As I was driving into work the other day, I heard something in the morning radio show that shocked and disgusted me. When I got into the office, I decided to investigate the matter a little further.

The Federal Communications Commission has cited 52 ABC affiliates $27,500 each for violating FCC indecency rules by running the Feb. 25, 2003, episode of "NYPD Blue" that prominently featured an actress's nude buttocks.

Get that? The FCC has cited ABC a total of $1.43 million dollars for showing an ass...BACK IN 2003!!! Doesn't the FCC have better things to do than to watch re-runs of a television show that hasn't been on the air since 2005??

The scene in question involved the live-in lover (Charlotte Ross) of Detective Sipowicz (Dennis Franz), who dropped her robe in the bathroom, revealing some parts of her breasts and her junk in the trunk (booty).  In the scene, Sipowicz's young son enters the bathroom and stares at her; she turns toward the camera and covers herself with her hands.

What gets me is what the FCC said to justify their actions.  

"The scene contains explicit and graphic depictions of sexual organs. The scene depicts multiple, close-range views of an adult woman’s naked buttocks. We find that the broadcast dwells on and repeats the sexual material. We have held that repetition and persistent focus on sexual or excretory material is a relevant factor in evaluating the potential offensiveness of broadcasts. Here, the scene revolves around the woman’s nudity and includes several shots of her naked buttocks. The material is thus dwelled upon and repeated."

ABC has issued a statement, in their defense stating that the scene in question was "not presented in a lewd, prurient, pandering or titillating way" but was intended "to illustrate the complexity and awkwardness involved when a single parent brings a new romantic partner into her or his life."  ABC has also stated that they feel strongly that the FCC's finding is inconsistent with prior precendent from the commission, the indecency statute, and the First Amendment, and intend on opposing the proposed fine.

I have one question...since when have buttocks been deemed a "sexual organ"? Have we become so "puritanical" that we can't have a bare ass on television for fear that it might "turn us on"? Do we REALLY need to give any European country any more reason to make fun of us? What do you think? Is ass on television...dangerous?