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Sunday was a good time to watch, but not listen, to the TV
At the start of the television season, The New York Times reported that network television and basic cable were going to push the limits of what's allowed on non-premium channels. The Times report focused on serial shows like The West Wing and Philly, but it turns out that some of the boundaries were pushed over the weekend by special movies. "Time to wash the speakers out with soap," reports the Associated Press's David Bauder. "This past weekend marked a milestone in televised swearing."

ESPN's A Season on the Brink, about basketball coach Bobby Knight, contained a lot of cussing, but simulcast the movie on ESPN2 with the words edited out. "You couldn't produce a movie on Bobby Knight and use phrases like 'aw, shucks' and 'golly gee,' network vice president Mark Shapiro told the AP. "It just wouldn't be believable." Also airing Sunday night was CBS's 9/11 documentary about firefighters at the World Trade Center attack. "The language was rough but the circumstances were rough," executive producer Susan Zirinsky says.

Parents Television Council president Brent Bozell says the 9/11 language was justified, but the ESPN film's use was gratuitous. "Hollywood has done movies involving probably hundreds, if not thousands, of people who were known to cuss," he told the news service. "Were they doing a disservice by not having them cuss? When was the last time you heard people see a movie, and say, if there was more cussing, it would be more realistic?"

Dobson airs his NRB message over Focus on the Family broadcast
As has been reported heavily on this site, Focus on the Family's James Dobson played a major role in the forced resignation of National Religious Broadcasters president Wayne Pederson. He felt personally attacked by Pederson's comments that Christian radio was getting too political, and had indicated Focus might leave NRB and he would not deliver his keynote address if Pederson was retained as president. After Pederson resigned, Dobson devoted his address to urging broadcasters to address the moral issues of the day.

Focus on the Family had reportedly planned to air the speech over Dobson's popular Focus on the Familydaily broadcast some time ago, but apparently those plans were scrapped. On Tuesday, however, his remarks finally got an airing. If you have RealPlayer, listen to what Dobson calls "a message that came from deep within my heart" here.

Dobson doesn't often spend multiple broadcasts in a week discussing controversial issues of the day—"issues of concern" usually are broadcast Mondays, with the rest of the week on less controversial fare (see Focus's recent broadcasts page for examples). But this week is heavier on the controversies: yesterday's broadcast was on the origins of homosexuality. Next Monday's broadcast will focus on allowing homosexuals to adopt children. Weblog readers will also want to check out the broadcasts on March 26, when Dobson talks about the history of Focus on the Family, and on March 27 and 28, when Pat Buchanan is scheduled to talk about his controversial book, The Death of the West.

Denominational controversies:

• Area Baptists refuse denomination's demands | Southern Convention wants financial say, support for its conservative stands (The Washington Post)
  
  
• Earlier SBC Agency May Revoke D.C. Funds (Christianity Today, Jan. 25, 2002)
  
  
• Episcopal Church OKs 'flying bishop' policy | Action taken to appease conservative parishes (Houston Chronicle)
  
  

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March (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46