Obscenity

Japanese carmaker Nissan said Friday that it has pulled a raunchy commercial starring "Sex and the City" actress Kim Cattrall from New Zealand television after complaints over its content. Cattrall, who played the sex-obsessed, promiscuous Samantha Jones in the HBO series, appears in the ad purring with excitement about a new sedan. "Why didn't you tell me it was so big? I just wasn't prepared for it," she gushes. "The all-new Nissan Tiida makes you feel really, really, really good inside."

"BET Uncut," the compilation of racy videos that drew protests while it kept some rap fans awake late at night, has been cut. "BET Uncut" aired in the wee morning hours Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, showing videos considered too risque to show at other times. But it upset some viewers who said many of them were degrading to women. The clips regularly showed obscured nudity and women gyrating wildly with sexual overtones.

Hoping to persuade lawmakers to ditch a proposal dramatically increasing broadcast indecency fines, the entertainment industry announced a $300-million initiative this spring to show parents how to block objectionable TV shows. The strategy failed: Congress hiked the fines tenfold and they went into effect last month. But the coalition of movie studios, broadcasters and cable and satellite operators pressed ahead anyway in an attempt to prevent additional government crackdowns on indecency.

PBS is prepared to do battle with the FCC over "The War." Next fall, the network plans to distribute an unedited version of the World War II documentary by Ken Burns, told through the firsthand experiences of soldiers. Some of the veterans use profanities in recounting their battle stories, and that could raise the ire of the Federal Communications Commission.

CBS asked a federal appeals court to set aside the $550,000 fine by the Federal Communications Commission against the broadcaster for airing Janet Jackson's breast-baring performance during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. The television network said the fine was "unconstitutional, contrary to the Communications Act and FCC rules and generally arbitrary, capricious and contrary to law." The petition for review was filed in the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.

The Parents Television Council called on federal regulators Thursday to fine NBC for "vulgar and obscene" comments by two actresses during Sunday's broadcast of the Primetime Emmy Awards. Walking up to the stage to accept a best actress Emmy for HBO's "Elizabeth I," Helen Mirren made a comment that was an earthy twist on not falling head over heels as she came up the stairs. A few minutes later, Calista Flockhart repeated the phrase before presenting another award.

L. Brent Bozell, the conservative activist who launched thousands of indecency complaints against broadcasters, announced Friday that he would step down as president of the Parents Television Council, but vowed to continue fighting to clean up America's airwaves. Although he complained that there was still too much offensive content on TV, Bozell said his group has had a major effect since he founded it more than a decade ago.

Broadcasters say the reluctance of some CBS affiliates to air a Sept. 11 documentary next weekend proves there has been a chilling effect on the 1st Amendment since Congress boosted penalties for on-air indecency after Janet Jackson's breast was exposed at a Super Bowl halftime show. "This is example No. 1," said Martin Franks, executive vice president of CBS Corp.

A U.S. appeals court Thursday temporarily applied the brakes to the Federal Communications Commission's indecency crackdown, barring enforcement of some tougher standards while judges consider a legal challenge by the four broadcast TV networks and their affiliates. The court action stems from a March FCC ruling that uttering certain expletives such as the F-word and the S-word, even in isolated instances, was indecent.

A school bus driver fired after she reportedly made an obscene gesture at President Bush in June has filed a union grievance in an attempt to get her job back. The 43-year-old driver, whose name was not released, was driving middle-school children back to school in Seattle after a zoo visit when the president and Republican Rep. Dave Reichert drove slowly by in a motorcade. From the bus, the children waved; from their car, Bush and Reichert waved back.