Midwest TV stations cancel 'Saving Private Ryan'

[Newsjock]

http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2004/11/10/local/doc41929c802403d300629389.txt

DES MOINES, Iowa — Three Midwest television stations have canceled an airing of "Saving Private Ryan" on Veterans Day, citing fears of fines from the Federal Communications Commission.

"Under strict interpretation of the rules, we can't run that programming before 10 p.m.," said Ray Cole, president of Citadel Communications. The company owns WOI-TV in Des Moines, KCAU-TV in Sioux City and KLKN-TV in Lincoln, Neb.

The film includes a violent depiction of the D-Day invasion and profanity.

"We have attempted to get an advanced waiver from the FCC and, remarkably to me, they are not willing to do so," he said.

... Instead of "Saving Private Ryan," the three Citadel stations will show a music program from 7 to 8 p.m. and the TV movie "Return to Mayberry" from 8 to 10 p.m.

more

[aquart]

1. Awww, I'll bet the ratings are super for Return to Mayberry.

How does it feel, fellas? How does it feel?

[tabasco]

2. Sure would hate for people to think war is violent.

Can't disillusion the masses now can we?

[WindRavenX]

10. bingo

Remember, as long as they don't see the bodies come home...this war will be supported.

[OneTwentyoNine]

22. Noooo...things are going swimmingly in Iraq. FOX said so...nt

[stanwyck]

33. right. And now back to titillation

for those who like their violence only when it's spiced with sex. Queue up Law and Order and CSI. (I happen to like both...don't get me wrong). Just don't show the violence of war. How better to support the troops than by ignoring the horror.

[Castilleja]

46. I was wondering if that was the real reason

that it might remind people of the horrors of war. Hmmm. :shrug:

[neuvocat]

3. ???

Since when did the FCC care that much about violence on tv?

[LosinIt]

14. It's the profanity that the rules are so strict on.

Not knowing the Citadel company at all, maybe they are worried about a fine because of the language. Either way, it's ridiculous.

[ilovenicepeople]

24. Speaking of ridiculous..

How many times have you seen on TV the word (GOD) damn bleeped out while a violent(re:gunfight)confrontation ensues unmolested?:shrug: :crazy:

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Well you see this is a very good picture of war and hell

we don't want people to see either war or hell, but mayberry will be fine.

[high density]

5. Electioneering = free speech

Violent war movies = evil?

Hello?

[movonne]

6. Is it as violent as "The Passion"??

[johnfunk]

28. If it were Mel Gibson's "Saving Private Christ,"...

... you can be sure Michael Powell's Federal Christian Commission would OK it! It's those damn liberals like Tom Hanks making profane, immoral movies. They are destroyting the moral fiber of our nation.

[FeelinGarfunkelly]

39. LOL would love to see some Photoshopper make that poster

eom

[Trajan]

7. Saving Private Ryan ...

Is about as harrowing and awful a depiction of war as has ever been rendered in art ...

I could only watch it once, and I will never watch it again ...

[Parche]

11. omaha beach

My Stepdad was on Omaha Beach that morning and he made it thru

He saw the film and says that was the most realistic ever

[HawkerHurricane]

15. My only problem with the whole film...(historian's dilemma)

Capt. Miller (wonderfully played by Tom Hanks) is a Ranger, landing on 'Bloody Omaha' Beach on D-Day...

Except the Rangers landed on Utah Beach, where they climbed a cliff face to knock out shore defense guns that weren't there.

Only mistake in the whole movie.

[KDLarsen]

27. I thought the Rangers went into Omaha as well

It's been a while since I read up on the D-Day landings (I'm currently into the Easter Front - Stalingrad, Moscow, Leningrad, Kursk, you name it), but I'm pretty sure that the Rangers climbe Pointe du Hoc to the west of Omaha to clear the shore defense guns there. Now, IIRC, the group of approx 200 Rangers that went in (with ladders borrowed from the London fire brigade!) were supposed to send a signal to the rest of the Rangers waiting off-shore. However, due to problems (massive problems in scaling the cliffs), they were unable to transmit that signal & thus the remaining Rangers' orders were to land on Omaha, move inland & then swing left to try to take out the guns via land.

[blackhorse]

49. Rangers at Omaha

They did. C Company, 2nd Ranger Battalion assaulted the western end of the Omaha sector, along with a rifle company of the 29th Infantry Division. As you point out, other ranger units assaulted Pointe du Hoc.

Cheers

[krkaufman]

12. Which may be the reason the FCC is unwilling ....

... to grant them the exception. The last thing the Admin wants is anything to be aired that might diminish the desire and support for war.

[Mike Daniels]

32. Funny, The other side is saying stations are using this as an excuse

to avoid showing a movie that has a positive portrayal of the military at war.

It's amazing how the perspective changes based on which side you're on.

[magellan]

50. What I find amazing

is that the people who claim to have voted for * for his "values" are the ones complaining most about this blackout. Considering it was many of these same people who saw "Passion of the Christ" over and over, the only conclusion one can draw is that they're quite happy to expose themselves and their children to violence and bad language -- as long as it's "patriotic" or "religious" in flavor.

The affiliates who didn't show "Saving Private Ryan" are -- perhaps intentionally -- shining a light on the hypocrisy that lives deep in the heart of Bush supporters.

[Ilsa]

17. ITA. I can't see it again.

It is too violent to sit through a second time. I found Schindler's List to be the same way.

[Lizzie Borden]

29. It's pretty gruesome...

I just sat and watched the invasion with tears streaming down my face. I thought it was as close to an accurate portrayal as you could get without being there. I think everyone should see it, worldwide. I don't remember what station it was on bet it was T.V.

[Trajan]

30. You know ? ...

D-Day and the rescue of France is ther perfect example of a JUSTIFIABLE war ....

As AWFUL as this action was: As AWFUL as what is shown in this movie .. it HAD to be done ....

Something the Righties always seem to forget: Democrats know how to fight when they need to .. their depictions of Democrats as 'soft' is belied by the truth of service by Democrats in government today and yesterday ....

Such Liberals as Teddy Kennedy, Tom Daschle, Tom Harkin and George McGovern, ALL vilified by the RW as 'soft', all have records of service to their nation; unlike most the counterparts on the opposite side of the aisle ...

D Day was awful, but necessary .... and a perfect exemplar as to WHY we shouldnt start wars ....

[drscm]

8. Are you sure it isn't the "Return of the Mayberry Machiavellians"?

[Anakin Skywalker]

9. Fine! I'll Head On Down to...

my local adult store and rent "Saving Ryan's Private" instead! F*** you, FCC!

[Soup Bean]

13. They should show "Pleasantville" instead....

...oh, wait, that's probably on the subversive movie list, too.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

16. We all live in Mayberry.....

Andy is our sherriff, Otis is not doing hard time, and Opie is a crack head.

[VegasWolf]

19. Yes, and they just kicked Barney Fife out of town.

[B Calm]

18. I watched Saving Private Ryan with my 87 year old WW2 vet dad.

The tears were flowing down my dads face and he said, my god this is so realistic!

[OneTwentyoNine]

20. But probably on HBO soft porn "Shaving Ryan's Privates" will show...

SBJ,what the hell is next?? A few cuss words would be horrible but yet they can cut to commercial and listen to some lady talk about a drug so her hubby can get a hard on and thats OK. My husband has ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION. Try explaining that one to small children watching.

Can't get that shit off of TV...Nope the business of America is business....

[high density]

21. More stations not going to show it:

http://digbig.com/4ccsy

"...at least 11 ABC affiliates, including those in Boston, Orlando, Atlanta and Des Moines, Iowa, have chosen not to air the movie."

[coreystone]

23. Why don't they blurp out the "restricted language", show the scenes;

just as they would in John Wayne, Schwarzenegger, or, any other movie. Why should the media disguise the horrors of war for the next generation who will be fighting it with their lives?

I have seen the movie. If they get the "ratings ability" out, there is nothing different then the MESSAGE that was sent to me, 40 plus years ago, to be patriotic without questioning WHY!


:dem:

[snippy]

37. Steven Spielberg won't allow any editing according to some stories on this

But I don't know whether that is true.

[4MoreYearsOfHell]

25. Mustn't upset the sheeple

by showing anything graphic that actually might cause them to see shithead's litle foreign adventure in a different light.

I remember when my wife saw "Platoon" for the first time - she argued that our guys could have done nothing of the sort - the inhumanity and even swearing - no, not us!

Well, she has lost that naiveity along the way...

[justgamma]

26. Blue living in a red state.

Just for the record Kerry won in Des Moines by 8000 votes. My local station in very blue eastern Iowa is showing it. Western Iowa, where DM is, is the red part of the state.

[Greylyn58]

31. The Spineless ABC Station

in my city - Charlotte, NC - has decided not to air "Saving Private Ryan" and I'm upset.

They gave a bunch of weenie excuses - the language, the violence, but what it comes down to is they don't want to air the truth about war. God forbid the masses see the truth about how nasty, vile and messy war is. Wouldn't want the true horrors of what is happening in Iraq to be known.

Instead they are showing a half hour of local programing and then the Eddie Murphy movie "Coming to America".

Lord these people...

:grr: :mad:

[BlueManDude]

34. Why not show "Stolen Honor" again just for old time's sake?

[amandabeech]

35. Frankly, as great as this movie is, I think that the violence

is too much to be shown when young viewers are likely to see it.

I also think that there is a lot on TV before 10:00 that is too violent for young people, not just this.

I know that most parents are careful of what their children see, but there are too many who don't seem to care. I would rather restrict violence so that those children do not become numb to it.

Perhaps SPR could be run from 10-11:30 for two or three nights instead of starting at 8:00 so that it can be shown on one night.

Flame away at the old lady who is a small-towner at heart and for whom a little violence goes a long way.

[snippy]

36. This is what happens when people vote republican.

Businesses are afraid of being punished by a vindictive and paternalistic totalitarian federal government.

[llmart]

38. Do they think this will keep people from seeing the movie?

Just go to the local library and get it. This movie flies off our library's shelves every day - in video and DVD. Doesn't cost a thing (unless you're late in returning it I mean).

[Az_lefty]

40. We don't need the Mid-West reminding...

the fuckheads who elected the shrub what WAR is really like.

[PeteGammons]

41. Not just the mid-west.

Boston's not red, neither is Manchester, NH. But the ABC affiliates in those cities aren't carrying it either...

[springhill]

42. Unbelievable..........

An absolutely brilliant, realistic look at war and they are not going to show it. If people don't want their kids to see it, don' let them. This country is not the free country I used to know.

[corporatemedia]

44. BELIEVABLE

(this is my first post although i was a constant reader during the selection and was a good "soldier" in the on-line poll wars)

wtae-tv pittsburgh pa has also censored the realities of war.

this is the same station that was on my tv when i returned home on selection day from many hours of kerry visibility rallies (in a driving rain - at least it wasn't cold) only to see an ad for their upcoming "news" report on "Terrorists scouting bridges and tunnels in Pittsburh" IT WAS A FEAR AD FOR BUSH they were showing our tunnels and bridges (of which we have many) and talking about terrorists. i fully expected to see wolves holding bush for pres signs running out of the fort pitt tunnel.

anyway i called them and left a message of protest that included some of the same words that supposedly kept ryan off the air. i guess they won't be airing my comments?

please, everyone, call your local channels either in support of the showing or in denunciation of their censorship.

thanks

[karlrschneider]

43. Ironically, the Tulsa affiliate has it on. In the REDDEST of RED states

And fundy capital of the country...


:eyes:
(KTUL, watching it right now)

[SaintLouisBlues]

45. Not showing in the STL

"Hoosiers", which takes on a whole new meaning in the local vernacular.

Sinclair Broadcasting are run by a bunch of Hoosiers, and not the Indiana variety.

Now they are running a disclaimer blaming the FCC. Yeah right. And don't call us, call the FCC or your congressman, Sinclair declares.

The nerve of these book-burners.

[Bleacher Creature]

47. Please tell me that the Mayberry part is a joke!

Seriously. I heard that they were not going to air Savings Private Ryan, but seriously?? Mayberry?

You can't make this stuff up!

[TankLV]

48. ... decide to air "Savings Ryan's Privates" instead.

Hooboy!

[__Inanna__]

51. Funny, it was shown in Mpls, MN

Cannot get more midwest than that, and Kerry took that state.