Seven NBC affiliates (in Salt Lake City; Shreveport, La.; South Bend, Ind.; Tupelo, Miss.; and Pocatello, Twin Falls and Boise in Idaho) have pulled the show from prime time, saying they thought it was in poor taste.
Any dopers live in these areas? I’m wondering if those affiliates air Springer or Cops, if so we may have to put in for a new definition of “taste”
What in the world are these network affiliates afraid of? According to a blurb in USA Today:
Is this the wrong message? I would think that if God was all that upset about it, he would get involved directly.
Tonight at 8:30 ET… it looks like a hoot.
We cheat the other guys & pass the savings along to you!
Me, I think the show has promise, but, then, I’m a god-less atheist.
Notice that all the affiliates are in small towns, with the exception of SLC, Utah. Note that one station is in Tupelo, MS, the home of the silly Rev. Wildmon. (And the birthplace of Elvis!) The Idaho trifecta is interesting. Are they afraid of offending WAR and the American Nazis? (That’s a joke. Nazis constitute only a tiny minority of Idahoans.)
[ramble]
If small-town stations are more quick to refuse to show a program it’s because in small towns, a small group of protesters can sound much louder than they would in a big city and they’d have greater influence if they decided to boycott advertisers.
It ain’t necessarily because people in small towns are less sophisticated than city folk. I’m from a small town and I now live in a big city (L. A.) and I don’t find people here any more sophisticated than the ones back home. Lots of the same prejudices and same proportion of religious fanatics and same percentage of closed minds versus open ones.
[/ramble]
Me, I think what’s worse than poor taste is being un-funny. Suddenly Susan, for example.
Boise, of course, isn’t a small town to me…not huge, mind you, but not small (I think they’re predicting over 170,000pop after census).
Yes, they air Springer and Cops.
I haven’t seen the show, so I can’t really judge. I’m a godless athiest also so I wouldn’t be offended by the humor, but several of the reviews I’ve seen say it isn’t even funny shrug
I think jab1 hit the nail on the head. The smaller the town, the louder the voice each person has. And, from experience, I can tell you there are a LOT of loud voices around here.
Occasionally, it’s very difficult for this California girl to remember that this is a quiet, set-in-their-ways way of life.
Hey! I live in South Bend! Err… in a nearby town called Elkhart actually, and I’m only here for the week- but the point is, I didn’t get to see the show.
The funniest part was that they replaced it with the “Contest” episode of Seinfeld. Yeah, that’s not in poor taste.
–John
'Twis brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gymble in the wabe.
Mimsy were the borogroves,
And the momeraths outgrabe.
I just saw it and I don’t see why anyone would want to pull it from the airwaves. I didn’t think it was all that funny, and the animation sorta looked like the guy who created the AHHH! Real Monsters cartoon changed networks from Nickelodeon to whatever channel it was on (NBC, right?).
“People must think it must be fun to be a super genuis,
But they don’t realize how hard it is
to put up with all the idiots in the world.”
– Calvin and Hobbes
(__) /
While the show didn’t disrespect God, it did ridicule a stereotypical televangelist. I’d be willing to bet that was a lot more responsible for the “religious” protest against the show.
I saw it last night and was actually a little disappointing. Though it was amusing, it wasn’t particularly funny.
However, as a (quiet) Christian, I loved how God was portrayed. He was, no pun intended, down to earth, had a sense of humor, drank lite beer (didn’t get raging drunk, but liked a beer), forgiving, friendly, even. Personally, I found absolutely nothing wrong with how He was portrayed. The fact that Bob was chosen is reminiscent of others who have been chosen–Biblical history is littered not with perfect characters, but truly human ones. I like that.
Not that I think the show is necessarily meant to have a theological theme, but in any event, I saw nothing offensive.
Stupid uptight people.
Teaching: The ultimate birth control method.
Poster You’d Most Like to Date–Female
Second Official SDMB Awards
Think back to the first episode of The Simpsons, or King of the Hill, or The Critic- okay maybe not The Critic. But they all started slow, the first episodes were amusing & nobody ever expected them to take off. I think GTD&B shows just as much promise. The first episode is always a little thin because we have to set the premise, etc.
I think God looks & sounds more like George Carlin than Jerry Garcia.
It’ll probably come back on the air in most of those cities if it becomes popular ('cept maybe SLC). Religious wackos just LOVE to boycott things they haven’t even seen. Remember Dogma? They were stark raving mad about that movie until it actually CAME OUT and then they all shut up.
“Honey we’re recovering Christians.”
–Tori Amos - In the Springtime of his Voodoo
I have been working in South Bend for over a year now and let me tell you, these people take thier religion very serioulsy. Norte Dame is located here so there is a very large catholic presense. There are still
Amish people traveling by horse drawn carriages here. And the region as a whole is very conservative politically. It dosen’t suprise me that they would be offended by a cartoon version of God.
I will be leaving this area soon, while I will miss the good people (they truely are some of the best I have ever meet), I look forward to seeing this new show for myself. I personally think God has a sense of humor and dosen’t mind the attention.
watch what you say
or they’ll be calling
you a radical,
a liberal,fanatical
a criminal…
I just like to see things like this, it really just shows how stupid most of the religious right are. It makes discounting anything else they try and say so much easier.
About the show. Not bad, had a few good jokes, but it needs to be sped up and smoothed out a bit. In perspective, it is a thousand times better than early Simpsons episodes in both animation, comedy, and voice overs. I think it has potential, and I like the premise.
