FCC Chairman Michael Powell made an early ruling on the broadcast in a Nov. 17 interview on CNBC, owned by ABC competitor NBC.
Calling the segment "very disappointing," Powell said, "I wonder if Walt Disney would be proud." He added that while broadcasters complain about the FCC's "indecency enforcement," they like to "keep it hot and steamy in order to get financial gains and the free advertising it provides."
Mario Vazquez, at right in the back row, has pulled out of the "American Idol" competition, citing "personal reasons."
(Ray Mickshaw -- Fox Via Reuters)
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Powell is leaving the FCC this week; he's heading to the Aspen Institute to advise on communications matters.
In his statement, Commissioner Copps complained that while the broadcast technically was not indecent, "it does raise the issue of broadcasters acting responsibly when deciding what to air during the hours when children are likely to be in the audience."
He wrote: "There wasn't much self-discipline in this particular promotion. As stewards of the public airwaves, broadcasters can and should do better."
Yesterday's FCC ruling will no doubt tickle Chuck Lorre, co-creator of CBS's "Two and a Half Men." He posted a one-second so-called "vanity card" at the end of a recent episode, grousing that the network made him cut down a scene in which Lucy Lawless's naked back was seen.
"My problem is knowing that I work in an industry, or perhaps I should say a culture, that is more comfortable showing a dead naked body than a live one," Lorre wrote on the card, which flashed by at the very end of the March 7 broadcast.
"A glimpse at any of the prime-time police procedural shows reveals that the powers that be, both in Hollywood and Washington, are perfectly at ease with graphically detailed autopsy scenes that show female corpses being carved up in order to reveal the titillating (pun intended) cause of death, or, if it's during sweeps, examined for traces of semen."
"American Idol" just isn't "American Idol" until one of the finalists abruptly vanishes from the competition. So it was with some relief that we read Fox's announcement that Mario Vazquez abruptly pulled out of the singing derby, citing "personal reasons."
Better Vazquez of the Annoying Hats, we thought, than somebody really talented, like Anwar Robinson or . . . nope, that's pretty much it.
Yesterday, Vazquez told the syndicated celebrity suck-up show "Extra" that his reason for leaving is "a very private issue amongst myself" and that "my intuition told me there was things I really needed to take care of, personal areas in my life that I'm trying to keep private."
He added, "This is not the last you've heard of Mario Vazquez!"
Actually, pookie, it probably is. After all, the general public doesn't hear a lot these days about Corey Clark, who made it through to the finals in a previous edition but vanished from the competition after allegations became public that he had assaulted his sister. Ditto Jaered Andrews, who left after being charged with assault in connection with a bar fight. And you don't read much about Frenchie Davis, who got sacked because she had appeared on a porn Web site. Not to mention, 'cause nobody does anymore, Donnie Williams, who was axed from the show after an arrest on suspicion of DUI.
Fox has brought back contestant Nikko Smith to take Vazquez's place. Smith and Travis Tucker were eliminated because they were the bottom two vote-getters among the male contestants last week; Fox says Smith got more viewer votes than Tucker.
