Here's an interesting twist to the already-exploding 2008 presidential campaign: If former U.S. Senator and current Law & Order star Fred Thompson decides to run for president, all episodes of L&O with him in it will be pulled from the air for the duration of his stay in the race.Why? Because of the FCC's equal time rules, says The Washington Post. It's a fairness policy that the governing body has had for decades; it ensures that every candidate in a political race has an equal opportunity to promote themselves. The rule doesn't apply to newscasts, interview shows, and news-oriented events (like debates, I'd imagine), but it definitely applies to entertainment shows like L&O. This isn't a unique circumstance; the article cites Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ronald Reagan as two candidates whose movies were pulled from TV during their political campaigns.
Cable stations like TNT, which airs L&O reruns, are also exempt, but they tend to comply with equal time rules, anyway. You'd think that, with seventeen years worth of episodes to choose from, this wouldn't make for much of a hardship for these cable networks. But Thompson has appeared as D.A. Arthur Branch in 109 episodes, according to IMDb, all of which have been from the last five years. TNT may balk if they can't show the most recent episodes just because of the two minutes per episode that Thompson's usually on. NBC has a case, though, if the equal time rule kicks in while they're still showing new episodes with Thompson in them. But, given the timing of the rule -- it doesn't apply until the candidate shows up on state primary ballots -- they may not have to worry about that.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-29-2007 @ 5:54PM
Danny Smith said...
Does that include local syndication from network affiliation?
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3-29-2007 @ 6:51PM
David said...
In this case this is crazy. he's in an episode for about 30 seconds. If it really is a problem just edit him out of the episodes and redo the one scene he's in an episode.
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3-29-2007 @ 10:39PM
BC said...
Since his scenes are brief and there are only a couple per episode, I wonder if it would be acceptable to digitally blur his features and if need be frequency shift his voice. Or would that be read as denigrating him?
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3-31-2007 @ 12:31AM
Cyndi said...
I have a new game for everyone. Who do you wish would run for public office just to get their movies and or shows off the air?
I have two...
1. Tom Cruise
2. Rosie O'Donnell
Reply
4-14-2007 @ 10:38PM
Sara said...
I would hate to see Fred Thompson go, but CSI: Miami needs Alana de la Garza back to comfort Horatio played by David Caruso. Alana de la Garza portrayed Caruso's love interest for a few brief episodes only to die at the end of the 2006 season. Plus, if de la Garza ends up without work because of Law and Order's demise, she won't have to wear that awful wig each week. Guess the powers that be over at NBC thought she looked too sexy to come across as an effective assistant D.A.
Come on Fred, announce your candidacy. I will vote for you and CBS can re-hire Ms. De La Garza back as Marisol for CSI:Miami.
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