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U.S. communications regulators on Monday rejected complaints that the broadcast of "Saving Private Ryan," a film depicting the U.S. landing in France during World War II, violated indecency limits. The Federal Communications Commission unanimously decided that ABC television affiliates did not violate indecency regulations when they aired the movie on Veteran's Day in November, despite complaints about profanity and violence. Sixty-six ABC stations decided against showing the award-winning film for fear of running afoul with the FCC, which has been cracking down on broadcast and radio stations after several high-profile incidents."In light of the overall context in which this material...

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell has recommended the agency ignore indecency complaints filed against ABC television stations that aired the film "Saving Private Ryan" that included at least 20 uses of the "f" word during prime time viewing hours. Many of those complaints were generated by American Family Association members. According to Donald Wildmon, American Family Association Chairman, Powell's reason for taking no action opens the door for broadcasters to air anything. Powell stated that the use of profanity was part of an accurate representation of the events making them acceptable. "Using Powell's reasoning, there would be no limits...

President Bush tried to turn the campaign, in part, into a referendum on Hollywood's lack of a "heart and soul." Now that he's won, administration apparatchiks have declared his victory a repudiation not just of Hollywood's dream factory but of the news industry's reality factory."The biggest loser was the mainstream media," wrote Peggy Noonan in an online analysis for The Wall Street Journal after Election Day. She predicted that institutions like the networks, The New York Times and, presumably, the print edition of her own newspaper (editorial page excepted) were on their way to being rendered extinct by "the blogosphere...

American warriors of the past knew this. Michael Lee Lanning wrote in his account of "Vietnam, 1969: A Company Commander's Journal" that Viet Cong or North Vietnamese army fighters regularly feigned surrender, incapacitation or death in order to lure GIs into grenade or rifle range. Even the actual dead were booby-trapped. The average GI learned quickly to "shoot and throw grenades at the body" rather than risk enemy treachery. And I have a friend who was a Marine at Iwo Jima. As he put it: "After the second time a Japanese soldier faked being dead only to kill one of...

'Ryan' Viewers Complain to FCC Mon Nov 15, 3:03 AM ET Entertainment - Reuters TV By Andrew Wallenstein NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - The Federal Communications Commission (news - web sites) has confirmed it received complaints about the uncensored broadcast of Oscar-winning war movie "Saving Private Ryan" on ABC-affiliated stations last week. Reuters Photo An FCC (news - web sites) official said several complaints were filed Friday, the day after the Veterans Day broadcast, but couldn't say how many or who or where they are from. The commission has to have a complaint before it can take action. Groups affiliated...

NEW YORK -- More than 20 ABC affiliates around the country have announced that they won't take part in the network's Veterans Day airing of "Saving Private Ryan," saying the acclaimed film's violence and language could draw sanctions from the Federal Communications Commission. The decisions mark a twist in the conflict over the aggressive stand the FCC has taken against obscenity and profanity since Janet Jackson flashed the world during the last Super Bowl halftime show. Steven Spielberg's Oscar-winning movie aired on ABC with relatively little controversy in 2001 and 2002, but station owners -- including several in large markets...

LOS ANGELES - Actor Tom Sizemore's probation in a domestic abuse case involving former Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss was revoked Thursday because he failed to complete a drug test. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Antonio Barreto Jr. allowed Sizemore to remain free pending an evidence hearing on Nov. 8. But in the meantime, the judge said, the actor's probation "is in a revoked status." Authorities said Sizemore refused to provide a urine sample for a drug test at a probation office last month. "He simply walked out," prosecutor Robert Cha said outside court. Sizemore's attorney said the actor went to...

Last night while flipping through the channels one last time before bed, we were shocked and amazed to see a young man urinating into a snow cone and then taking big bites of it, much to the delight of his companions.  "So, that's entertainment," we thought disgustedly as we turned off the set.  Earlier the same evening we had watched with another type of amazement the 4th of July fireworks over the National Mall.  We ooh'ed and aah'ed with thousands of others and felt a deep gratitude that we can witness loud, bright explosions in the sky with delight instead...