Ed Vitagliano
AFA Journal news editor
November-December 2006 – More than 750,000 e-mails from AFA supporters convinced the NBC network to back away from plans to air a blasphemous scene during an upcoming televised concert in November.
The controversial scene is from pop singer Madonna’s worldwide Confessions Tour. At one point in the concert, Madonna arises on stage fastened to a mirrored cross, and wearing a fake crown of thorns.
“We appreciate the fact that NBC has seen the power of the pocketbook and decided to cancel the scene from the Madonna special,” said AFA Chairman Don Wildmon. “The network should never have even entertained using the scene, but we appreciate NBC removing it from the special.”
Christian leaders in Rome and Moscow were outraged when the singer performed in those cities, with representatives of the Roman Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church speaking out concerning the blasphemous stunt.
Cardinal Ersilio Tonino, speaking on behalf of the Vatican, said before Madonna’s performance in Rome: “To crucify yourself in the city of the pope and the martyrs is an act of open hostility. It’s a scandal created on purpose by astute merchants to attract publicity. This concert is a blasphemous challenge to the faith and a profanation of the cross.”
Initially NBC officials saw little wrong with the cross scene and appeared determined to air it. Kevin Reilly, entertainment president for the network, said, “We viewed [the concert’s mock crucifixion] and didn’t see it as being inappropriate.”
However, the public outcry over NBC’s upcoming concert special resulted in the network being deluged by complaints from supporters of AFA and other Christian organizations.
Wildmon said that thousands of AFA supporters had complained to their local affiliates, who had undoubtably passed those concerns up the ladder.
“We understand that several NBC affiliates had already indicated they would not air the program if it contained [the crucifixion scene],” Wildmon said.
Mocking Christianity and the crucifixion of Christ have been a trademark of Madonna’s music career. The 1989 music video for her hit song “Like a Prayer” was similarly controversial. The video featured burning crosses, statues crying blood, and Madonna, representing Jesus, freeing a saint from his sexual repression by seducing him.
Veggie Tales gets diced
Despite its decision regarding the Madonna concert, NBC is not off the hook with AFA and other pro-family groups. On Saturday mornings, the network began airing edited episodes of the popular children’s Christian cartoon Veggie Tales.
NBC apparently did not like the cartoon’s clear references to God and the Bible and ordered them chopped out of the programs before they could air. Censored from Veggie Tales were comments such as: “Calm down. The Bible says we should love our enemies,” and “God made you special, and He loves you very much.”
NBC’s explanation? Initially the network claimed that only minor references at the very beginning and end of each episode were cut in order to make the program fit within the time slot allotted.
However, Veggie Tales creator Phil Vischer publicly denied that claim. He said that “as the guy required to do all the editing, I know that statement is false. … The show wasn’t too long, it was too Christian. The show was already cut down to the proper length, so timing had nothing to do with it.”
That forced NBC to come clean. The network subsequently said in a statement: “NBC is committed to the positive messages and universal values of Veggie Tales. Our goal is to reach as broad an audience as possible with these positive messages while being careful not to advocate any one religious point of view.”
For Vischer, NBC’s apparent insistence on a more God-free version of Veggie Tales was not what he expected. “I’m not at all happy with the edits. I didn’t know I’d need to make them when I agreed to produce the show, and I considered dropping out when I found out just how much would need to be removed,” he said.
On the other hand, the Saturday morning show has proven quite popular. The Los Angeles Times reported that Veggie Tales gave NBC its biggest ratings jump in children’s programming in three years. In its debut episode, the show’s time slot garnered a 16% jump in viewership over the previous weekend’s programming.
Psycho religious cult?
NBC was once again on the hot seat, however, over its new drama Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Billing itself as a “take on the drama behind the humor of producing a popular, late-night comedy sketch show,” the new series is obviously a take-off of the popular and irreverent NBC mainstay Saturday Night Live.
But the drama’s first two episodes were anti-Christian. One character, in an angry fit over a decision to cut a skit titled “Crazy Christians,” complained about network officials who are intimidated by “every psycho religious cult that gets positively horny at the mere mention of a boycott.” Also characters on the show call Christians who believe in the Rapture “whack jobs,” while 700 Club host Pat Robertson and the show’s viewers are likened to the Ku Klux Klan. A Christian character on the show is consistently shallow, obnoxious and insecure.
Wildmon said: “NBC says referring to God on a cartoon is offensive to some non-Christians. But NBC doesn’t mind offending Christians with Studio 60.” 
