LITTLE ROCK — Were you shocked, stunned and outraged by Joe Flacco’s infamous expletives following his Super Bowl win?
The Baltimore Ravens quarterback was celebrating the nail-biting 34-31 triumph over the San Francisco 49ers and the TV cameras were up close. High fives were being exchanged. Backs were being slapped. Hugs were being hugged. Confetti was falling from the roof.
It was live TV and outstanding theater.
Flacco, in his exuberance, was caught up in the moment. He joyfully turned to a teammate and exclaimed the exclamation. Flacco employed a sexually coarse and commonly used expletive to emphasize his observation of the experience.
“This is [expletive] awesome!” he shouted.
It was out of character for the mild-mannered (some say “dull”) 28-year-old who had just been named the game’s Most Valuable Player.
The vulgarity was heard by 115 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media. Many, no doubt, were impressionable children who might look to Flacco as a role model.
Enter the Parents Television Council, the media watchdog outfit that never sleeps and misses no opportunity to slam miscreants.
PTC President Tim Winter issued a statement on Politico.com. “No one should be surprised that a jubilant quarterback might use profane language while celebrating a career-defining win,” Winter said, “but that is precisely the reason why CBS should have taken precautions.
“Joe Flacco’s use of the F-word, while understandable, does not absolve CBS of its legal obligation to prevent profane language from being broadcast - especially during something as uniquely pervasive as the Super Bowl.”
The PTC has called for the Federal Communications Commission to investigate.
It took several days, but CBS finally explained in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.
“We’ve gotten a handful of complaints [but] there are more people asking questions about the [game’s 34-minute power] blackout,” said Martin Franks, executive vice president of planning, policy and government affairs for CBS.
The network didn’t allow the profanity on the air on purpose, Franks said. He explained that the only way to have avoided the incident was to have put the entire game on a 30-second tape delay. The offending remark occurred 85 seconds after the final whistle but before a commercial break, which is when CBS could have switched to tape delay.
“Where were we going to cut away and not have 115 million people unhappy they missed this incredible drama and celebration?” Franks asked.
Tape delays were in place for the pregame show and Beyonce’s highly kinetic, leather-and-lace halftime program (which one of my co-workers labeled “pornographic”). At least there were no wardrobe malfunctions.
After the game, the tape delay was re-installed during the first commercial.
“You can only take this protection so far before you compromise what the audience really wants, which is a sense that they are there,” Franks said.
What did Flacco do after all this?
On the day following his victory, he went to Disney World and was paid a lot of money to ride in a parade sitting next to Mickey Mouse.
No report on whether Flacco described that experience as “awesome” or even “[expletive] awesome.”
Today’s question: Should CBS have had the entire game on 30-second delay just in case some of the boys got carried away? Discuss among yourselves.
Another problem. A recent article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel dealt with a pet peeve I’ve been meaning to bring up.
For me, many of TV’s seemingly ubiquitous crime dramas have been ruined because of predictable casting. If early in an episode of Castle or The Mentalist you spot a face you recognize in a seemingly minor role, chances are he’s that episode’s perpetrator. It happens nine times out of 10.
You may not know their names, but veteran character actors are frequently cast for the villain roles, so all the red herring suspects along the way can be ignored because we know that, in the end, the guest star will be the guilty party.
If I’ve noticed this, maybe you have too. TV should do us all a service and hire newbies for the murderers.
They’ll be back. NCIS, TV’s most-watched program, has been renewed for an 11th (!) season. Series star Mark Harmon signed a deal last week. The only holdout as of this writing is Cote de Pablo (Ziva), but she has done that before.
The series averages an impressive 21.4 million viewers each week.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. E-mail:
Style, Pages 30 on 02/12/2013