Gay LGBT Rights Under Attack: NBC The New Normal Banned in Utah

Culture

NBC’s new sitcom, The New Normal, has been banned from a Utah NBC affiliate because of the series, which deals with the topic of gay adoption, is deemed as “inappropriate” for the Mormon church-owned network’s audience.

"After viewing the pilot episode of The New Normal, we have made the decision to keep it off our fall schedule," Jeff Simpson, CEO of KSL's parent company, Bonneville International, told AP.

NBC defended the show, which premieres on September 11, as a series that “makes a statement about the changing definition of the nuclear family." The network elaborated by saying that the show "is against bigotry and hatred in every form."

However, for the Utah NBC affiliate, the program “simply feels inappropriate on several dimensions, especially during family viewing time." Simpson referred to the show's “offensive dialogue and explicit content” as reasons to deem it “unfit” for the local audience.   

Meanwhile, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) criticized KSL's decision. "Same-sex families are a beloved part of American television thanks to shows like Modern FamilyGlee and Grey's Anatomy," President Herndon Graddick said in a statement. "While audiences, critics and advertisers have all supported LGBT stories, KSL is demonstrating how deeply out of touch it is with the rest of the country," he added. 

KSL has deemed several other shows inappropriate for its viewers in the past, including Saturday Night Live, the short-lived 1960s period drama The Playboy Club, and even a 2002 episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno -- because it featured a segment with a stage act called "Puppetry of the Penis."