Parents are asking NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” to keep the humor clean as it prepares to air live across all time zones for the final four episodes of this season.
Parents Television Council President Tim Winter said comedians should be more careful to avoid profanity because children in earlier time zones could still be watching.
“Just as NBC anticipates reaching a much bigger and broader viewing audience for SNL with this programming decision, that audience is likely to include children who would not otherwise be watching at 11:30 pm.,” Mr. Winter said in a statement. “Over the years, there has been the occasional instance of a performer going rogue, with an ’f-bomb’ or something off-script. NBC’s broadcast standards team must be particularly on guard given that SNL will air live during multiple time zones.”
Mr. Winter said the show may warrant a TV-MA rating instead of its normal TV-14.
“While NBC is clearly making SNL live for publicity and profit, the network still has a responsibility to ensure that children and families—many more of whom will be in the viewing audience given its earlier air time—are protected from explicit or indecent content,” he said.
• Bradford Richardson can be reached at brichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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