The F word

No, not Fallujah...

not fascism...

the tradional "F" word...

Headline of today's Variety:

SAVING PRIVATE *#@! RYAN
by Josef Adalian

...While "Saving Private Ryan" got strong ratings in its initial airing, ABC affils repping more than 35% of the country have now told the net they won't air tonight's encore broadcast of Steven Spielberg's D-Day epic.

The scheduled preemptions come even though most, if not all, of the stations now balking at running "Ryan" have aired it in the past. Pic, which contains more than three dozen utterances of the word "fuck," must air in its unedited form, as per ABC's license agreement with DreamWorks.

But with the FCC and Congress threatening blockbuster fines for stations that air indecent material before 10 p.m., a slew of station groups have told ABC they don't want to take a chance on viewers complaining to the FCC.

..."This is frightening," a rival web exec said. "Decisions to pre-empt shows are usually based on community standards. Now what they're making the decision on is fear of government action. That's scary.

... While affils from some stations say they're not sure they can risk airing "Ryan" in the current political environment, others, including Pappas-owned KHGI in Lincoln, Neb., argue preempting the pic is a public service.

"Pappas has decided that the interests of the viewers of KHGI, the Lincoln-Hastings-Kearny, Neb. market, are best served by preempting this program," read a statement released by the company. "Pappas Telecasting and its management have been in the forefront of regulatory efforts to eliminate profanity, indecency, and gratuitous violence from network programming, particularly during times when children may be watching..."

What the FUCK IS WRONG WITH THIS COUNTRY? Our soldiers are dying in Afghanistan and Iraq, and people are worried about the word FUCK?

Do you think that Marlboro Man in Fallujah, the guy the NY Post put on its' cover, watches his language as he slogs through the streets of Fallujah?

Is this the "morality" people allegedly voted for last week? Every little kid in America should see the carnage depicted in the first 20 minutes of Saving Private Fucking Ryan.

More...

"While the stations didn't get any complaints about "Ryan" the last two times it aired, (Ray) Cole (prexy of Citadel Communications) cited Janet Jackson's Super Bowl peepshow and last week's election as reasons for keeping "Ryan" off the air."