 December 20, 1999
NBC
reverses promise on "SNL" sketch on
Hanukkah By Steve Gorman LOS
ANGELES (Reuters) -
Backing down on a
promise to a prominent Jewish group, NBC
announced Monday it would repeat its
broadcast of a "Saturday Night Live" spoof
in which an actress says Christians have
forgiven Jews "for having killed our
Lord." The country's leading TV network said
it decided on the basis of
"overwhelmingly" favorable viewer response
that the "And So This Is Hanukkah" sketch
was acceptable to air again without
changes, contrary to a pledge earlier this
month never to broadcast the material in
the future. The Dec. 4 "SNL" segment will go into
the normal rerun rotation without change,
but no date has been set for the repeat,
NBC spokeswoman Shirley Powell
said. The Anti-Defamation
League had complained that the sketch,
though intended as parody, was offensive
because it presented "anti-Semitic
stereotypes at their worst."  ADL
national director Abe Foxman told
Reuters Monday that he respected the right
of NBC and the show's producers to
disagree, "but to couch (their decision)
in viewer opinion, that's a lot of
baloney."
NBC had promised Foxman in a Dec. 10
letter that material in question from an
"SNL" sketch titled "And So This Is
Hanukkah " -- a takeoff on the recent CBS
holiday special "And So This Is Christmas"
-- would be "excised from all future
broadcasts." But the network said last week that the
letter from NBC Executive Vice President
Rosalyn Weinman was "premature" and
that NBC executives were revisiting the
issue after the show's executive producer,
Lorne Michaels, objected. On Monday, the network issued a
statement that it was reversing Weinman's
decision. "We have reviewed the viewer response
to the 'SNL' sketch and have decided that
it will air again unedited," the network
said. "Today's environment makes our
judgment calls in these situations
increasingly difficult because we must
find a balance between being politically
correct and being funny in a non-hurtful
way." In this case, the statement went on,
"we have heard directly from the viewers
of the show that they overwhelmingly felt
that this sketch was a typical parody and
was in the boundaries of the show's humor.
We regret if the material offended
anyone." Foxman said he found NBC's statement
insincere because "when when we first
reached out to NBC, they said no one had
complained. So you can't have it both
ways. And you know what, it was
politically incorrect, it wasn't funny and
it was hurtful." The comedy sketch in question featured
members of the "SNL troupe lampooning
various pop stars, including Britney
Spears, Celine Dion, Ricky Martin, Lou
Bega and Mariah Carey. What the ADL objected to was a scene in
which "SNL" veteran Ana Gasteyer,
appearing as Dion, referred to Jews as
controlling movie studios and banks, and
guest host Christina Ricci,
portraying Spears, said Christians have
forgiven Jews "for having killed our
Lord." She said "a lot of the decision" to
reverse Weinman's previous stance "rested
with her," following discussions with
Michaels as well as NBC Entertainment
President Garth Ancier and NBC West
Coast chief Scott
Sassa. Related
stories: Protest
forces NBC to shelve "Saturday Night Live"
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