Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 27, 1993 TAG: 9307270148
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By ED BARK
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
Executive producer Steven Bochco said future episodes of the one-hour series would continue to include nudity and strong language in order to compete with the more explicit programming available uncut on pay cable. Even with 15 seconds cut, the premiere episode's signature bedroom sequence will still run about one minute.
"It does not eliminate any of the nudity," Bochco emphasized at a packed Sunday afternoon news conference. "That, in fact, is the only adjustment we've made in the show. We have not made, nor will we make, any [other] adjustments in terms of language or anything else."
Bochco, who created the landmark "Hill Street Blues" series, said he would stay the course no matter how many ABC affiliate stations decide to pre-empt "NYPD Blue" or air it in late-night time periods.
"I would personally hope that the affiliates would have the courage to allow their viewers to make a judgment for themselves and not function as sort of a public censor or public taste arbiter," Bochco said."
After the news conference, ABC president Robert Iger said it was "safe to assume there's going to be an adult advisory on every episode."
Iger said he would "hate to see them [ABC stations] succumb to pressure from special-interest groups."
Earlier this summer, the Rev. Donald Wildmon, a longtime opponent of what he considers morally offensive television programming, bought full-page newspaper ads urging viewers to tune out "NYPD Blue."
Described by ABC as a "unique blend of realism and smoldering situations," "NYPD Blue" includes numerous profanities, most of them voiced by a rogue cop named Andy Sipowicz (former "Hill Street" regular Dennis Franz). None of the words in question can be printed in a family newspaper, but they do not include a common four-letter vulgarity beginning with the sixth letter of the alphabet.
The erotic bedroom scene, between young Kelly (David Caruso) and patrolwoman Janice Licalsi (Amy Brenneman), occurs in the final 15 minutes of the first episode. Detective Kelly is estranged from but still married to Laura Kelly (Sherry Stringfield), an attorney who is having trouble living without him.
In its original form, the lovemaking scene included four close-ups of Brenneman's backside and an unusually revealing side view of her breasts. The two roll in bed to the soundtrack accompaniment of a woman vocalist who sings, "Oh, it's all right, it's all right. C'mon, c'mon, c'mon."
ABC's Iger said he was uncomfortable with the length of the scene and asked Bochco to consider trimming it.
"We lingered with those people in bed a little bit too long," Iger said.
Bochco said he "got concerned about that because I felt that was a euphemism for `Eliminate the nudity.' And they [ABC] made it very clear to me that that was not what their concern was."
He is "happy" with the re-edited scene and "very pleased to be able to access a more adult degree of sexuality in the show when it's called for," Bochco said.
Iger said ABC had no problems with any of the language or violence in the pilot episode. In the starkest sequence, Franz's character is shot four times at point-blank range after having sex with a prostitute. The episode ends with the character in critical condition, but he will show "extraordinary" recuperative powers, Bochco said.
"It's not been our intention, even since we've heard an affiliate backlash, to change direction here," Iger said. "All we wanted to do was try to reach a different level of comfort, that's all. Knowing that in the end - again - we're way `out there' on this."
Bochco said it might be crucial for "NYPD Blue" to get off to a fast start in the Nielsen ratings. "If this show doesn't do well quickly," he said, "I think there's going to be an enormous amount of network anxiety about it."
Bochco said he had no interest in making theatrical movies instead of continuing to test the tolerance of network television. "I love television," he said. "I'm not impressed with the movie business. It's a director's medium, and I'm not a director. I'm a writer."
by CNB