I was wondering what people thought about the MNF opening of the naked DH actress jumping into the arms of TO. I'm no prude and even I was shocked it was used as an intro. ABC is taking a lot of heat and has apologized. What do others think?

I had a good chuckle, but didn't think much else about it. I guess nothing surprises me anymore.

I think it continues America's decent back to 1930's Germany.

Sometimes, things are just funny.

It probably didn't help Disney (ABC/ESPN) in their negotiations with the NFL that they're currently involved. Which is why the "apology" came so very quickly from the network.
The NFL's response was a quick 2 sentences:

Statement from a League Spokesman:

"ABC’s opening was inappropriate and unsuitable for our Monday Night Football audience.

"While ABC may have gained attention for one of its other shows, the NFL and its fans lost."

Sounds like the League is tired of others using it as a promotional tool!!! :mad:

Let's see.....NFL games feature "....and twins" ads, scantily-clad cheerleaders, advertisements for Viagra in which the disease is not discussed but instead focus on having sex--particularly the one where the little blue pill becomes devil's horns as the man looks at lacy lingerie, not to mention the numerous beer ad chicks, and the TO/Nicolette Sheridan skit has gotten the executives' knickers in a twist??? The oft-cited scene in Casablanca in which Claude rains is "shocked" to discover gambling going on comes to mind. They're all a bunch of hypocrites.

What does surprise me is tht this happened in the wake of the Janet Jackson brouhaha. I would have thought NFL executives would have been for more careful about what sort of entertainment they associated with the game.

~Adam

Adam....the NFL has nothing to do with the "opening" of Monday Night Football; it's produced by ABC, not the league...thus, it was a surprise to them when it came on...

They also don't "sell" the ad time within the games; the Networks and cable outlets do that...therefore the League can't be held accountable for the types of products or racy-ness of the commercials...

The NFL had nothing to do with ESPN's "Playmakers" but they managed to force that show from the air, so who's to say they couldn't influence the networks and advertisers?

This nation is utterly hysterical. I will say no more unless you want to move this thread to "Politics and Religion."

All I was asking were opinions on this particular skit, not a universal discussion of the cultural/hypocritical state of the country.

Playmakers was stupid! Unless you think every player is like Jeremy Shockey, Ray Lewis, etc.


The NFL would have a lot less to worry about if Terrell Owens wasn't around. Sorry, but I'm absolutely sick and tired of him.

As I mentioned elsewhere, I didn't see the opening. This article has the full (according to ABC) dialogue and 3 pictures from it

I wasn't at all offended by the promo, more offended by the blatant attempt at trying to get more viewers for Desperate Houswives (which I heard is a good show). If people are concerned about your kids being exposed to adult content put them in bed before 9 PM on a school night.

After listening to commentary on a couple of sports shows, I can't let the NFL off the hook as they implicitly give their consent by allowing NFL uniforms (in the locker room) and a player in uniform to be used. If the NFL doesn't prescreen those promos it's their own fault.

Personally I was not offended, just a bit surprised. ABC got it's desired effect I am sure.

[ November 16, 2004, 08:19 PM: Message edited by: phillyrunner ]

I saw the opening (and the whole game, of course). I thought it was funny and, yes, a bit suggestive/provocative, but not to the extent of ever thinking that ABC had to apologize for it. Is it true that people--meaning, viewers--complained about it? Don't people have a sense of humor? Or is it that ABC issued the statement just to save face due to negotiations?

I once saw on Televisión Española (TVE, Spain's national state-owned public-service televison broadcaster) a feature report on tourism in Spain and their beaches, and there was full frontal nudity, male and female...at 2pm local time, which must have been 7 or 8pm Madrid time.
Maybe it could be said that the difference would be in that the TO/Sheridan skit was sexually suggestive whereas the TVE report had none (only naked people without implying a sexual act).

No matter what, I think it's ludicrous. I didn't see anything there that could pervert the saintly, innocent, and pure minds of the poor, defenseless little children watching it.

I wouldn't want to make this an issue, BUT, if it's true that viewers complained, I wonder if race had anything to do with it...

I say, RELAX!!!

And, BTW, both TO and Nicolette Sheridan are HOT, so why not enjoy?

My goodness, but people are growing more prudish and uptight by the day!

TO and Sheridan weren't depicted having sex, it was just a provocative promo. TO is one of the true superstars in the league and a born provocateur, and Sheridan was hawking a TV show--isn't America about the business of selling?

Who was sending all those e-mails? Were they sparked by the fact that TO is black (and often unapologetic to the point of being arrogant about his behavior) while Sheridan is a buxom blonde who plays a whore on TV? Are we back in the Jack Johnson days of hysteria? Come on, America--get over it! As much porn as Americans consume, this was tame BY FAR!

I just saw it on a sports highlight show. It's actually not bad... although, in better keeping with the theme of Desperate Housewives, the promo should have shown the housewives sneaking into the locker room (hiding out in empty lockers or the towel bin) watching the players getting changed into their uniforms. Thus we would get shots of the players in various stages of (un)dress (which is in keeping with the show, as there are plenty of shirtless hunky men). But the kicker would be that someone would slam shut a locker and one of the housewives would get locked in. And the one hiding in the towel bin would get dumped into a giant washing machine... and emerge dripping wet... to seduce the towel boy! eek!

My partner and I laughed our asses off. How hot was it watching Teri Hatcher and Felicity Huffman, drinking long neck beers and watching football. THAT was the hot part of the opening.

I like Canmark's version better than the ABC version....

I was just thinking: while Nicolette Sheridan was throwing herself at TO, where was Jeff Garcia? Out playing with the boys? wink

I'm not put off by the spot itself. But I am constantly amazed by the hypocrisy. Didn't the NFL pressure ESPN/ABC to cancel "Playmakers" because of all the adult content? And that show was on cable after the so-called family hour.

I am just really tired of the cross promotion. George Lopez proved he has zero football insight during his gig on HBO's Inside the NFL. He also proved he wasn't funny, but I digress. Does ABC really think more people will tune in to his monumentally unfunny sitcom because he makes a guest appearance in the booth? Me thinks not.

Kinda lame.

Isn't funny that the people that are making a big deal about it grew up on those raunchy teen movies in the 1980s? I guess sex isn't fun anymore when you're an uptight adult rather than a horny teen.



[ November 17, 2004, 08:17 AM: Message edited by: Allen ]

And should people on the west coast "concerned about your kids being exposed to adult content" put them to bed before 6 PM on a school night?

From Dan Rooney, owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers:

"I couldn't believe it. My wife said to me, 'Do you see this?' I said, 'Yeah, I saw it. It's a disgrace.'...When they have a football player and they're in a dressing room and they're selling our shield, our product, they've got to have some correctness. It's very insensitive. Here we go before the FCC with the Janet Jackson thing, and something like this occurs. It's inconceivable. That Janet Jackson thing was bad; I'm not lessening that. This thing, this was worse."

I think he--and the suddenly morally otraged about the sex/football connection--over-react. But I also think ABC made a mistake: they should have had logos for their other shows tattooed on Sheridan's back so that when she dropped her towel, we could see ads for "According to Jim," "Less than Perfect," "Lost," "NYPD Blue," Hope and Faith," etc. Think of the publicity!

~Adam

I didnt think it was particulary funny, I was shocked at how Nicolette Sheridan looked - like shit. I remember her from Knots Landing, she was a babe then, not that I care.

It all went downhill from there....

All the local TV news stations played the skit over and over on their evening newscasts, and all I can say is, poor Nicolette, looks like some cellulite on her back.

I didn't think the spot was offensive as much as it was too cheesy. It was beneath "Desperate Housewives" because Nicolette Sheridan's character hasn't stooped to seduction in a towel (although Teri Hatcher has run around in a towel, but more as an accident).

Bad plastic surgery strikes again!

Hmmmm, i didnt have you pegged for being this old raze... Actually Fret not, you have ANOTHER nightmare coming in a a few weeks up in philly.

umm.. my thought when i saw it was a little chuckle.. and then when i saw the reaction it got in the states i laughed even harder.

Seriously, who cares?!?! If people are offended, just change the channel. You have cheerleaders dancing everywhere, players hitting the crap out of each other, and parents are worried about nudity (or implied nudity)?

Americans need to seriously get the huge collective stick out of their asses.

There's nothing wrong or corruptive about nudity.. and considering all the violence that's on your news every night, nudity should be the last of your country's worries.

Oh and if i could be NBC president for a day, i'd make it next monday and for the opening i'd have a naked man jump on Garcia or even Shockey. Now THAT would be entertainment.


[ November 17, 2004, 12:43 PM: Message edited by: Peake ]

She used Jerry Jones' plastic surgeon.

What I find hypocritical have been all the news shows discussing the "controversy" and all of them show the clip in its entirity.

Will Nivea now scrap it's Super Bowl ad where TO and Tom Brady meet in the locker room pre-game to help each other moisturize? I heard it only took one take to shoot, but they had to edit down the 20 minutes of tape.

All the freakin' prudes need to get their panties out of a wad!!! Sex sells. It has in the past, it does now, and it always will. If the prudes get upset about that commercial for DH, then why do they not say anything about the other commercials that run during prime time? You have all seen them;
One lady has her towel riped off by a car, so she jumps naked into some bushes. (sounds Lesbian when I say it that way).
Another lady shows up at a guys office and opens up her coat to reveal a sexy nighty.

Where's the up-roar? That's what I thought! Let the prudes pick and chose what they want to complain about, just like they pick and chose verses of scripture to go insane over. What hypopcrites!!!

Donovan McNabb was asked at his press conference if he was offended by what seems to have now been dubbed "Towelgate."

His reply: "No. Football is a sexy sport, you know, I'm pretty sexy." wink He went on to say his wife wouldn't allow him to do that spot.

[ November 17, 2004, 07:38 PM: Message edited by: Joe in Philly ]

Sorry,I didn't take them into account on the west cost. I still believe the nation has overreacted to this promo.
I just don't see why it has caused such a media storm.

From Salon's King Kaufman:

Not to be a conspiracy theorist here but the "outrage" over Janet Jackson, this spot, Howard STern is all part of an intimidation strategy by those with "moral values" and perpetuated by an idiotic media sacrificing ethics for ratings.

This is one of the times that I don't think TO has anything to apologize for, but he did issue the best non-apology apology I've seen:

"I felt like it was clean, the organization felt like it was a clean skit and I think it just really got taken out of context with a lot of people and I apologize for that," Owens said. "Personally I didn't think it would have offended anyone and, if it did, I apologize."

This is SO ridiculous and SUCH a waste of time. I've heard worse language on 7:00 PM sitcoms that were much more offensive then Nicollete's backside. And to boot, you couldn't even see anything. Aren't parents more offended at having their kids hear bad language and see beer commercials?

The media love to run with a safe but titillating story like this. They can talk about it a lot and they can take superior moral stands about how controversial it is, but they know people will keep tuning in on the off chance there will be some racy video during the news.

It is so much easier for them to take a story like this and beat it into the ground as if they're really taking the moral pulse of America (when they're not -- they're playing to anxieties and prurient interests) then to talk tough about real issues, or ask challenging questions (and follow-up questions!) of politicians.

I thought the ad was funny. Sexy woman, sexy athlete, funny situation, on with the game! End of issue.

Very well put.

I gotta admit I find TO very sexy...nice smile too. Not to mention his pic in ESPN mag a few months back where he looked like a statue...SWEET JESUS! That was hot.
Nope, nothing of substance here to see in this post.

Maybe Tony Dungy ought to be more concerned with improving the Colts defense rather than wasting time trying to turn this into a racial issue.

If the Giants were playing, I bet it would have been Jeremy Shockey in Owens' place. Or Tom Brady for the Patriots. Chad Pennington for the Jets/ And so on...

I can't believe TO "apologized." Wuss.

I'm amazed at the hypocrisy of the NFL, whose sponsors include beer companies that use buxom half-naked women all the time. I'm even more amazed at the hypocrisy of the Eagles, who issue a statement about how "after we saw the finished product we wish it hadn't aired" mere HOURS after the OWNER was asked about it after the game and said "I loved it! I thought it was great!", and continue to display nearly-naked pictures of their cheerleaders in a few scraps of thread that they call "lingerie" (from their calendar that's on sale) at the Eagles' website.

I can't wait to see what they do next week, maybe Mickey Mouse will ask Minnie to marry him, and she'll reply, "Are you ready for some football?" Won't that be safe and cute.

God, the hypocrisy of this story is just deafening. And I never thought it was a racial thing--I just saw it as TO, a man, not really a black man, doing what he does best or second best, and silly Sheridan doing her usual bad acting job. She played her character, TO played his. It's like when a black actor plays a king in Shakespeare sometimes--it's the actor people, not the color.

Well, they better not use Donald Duck. HE DOESN'T WEAR PANTS!!! Children could be watching and have their psyches forever warped.

~Adam

C'mon shore that's so 90s err 60s. I am hoping it will be Mickey Mouse jumping in Mighty Mouse's arms. At least Disney can claim it's a childrens skit.

[ November 18, 2004, 07:07 PM: Message edited by: phillyrunner ]

Oh, the hypocrisy.

The NFL is hypocritical cause they use beer commercials? Here's a much simpler one. NFL teams EMPLOY cheerleaders who pretty much are 25-30 year olds who dress like sluts and run around the sidelines all game.

But it's not just the NFL that's hypocritical......it's also the fans. The fans get outraged when something like this happens, but the fans say nothing about the cheerleaders.

As I said above, I'm rather tired of Terrell Owens and his little stunts. Grow up......get a life.....and act your age.

Yeah but Mighty Mouse isn't owned by Disney so they aren't about to let Mickey be getting gay with a non Disney character. Goofy always seemed a little light in the cartoon loafers. And Winnie the Pooh is as fey a character as I have ever seen plus the whole bear thing...

As for my previous post about Dungy and the whole racial angle: The only racial thing I can see is if some of the outraged viewers who called/wrote ABC did so because they were more offended by the prosect of a white woman and a black man together. And if that's what some people are outraged by, then it is even more discouraging than if they were outraged by the sexual nature of the skit.

[ November 19, 2004, 09:55 AM: Message edited by: George_vikingfan ]

This had NOTHING to do with TO other than they invited him to do it. So, how you get that i dont know.

Now, you can say you are tired of him dancing on that star down in Mexico, i mean dallas... but i'm not.

I think you're right on the money here. There was nothing in this advert that isn't exceeded by the graphic content of every soap on every network every day of the week. This was all about race. Well, race and sex which I suppose is even worse.

I just found out that I have been quoted in the current Playboy about TO and Jeff Garcia. It is in their letters section. Pretty cool.