While doing research for my upcoming book, tentatively titled Programming America (Harper Collins, due 2011), the inside story of the politically-motivated evolution of television from The Dick Van Dyke Show to Sex and the City and the very real bias of the industry against conservative content and creators, I interviewed Doug Herzog, President of MTV Networks Entertainment Group.  He oversees Comedy Central, and he was kind enough to grant me some time and consent to taping our conversation on June 22, 2009.

During the course of that conversation, I asked Mr. Herzog about the network’s decision to censor South Park in April 2006 – in particular, the network shut down a segment that featured a cartoon image of Mohammed.

Here’s the audio:

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT:

SHAPIRO: I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about the controversy that surrounded the South Park/Mohammed controversy.  How did that come about and what was the real story there?

HERZOG: The real story was the story you know, which is that the guys wanted to depict Mohammed and the network wouldn’t let them.  And that was the whole story.  And while I think if we had to do it all over again we would do it differently, that was the decision we made at the time.  And I regret it somewhat but I’ve made worse decisions in my life. (more…)

A USA Today story informs us “Viewers are about to see full-frontal male nudity, heterosexual, homosexual and group sex, and graphic scenes rarely — if ever — seen on mainstream TV.”

A few years back, I got a real taste for how silly Hollywood’s obsession with force feeding America a steady diet of filth had become.  I sat across from a Fox Family exec, pitching programs for kids.  I’d been in this chair many times and the result was always the same:  “Thanks.  Love ‘em.  Won’t work.  Let’s have you back soon.” 

Why’d the guy keep calling me back in?  And why did I keep returning?  I’m not sure which of us was most guilty of wasting time. 

Finally, one day, I blurted out what should have been asked long before:  “What do you want from me?” 

“Something like Action” I was told. 

Action was a Fox sitcom created by Chris Thompson originally intended for HBO.  In it, Jay Mohr played a troubled character patterned after producer Joel Silver.  Thompson insisted they leave the foul language in the program, and just bleep it out for prime time.  (more…)