ABC apologizes for steamy intro to "Monday Night Football''

[Columbia]

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/11/16/sports1552EST0363.DTL&type=printable

ABC apologizes for steamy intro to ``Monday Night Football''

Tuesday, November 16, 2004
(11-16) 12:52 PST NEW YORK (AP)

ABC apologized Tuesday for a steamy intro to "Monday Night Football" after receiving complaints from viewers and the NFL.

The spot featured a naked Nicollette Sheridan jumping into the arms of Terrell Owens.

Before the Philadelphia-Dallas game, ABC showed Owens and Sheridan in an empty locker room in an attempt to spoof the network hit "Desperate Housewives." Sheridan, who stars in the show, was wearing only a towel and provocatively asked Owens to skip the game for her.

After she dropped her towel, he agreed to be late for the contest and hugged her. Then the shot panned out to two more stars of "Desperate Housewives," Teri Hatcher and Felicity Huffman, watching the scene unfold on a television and commenting on desperate women.

<more>

[russian33]

1. Funny, i started a thread on this like 20 minutes ago..great minds!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=2019686&mesg_id=2019686

[Columbia]

2. Indeed!

GMTA! :hi:

[AP]

3. so the target demographic for Desperate Housewives is football fans?

[w4rma]

55. Yes. (nt)

[wryter2000]

4. It was pretty tacky

Nothing objectionable, though. I have to say that T.O. is my guilty pleasure. I love some of his stunts (like the Sharpie)...others, oy!

OTOH, I remarked to the dh when the intro was over that when I was a small child he would have been lynched for that. That's some kind of progress. I guess. :eyes:

[indigobusiness]

5. When "tacky" is outlawed

who will be left to run the prison?

[wryter2000]

11. 100% in agreement

It shouldn't be outlawed. They shouldn't even apologize for it.

[Tab]

32. When "tacky" is outlawed...

... only outlaws will be "tacky"

[indigobusiness]

35. And, it will be an all encompassing

group.

[Pithlet]

6. They should apologize, but for other reasons.

I find networks who carry sports and use that to tie into the rest of their crappy programming offensive. Cross-promotion is the most irritating thing to come from marketing departments since, well, everything else they do.

[frylock]

7. why can't football just be about football anymore?

Why do they need to show these stupid intros, or show music videos at halftime? When I was growing up, I used to love MNF halftime highlights of the games played on Sunday. I would anxiously await for the 30 second clip of my Chargers, along with Howard Cosell's voice over describing the key plays. Now we're subjected to "battle of the bands", with fuggin' Doug Flutie playing the drums with Bare Naked Numbnuts, or some stupid practical joke candid camera bullshit.

[fob]

24. Thank you Frylock, I too wonder what happened to MNF. Just give me

the damn run down of the Sunday games you dicks, keep that other shit for, well, don't keep it for anything!!

[Charlie Brown]

25. I agree

the networks' attempt to sensationalize these sporting events takes the fun away from watching the sport. I'm glad the Olympics are still treated with (somewhat) more dignity.

[TahitiNut]

8. White woman. Black football player. How many complainers ...

... were more "offended" by the racial aspects than anything else, I wonder.

My guess is over 75%. :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

(Yeah... maybe it's my imagination. Sure.)

[Uzybone]

10. you know that never crossed my mind

but I think you may be on to something. If Vinny Testaverde was the player in that stupid into Im sure the complainers would have been mum.

[AdollarTwoNintyEight]

12. My guess is 0%

I know many types of people from rednecks to pencil necks and not a single on has ANY kind of issue with mixed race relationships. Where are you getting your information from?

[lapfog_1]

16. Know any skinheads?

There are PLENTY of people who get all bent out of shape at the
thought of a black man with a white woman. My poor demented
grandmother for one... I love her, but am always shocked at the
reaction whenever a mixed race couple is on TV.

[xchrom]

18. lol -- oh god that's funny

ooops -- i'm sorry you werent' trying to be funny?
:eyes:

[sonicx]

21. they'd never admit it.

[TahitiNut]

23. ((sound of turnip truck driving away))

Yeah, sure. :eyes: How nice for you.

[socalover]

49. Definitely agree, all race bait, black man, white woman!

[JoFerret]

9. Sick of this hypocrisy

They can show slick sexist gratuitously offensive exploitative pornesque tripe and then go into hand-wringing but heaven forfend they should air Private Ryan. Or even better - a real depiction of something for and about actual adult relationships and their complexities.

[bsuz]

13. ABC Hypocrisy

I totally agree with you on this. "Soft Porn" is OK, but showing a movie to celebrate Veteran's Day was just SOOOOO wrong. It is just going downhill from here. Would love to see some comments from Steven Spielberg or Tom Hanks.

[Liberal_Dog]

47. To Be Fair

It was some ABC affiliates who puilled the plug on "Saving Private Ryan", not ABC itself.

[bendeminga]

57. Yeah--but here's what gets me...

You can show people getting murdered and celebrate violence--but heaven forbid you show a breast on the boob tube.

[progressivebydesign]

14. Why are we going backwards???????????

I think we all need to screw the American television stations and watch BBC. At least THEY aren't frightened by sex.

[xchrom]

20. thank you!

i was thinking i had just landed in plymouth -- and i was going to start looking for some woman showing something she shouldn't so i could denounce her as a harlot.

are the liberals lined up behind the conservative christians on this or the other way around -- or is it joined at the hip?

[huskerlaw]

58. Exactly!

ABC shouldn't apologize. All that was shown was a bare back. This is 2004, not 1804.

[bsuz]

15. Nicolette Sheridan

Nicolette used to be very beautiful. Has she turned into a "Joan Rivers" wanna-be? It's really quite sad.

[Algorem]

27. I didn't know who it was,I was hoping it wasn't Cameron Diaz,because if it

was,what happened to her FACE!?!

[VermonterInExile]

17. Bottom line is...

...the bottom line. The FCC is opening an investigation, and at the instigation of the 'small government no taxes family values' crowd, will be spending big taxpayer $$$ on the issue.


:wtf:

[Bluebear]

19. Welcome to DU, Vermonter.....meanwhile another TV crackdown

Partially nude back = bad.

Jerry Falwell preaching hate = good.

[VegasWolf]

22. ABC fucked up with sex again, they shoulda just blasted some

pictures of dead children in Fallujah. Why are
repukes so anal about sex.

[llmart]

29. Because they don't get any.....

from their frigid, fundie wives.

[Bucky]

59. Yes, that's right. No one from ABC ever has sex.

Or did you mean that no Republican ever has sex? Both points are equally silly.

[Algorem]

26. I saw that,she kept looking down at his crotchal area,like it was the be-

ginning of a porno scene(I'm guessing):how many million kids watch Monday Night Football?

[VegasWolf]

28. I saw the whole episode and didn't think twice about it, but

then again I'm a liburl and I made $100 bucks on
the Eagles.

[On Par]

30. Ain't the First Time Nicolette Has Shed Her Duds.

http://www.celebsgonewild.com/results.php?type=images&criteria=499

It's not the 50 yardline at the SuperBowl, but someone is eating at the "Y."

OP

[Nestea]

31. I was offended that they used a talentless hack like Sheridan

She has no acting talent at all. I watched MNF last night and I thought they could have picked a better actress from the show. Eva Langoria. That would have been hot. :)

[jobycom]

33. If they wanted to use a talentless hack

They should have used Vinny Testaverde with Sheridan!

Funny thing is, I've never seen Desperate Houswives. I actually thought they were doing an old scene from the show Dallas. Since the cowboys were playing, I thought that was kind of clever.

[Nestea]

36. WHAT?

Vinny Testaverde is the fucking man.

I love Vinny. :( You're talking to a Dallas-FW resident here.

[VegasWolf]

40. If Dallas is hanging their hat on Vinny, you guys are in deep

trouble. I'm a native Floridian and I loved him at
Miami, but he never matured in the pros.

[Nestea]

42. Who cares?

Vinny da man, baby.

[VegasWolf]

45. Cares, not me, I made a hundred bucks betting on the OTHER team.

[Nestea]

48. You bet on the favorite, lol.

There's no doubt that Dallas is a bad team this year.

It's not hard to make money betting on the favorite.

I'd make money too if I bet on the Yankees playing the Expos in interleague play.

[jobycom]

52. Nah, no, no

You haven't followed Vinny enough. He's the best we've got right now. Henson's not close to ready, and it would be akin to manslaughter to throw him out there right now. But at his absolute best all Testaverde could ever do was hold his own. On a weak team, that's not going to get many wins. Especially with those slow, weak passes he was hurling. Did you see the one that was batted away by the CB with his back turned towards the play? The ball was so slow the defender had time to bat it away once it passed in front of him. Testaverde looks good when his receiver is wide open, but otherwise, bad things happen.

I like the guy, he's a class act, but he's just keeping the spot warm until we get someone else.

But he's all we got this year. At the rate we're going, maybe we'll get a hot draft pick next year.

And I live right down the I, in Austin. Used to live in Dallas. That's my team.

[Gregorian]

34. This isn't news. Killing humans in Iraq, is news.

Get this shit out of the news.

It's time to hit the streets, people!

They are killing civilians in Iraq!

[OutsourceBush]

37. Anyone else see a pattern here?

The big corporations (Bush donors) push sex and homosexual shows on TV and then right wing nuts blame the dems. Bate and switch politics.

[NEDem]

38. How dare network tv show woman NOT wearing a burka!!!!!

Those liberal sex peddling commies......




<satire>

[mitchum]

39. This was a calculated stunt designed to manufacture "outrage"...

in order to hype MNF/Desperate Housewives/ABC. Remember, these are predictable television marketing jackals who never do anything accidental. And once again, they succeeded in their goal.

[OutsourceBush]

41. Here is a screen grab photo

Repent!!!

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/eo/20041117/capt.076722f1e1e7ba739279efa942bb3af3

[VegasWolf]

43. If they really wanted outrage, they should have shown Vinne and Terrell

getting it on.

[proudbluestater]

44. Looks like Michael Powell will have some bidness tomorrow

Handing out a hefty fine for nudity on our puritanical network tv.

What the hell is wrong with this country? The government, the news anchors, the newspapers can lie with abandon and nobody gives a shit. Let a little flesh peep out and we must shield the children's eyes.

[proudbluestater]

46. Looks like M. Powell has some bidness to attend to Wed.

Another hefty found is bound to be handed out by the FCC for showing flesh.

I see All SORTS of indencency on tv. Lying anchors, lying ads against Kerry, right-winged nuts featured on every show making up crap, Stolen Honor crap, and THIS gets a fine.

The entire country has become indecent. Fine that!

Sorry for the double post. DU keeps telling me my post did not go through and gives me an error, tells me to resubmit. ARGH!

[Tommymac]

50. CLUMP CLUMP CLUMP CLUMP ....

The Morals Police are a comin'...

[Desperadoe]

51. The NFL has condemned it!

The Philadelphia Eagles have condemned it!

Donavan McNabb has condemned it!

T.O. has just smiled!

[Behind the Aegis]

53. Interesting

The mere sight of a woman's exposed back sends people into a frenzy. Makes you wonder how long it will be before women are required to cover up completely to keep from distracting the "menfolk!" I also find it interesting that that was offensive but a group of men, dressed in pads, jumping on top of each other, pounding one another into the ground is NOT offensive!?

Football is like a bad drag show! A bunch of men, dressed up with padding to make themselves look bigger, bad eye make-up, clothing that is TOO tight, and chasing after something that EVERYONE wants but in the end, no one really cares about it! That being said, I would still rather watch a bad drag show than football!

[RamboLiberal]

54. BTW Fundies have been after Desparate Housewives

I'm going to have to watch just for pop culture reality check. Today the MNF DH promo is the talk radio topic of the day in my area - Pittsburgh.

http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion01715.shtml

More Advertisers Divorce ABC's Offensive 'Housewives'

by Allie Martin
October 20, 2004

(AgapePress) - An Internet activism campaign is being credited with an exodus of advertisers from the ABC primetime drama Desperate Housewives.

Recently American Family Association-sponsored OneMillionMoms.com and OneMillionDads.com encouraged members to call sponsors of the Sunday evening show to encourage them to rethink their ad placement. So far Banquet Foods, Lowe's, Kellogg's and Tyson Foods have yanked their advertising spots from the show.

ConAgra, the company that produces Banquet pot pies, advertised on the show's October 3 premiere, but pulled out as a sponsor the following week after receiving 36,000 e-mailed protests. And Lowe's home improvement company made the same decision after thousands of phone calls and e-mail messages poured into the company's corporate headquarters. Kellogg's and Tyson's too, have abandoned Desperate Housewives in response to concerned consumers' outcry within the past two weeks since the show first aired.

A number of media outlets have highlighted the One Million Moms and Dads activism websites, reporting on their success in convincing major corporations to put their advertising dollars into more family-friendly shows. Meanwhile, both sites are urging parents across America to keep making their voices heard about Desperate Housewives and other offensive programs, because some sponsors -- Swanson Foods, for instance -- apparently have not received the message.

[Jack Schitt]

56. Oh for Christ's sake.

They didn't show a god-damn thing on that woman.

Hell, what man would actually bitch about a naked woman on tv anyways???

This is getting way out of hand. :grr: :grr:

[Divine Discontent]

60. I don't think it was appropriate for

the fact that MNF is about football, and families had their kids watching with them, it's what we did when I was growing up, football was on mondays, we watched it. adults can get as sexually thrilled as they want, just not allowed to shove it down kids watching, that's why we have 29 year old women screwing 8 year old boys and leaving them notes (one example of dozens from this year I've seen online about improper sexual relations). It's all about the exploitation of the beauty of the body for senational pleasuring, just for fricking ratings, how warped!!!!!!!!!

It wasn't that bad when viewed on it's own merit, at all, but it was inappropriate for a sports show. Call me a prude, I don't care, you friggin liberals! lol....

the race issue? sure, I'm positive there were rednecks all over this country thinking negatively about T.O., but that's sadly, an everyday occurance in our country.