O, what a swarthy, smutty summer we endured... The FCC just released its quarterly report (PDF) from the Complaint Dept, and the numbers indicate that July 2005 was the most scandalous month on record since January of 2004. Surprised? Me, too. I mean, I feel like I must have missed out on some party.
The Super Bowl nipple mishap that rang-in 2004 inspired 138,652 Americans (95% of whom were affiliated with the Parents Television Council, or PTC) to file complaints with the FCC. Since then, the numbers of broadcast indecency complaints have drastically decreased; numbers of complaints leveled off around the 2,000 mark for most months... Until July hit, that is. The network TV broadcast of the Live 8 concert prompted a whopping 23,547 folks (PTC members represented the overwhelming majority of these people) to tattle on ABC for airing an unedited live performance of "Who Are You" by The Who. The classic tune contains the questionable lyrics, who the fuck are you, which has aired countless times over the radio, unobjectionably unedited, for years and years.
The good news is that in the subsequent months of Q3 2005, indecency complaints were back to low numbers and the American people, exhibiting normal levels of apathy, have let up. We hope that this issue continues to fizzle out before lawmakers attempt to pass some ugly legislation...
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