FCC Ruling May Show The Limits Of Broadcast Sex

The FCC has responded to complaints from a right-wing watchdog group by ruling that two popular TV shows – Will & Grace and Buffy the Vampire Slayer – did not violate the commission’s decency standards by airing episodes which contained, respectively, simulated lesbian sex and two principal characters (of opposite genders) engaging in sex. Neither program contained any nudity, and the FCC ruled that while sex was clearly shown to be taking place in the Buffy episode, there was “little evidence that the activity depicted was dwelled upon”. The ruling may give broadcasters a guideline for what the FCC will find acceptable in future.