• by Jack Myers , February 16, 2007

District Attorney: "You're going down, Denny Crane. Once and for all, you're going down."

Denny Crane (William Shatner): "Denny Crane never goes down... except as a lover. I'm a giver in bed...." (turning to attorney AlanShore [James Spader]):"Is that relevant?"

Is salacious content on network broadcast television, even at the 10 o'clock hour, relevant? Yes, it is, and sorely missed ever since Janet Jackson determined the future of network television and defined a new definition of community standards that has stifled creativity.

There's an alternate argument, however: Network prime-time program creativity is at an all-time high. There is an impressive amount of quality television programming that meets family standards. These programs might not have made it to prime time if networks were not forced to clean up their acts.

And there's a third point of view: Network prime-time television has never, in its history, been as violent as it is now. Procedural crime dramas and other series that are built around aggression and hostility dominate the airwaves. As sexual themes have been relegated to the out box, violent themes have emerged in their place.

In fact, each of these points is difficult to argue with. The first point is more political and social than it is a creative issue and the most subject to debate. My position on the three issues is that there is more quality family programming on network television, and most of these dramas, led by "Gilmore Girls" and "Friday Night Lights," are struggling to find audiences. There are more violent themes on prime time, with more on the way. I have no problem with that; I don't buy into the idea that television causes violent behavior. I spent my childhood watching westerns, war movies and "Panic in NeedlePark." I'm not violent, pro-war or a junkie. I'm actually convinced series like "CSI" and"Law & Order" do far more to dissuade people from committing crimes than they do to cause them.

As for the first issue, sexuality has been all but banned from broadcast prime time. Okay, there's some innuendo in "Two and a Half Men," and David E. Kelley is given the benefit of the doubt, but we seem just steps away from returning to the "Lucy"era -- when she and Desi had to sleep in separate beds fully clothed. It's time for network programmers to regain some control over the government censorship that rules network TV today. By the time series created now are through the development process and on the air, George Bush will be out of office and the odds are good a Democratic Federal Communications Commission will be in control. Start preparing for when standards are relaxed... please. I expect there will be more sexual comment, innuendo and reality on network television than an occasional quip. And I don't think America will slip into moral decay as a result.

Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction has taken on influence and impact far greater than it deserves. It was a watershed moment for the Super Bowl, for television and for America, but the negative reaction might have been more against the excesses of the Super Bowl half-time entertainment than against one quick moment of nipple. It was a terrible half-time show from start to finish. The attention was on entertainment rather than the game, which many of us actually cared about. Thanks to Janet and Justin, at least the half-time show didn't totally suck. This year, those same negative forces rose up again against the commercialism of the Super Bowl. Thanks to a $20 Doritos commercial, the ads didn't totally suck.

It's time to stop trying to tell the American viewing public what we want to see, what we should enjoy, what we should care about, what we should be angry at, what we should turn on or off.

I also hope forward-thinking networks will realize they can support programs like "Friday Night Lights" even if their ratings are not equal to "CSI" or "Dancing With the Stars." Once the networks get out of the ratings game and begin valuing emotional connections and relationships with viewers, advertisers will quickly follow. They're an intelligent bunch, but easily swept up in the hysteria of the moment. Everyone is saying the consumer is in control.

As long as Nielsen, the FCC, Madison Avenue hysterics and vocal minorities dictate network television content, Americans won't be in control of the public airwaves. Let's bring football back to the Super Bowl. Let's bring some sexuality back to prime time. And let's support the broadcast networks that are doing a great job of developing truly excellent family programming.