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NBC Affiliate Refuses to Air One of the Network’s New Comedies

Aug 27, 2012  •  Post A Comment

An NBC affiliate is refusing to air one of the network’s new sitcoms, marking the second year in a row that the station has refused to air an NBC show, reports The Salt Lake Tribune.

The station is the Mormon-owned Utah affiliate KSL-TV, which is balking at the new series "The New Normal." The show focuses on two gay men raising a baby.

"From time to time we may struggle with content that crosses the line in one area or another," said Jeff Simpson, the chief executive of Bonneville International, which owns the station. Bonneville is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or LDS.

The decision shows "how deeply out of touch [the station] is with the rest of the country," said Herndon Graddick, the president of the gay-rights group GLAAD, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The show, from Ryan Murphy and Ali Adler, tracks a single mother who acts as a surrogate for a gay couple. The comedy will debut Tuesday, Sept. 11, at 8:30 p.m.

The station was in the news last year when it refused to air "The Playboy Club," saying the brand of the station didn’t match that of the Playboy identity, the Salt Lake Tribune notes.

Speaking of "The New Normal," Simpson said, "For our brand, this program feels inappropriate on several dimensions, especially during family viewing time."

But Utah viewers will be able to view the show, as the general manager of Ogden, Utah-based CW affiliate KUCW-TV said he is looking for a time slot for the series on the weekends, according to the Tribune.

8 Comments

  1. It’s not enough to label alternative lifestyles as “alternative” — we have to accept them as “normal” — right?

  2. Um, it’s just the title of the show. You can call it whatever you want to.

  3. From what I have seen of the show, it may be as good a call as they made on Playboy Club. It may be cancelled before the Holidays anyway.

  4. So instead of just passing on putting a bigoted comment, you decide to show that you’re a bigot. Why don’t you put your home phone # next time so we can then call you and tell you you’re a bigot. I assume you’re proud of the fact that you are a bigot? Right? I can’t imagine a bigot would hide behind the anonymity of the internet.

  5. From the little preview clips I have seen, this looks like a perfectly AWFUL show.

  6. Notice how the only sins on the list of the religious right are homosexuality, abortion and the horrible excruciating death of a stem cell.
    Never a word about greed or childmolesting or adultry or a million other worngs…I find it absolutely amazing how much hate can come out of a “Christian”.

  7. The person out of touch in this piece is Herndon Graddick. This isn’t a gay or straight thing; it’s about a television station knowing its viewers and working to best serve that audience. Mr. Graddick apparently ignored (or was unaware) that KSL chose not to air NBC’s Playboy Club, which is about 180 degrees away from the premise of The New Normal.
    The question broadcasters should be asking is NOT if KSL is out of touch with the rest of the country, when it has NO duty to be in touch with any market but the one it serves. The more appropriate question is, why aren’t more stations standing up to networks trying to pawn off shows that insult the intelligence of their viewers and cheapen the station’s brand.

  8. ” why aren’t more stations standing up to networks trying to pawn off shows that insult the intelligence of their viewers and cheapen the station’s brand.”
    I totally agree. Looks like CBS, the more mature network is trying their fingers in more liberal-oriented gay acceptance shows too. Partners appears to normalize homosexuality, like once aired “One of my Best Friends,” which aired right after “Bette” in 2000.
    I see this type of behavior in ABC, from “Desperate Housewives” and modern Family.
    Desensitizing of homosexuality is nothing new. However as a gay viewer, and also a conservative one, I see little being done to let local stations and their owners make their choices. It is their station and their choice for revenues. If non-corporate radio can do it, why not non-corporate TV.
    Here’s another question to at least ponder…. Why don’t the religious station groups (TBN, Daystar, Cornerstone, etc.) make their own family-oriented sitcoms. That just might boost those religious stations’ revenues…. oops, I mean budgets.

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