compete against that. ... That's why you see a stronger content at 8,'' Davis said. ``To some extent ... viewer's choice at 8 is like a segue into the rest of the night. If networks are able to generate strong ratings at 8, it helps the whole evening.'' Viewing habits are driving the networks away from traditional family-hour fare as well. Today's household is not as likely to gather together in front of the lone television in the den, said Bill Croasdale of Western International Media in Los Angeles The Media of Los Angeles serves a large population in the Los Angeles area. The major daily newspaper in the area is The Los Angeles Times. La Opinión is the city's major Spanish-language paper. , the largest media buying firm in the nation. ``The family no longer watches TV together,'' Croasdale said. ``Dad will be in the den, Mom in the living room, the kids in the bedroom. The return to family hour, while well-meaning, is really not viable in this day and age because of the multiplicity of sets that appear in every household.'' That's true of Dave Cater of Tujunga, who allows his 12-year-old son, Nathan, and 6-year-old daughter, Stephanie, to have TVs in their bedrooms in addition to two other sets in the house. ``I don't want to be a prude prude n. One who is excessively concerned with being or appearing to be proper, modest, or righteous. [French, short for prude femme, virtuous woman : Old French prude . I spent my entire childhood saying how my folks are being prudes. But you have to constantly watch what they are watching,'' Cater said. Cater would prefer his son use his bedroom television to enjoy a nice show on PBS PBS in full Public Broadcasting Service Private, nonprofit U.S. corporation of public television stations. PBS provides its member stations, which are supported by public funds and private contributions rather than by commercials, with educational, cultural, and forbids his son from watching his favorite show, ``Cops,'' from 8 to 9 p.m. on Fox. `` `Cops' is very, very violent. It shows, really, the seedy side of life,'' the elder Cater said. The networks ``have to consider the impressionability of the kids. It doesn't matter what they've been taught at home. They have a very captive, almost catatonic (jargon) catatonic - A description of a system that gives no indication that it is still working. This might be because it has crashed without being able to give any error message or because it is busy but not designed to give any feedback. Compare buzz. audience in kids. They watch all day and absorb this.'' Dale Heller of Winnetka regularly watches ``Friends'' and ``Mad About You'' with daughters Melissa, 13, and Cheryl, 16. She said she doesn't have any problem with the 8 p.m. fare. ``That's life these days,'' she said, of the dating games and premarital sex referred to on ``Friends.'' ``It's something they need to be aware of to make their own decisions. You can't hide your head in the sand.'' MEMO: Media Research Center in Virginia distributes a ``Family Guide to Prime-time TV'' that gives green, yellow or red lights for every show during the family hour. Cost is $6.96. To order, call (800) 346-2427. CAPTION(S): 15 Photos, Drawing, Box Drawing: (Cover--Color) THE VANISHING TVTRADITION Sex, drugs and gunfire. It's all part of the fall season's 8 o'clock hour as networks pursue the grown-up grown-up adj. 1. Of, characteristic of, or intended for adults: grown-up movies; a grown-up discussion. 2. viewers advertisers want Jon Gerung/Daily News Photo: (1) Melissa Heller, 13, left, sister Cheryl, 16, and mom Dale watch ``Friends'' on NBC. ``You can't hide your head in the sand,'' the Winnetka mother says of the racy 8 p.m. fare on network TV. David Crane/Daily News (2-8) FAMILY (2) ``Lois & Clark,'' ABC (3) ``Cosby,'' CBS (4) ``Home of the Brave,'' CBS (5) ``Sister, Sister,'' WB (6) ``Diagnosis Murder,'' CBS (7) ``Sabrina, Teenage Witch,'' ABC (8) ``Second Noah Second Noah was a television drama broadcast in the United States on ABC television from 1996 to 1997. Show Premise Second Noah starred Daniel Hugh Kelly as Noah Beckett, whose wife Jesse (Betsy Brantley) was a veterinarian at Busch Gardens in ,'' ABC (9-15) NOT-SO-FAMILY (9) ``L.A. Firefighters,'' Fox (10) ``Melrose Place  This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling.You can assist by [ editing it] now. ,'' Fox (11) ``Roseanne,'' ABC (12) ``Wings,'' NBC (13) ``Friends,'' NBC (14) ``Unsolved Mysteries,'' NBC (15) ``Cops,'' Fox Box: 1996-97 FAMILY HOUR |
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