Three foul words, including the F-word, have been bleeped from a new PBS drama, much to the chagrin of its star and executive producer, Richard Dreyfuss, and another executive producer, veteran TV writer David Black. Both said that they reluctantly agreed to abide by new FCC language standards, but only to keep PBS, producing station KCET/Hollywood and other public TV stations from being slapped with onerous fines. The drama, Cop Shop, which also stars Blair Brown, Rosie Perez, Rita Moreno and Jay Thomas, is to air Oct. 6 as the latest edition of the PBS Hollywood Presents series. Dreyfuss and Black spelled out their reasons for the compliance in statements read at the outset of a session Friday at the TV critics' summer press tour in Century City. Each also criticized the political pressures that led to the bleeps in the two-part, 90-minute program.
- 7/11/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
PBS has yet to find a new corporate sponsor to support Masterpiece Theater after longtime underwriter Exxon Mobil Corp. bows out at end of the current season, PBS president Pat Mitchell said Saturday during PBS' TCA session. PBS needs an estimated $7 million in corporate funding to support its veteran franchise. Mitchell vowed that Masterpiece would continue for the next two seasons with PBS' support even without a corporate partner. Separately, PBS announced the start of production today in New York on a new entry, PBS Hollywood Presents, a series to star Richard Dreyfuss as a veteran cop working Manhattan's Upper West Side. The production, which also features Rita Moreno, Blair Brown and Rosie Perez, will be shot live in real-time in two 45-minute segments to simulate a live telecast, PBS officials said.
- 1/11/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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