CSI TV Show FCC Indecency Complaint Form

FCC Indecency Complaint Form

File an FCC complaint on the Feb. 17 Episode of CBS's "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" NOW!

TO: Federal Communications Commission, Washington, D.C.

Michael K. Powell, Chairman
Kathleen Q. Abernathy
Jonathan S. Adelstein
Michael J. Copps
Kevin J. Martin

RE: FCC TELEVISION INDECENCY COMPLAINT

Instruction: By completing this FCC INDECENCY COMPLAINT and clicking the "Sign and Submit" button, you will be registering a FORMAL COMPLAINT, providing the FCC with specific evidence needed to take regulatory action against the broadcasters of the program. Your COMPLAINT will be electronically forwarded to the FCC by the Parents Television Council.

This is a formal COMPLAINT of indecency on broadcast television. My complaint concerns the PROGRAM ON:

NETWORK: CBS-TV
PROGRAM TITLE: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
BROADCAST DATES: Feb. 17 , 2005
BROADCAST TIMES: 9:00 PM Eastern & Pacific/8:00 PM Central & Mountain Time

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Email Body Message:	This is a formal COMPLAINT of indecency on broadcast television. NETWORK: CBS PROGRAM TITLE: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation BROADCAST DATE: Feb. 17, 2005 BROADCAST TIME: 9:00 PM Eastern & Pacific/8:00 PM Central & Mountain Time Documentation of the material on which my COMPLAINT is based is provided below. Video tapes of this and every episode of "CSI" are available from the Parents Television Council. COMPLAINANT believes that this synopsis of content on "CSI" on Feb. 17, 2005 is in context and fully representative of the show's overall tone and quality, which the FCC must declare is indecent. COMPLAINANT also believes that such material is: (a.) Clearly offensive according to the standards of my community; (b.) was designed to appeal purely to prurient interests; and (c.) lacks any serious artistic merit COMPLAINANT urges the Commission to take notice of the high ratings for this episode of "CSI" ratings -- reportedly viewed in 30.72 million households. Given its relatively early broadcast time, it was without question viewed by millions of children. COMPLAINANT further urges the Commission to take notice of the evidence that Viacom/CBS deliberately targets children for "CSI," including the fact that CBS Consumer Products licensed a line of toys based on "CSI" for marketing to children 8 and up. Finally, COMPLAINANT urges the Commission to note that "CSI" is not a live show but is videotaped well in advance of its broadcast. Therefore, the stations which broadcast the show had ample time to evaluate its content and should have been on notice as to its potential to run afoul of community standards of decency. Accordingly, COMPLAINANT urges the Commission to sanction all CBS affiliated and owned stations which broadcast the Feb. 17, 2005 episode of "CSI." For the reasons above stated, the FCC should exercise its responsibility to enforce the existing law against indecency on broadcast TV between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. (Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 1464) by levying severe sanctions against the broadcasters of this program. Documentation -------------- This episode centers around an investigation of the death of a man named Bruce Eiger, who was found dead, clad only in boxer shorts, on the steps of his mansion. In the opening moments, viewers see extremely graphic views of his bashed-in head and his blood-covered face. An investigator looks up at the balcony above and a flashback shows the man falling to the steps below. Another investigator says, "I smell crap." She photographs feces on the ground. The scene shifts to the morgue, where Eiger's body is shown on an autopsy table. A medical examiner says: "From everything I've heard, this guy was a considerable ass. Speaking of which, from the damage to his sphincter, he suffered from repeated insertions." "Rectal insertions?" "Sizable. Matching peri-mortem bruises to the hips. The deceased had a peculiar rash around his genitals, slathered in ointments, it doesn't read as an STD I'm familiar with. As the investigation proceeds, characters named Cy and Tonya are introduced. In one scene, Cy says, "Tonya, get your sweet little ass over to the piano." He eventually tells an investigator that the the reason phone records showed late night calls from the Eiger house to Cy is because "I'm banging his wife." In a later scene, the wife, Donna, gets a phone call from Cy and she says she isn't surprised that he's dumping her, saying she knew she was nothing more than a "hate lay." The investigators soon are amassing evidence that Eiger was a practitioner of a perversion referred to as "infantilism." He enjoyed dressing as a baby in diapers, defecating and having his diapers changed by Tonya � hired for the purpose of portraying his "mother-figure" in his perverted scenario � and suckling at her breasts. The investigation uncovers a hidden room in Eiger's mansion where these perverted activities were carried out. It is decorated like a baby nursery with crib, bassinet, mobiles, a large rocking horse, and other toys. They also find enema bottles, and one investigator says, "Well, this could explain the repeated insertions." Following up, two investigators visit an "adult baby store." One of them asks a woman employee of the store: "I was wondering, in your line of work, do you ever wear a uniform or a dress?" "No, but I could. Are you a drinker or a stinker?" "Excuse me?" "Well, a drinker likes to... [she guestures to her breasts] and a stinker... [she points to below her waist]." The investigators conclude that Eiger was still alive after plunging from the balcony to the steps, where his wife discovered him. She acknowledges this, and admits she did nothing to help him, but simply waited for him to die. A flashback shows Eiger, face covered in blood, coughing blood on Donna's feet and ankles. There is an extreme close up on him as he chokes and coughs blood. The camera zooms in on his bleeding face and down into his throat as he gags on his blood. Piece by piece, the investigators put together the puzzle. The scenario behind Eiger's death is finally revealed in highly disturbing flashbacks: In the "nursery," we see Tonya in a pink nursing dress with cutouts at her breasts. Bruce is in his crib wearing a diaper and a baby bonnet, and is cooing and playing with his mobile. Tonya: "OK, baby Bruce, playtime's over. I smell a smelly!" Bruce is then shown laying face down on a large changing table sucking his thumb while she changes his diaper. With his head and sucking thumb in the forefront, she can be seen rubbing ointment on him (he is a very obese man and his buttocks are out of clear view). Then she puts LSD in his enema bottle and screws on the cap. Next she is shown holding him in her lap; he is wearing a new diaper and she sings "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to him. Back in the present, Tonya says: "And then he just started acting crazy." Brass: "As opposed to soiling himself and gumming your nipples?" Tonya: "Yes." The flashback resumes: Bruce is freaking out, running around making strange noises as he hallucinates from the drug. He opens his diaper pail, pulls out a soiled diaper and, to the accompaniment of loud, squishing sounds, smears the feces on the floor. Then he leaves the nursery and goes into the office. Tonya follows him and, she says, sees Bruce simply jump off the balcony. But in another flashback we see Tonya running after Bruce through the house, telling him to fly like a birdie and Bruce saying, "I can, Mommy, I can," and then diving off the balcony. We see him hit the hard steps below face down; blood is everywhere. Documentation -------------- This broadcast of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" was patently offensive on multiple counts of gross, perverted sexuality, extreme, sickening violence, and frequent foul language. In view of the federal statute (Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 1464) defining broadcast depiction or description of sexual or excretory material in a manner offensive to community standards between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. as indecent, the Commission should reach a finding that this episode of "CSI" was in violation of the law against broadcast TV indecency. PLEASE KEEP ME INFORMED OF THE PROGRESS AND RESULTS OF YOUR INVESTIGATION INTO THIS MATTER. Sincerely,
	Keep me informed through PTC E-ALERTS about the progress of the Parents Television Council's campaign to clean up TV.

Documentation of the material on which my COMPLAINT is based is provided below. Video tapes of this and every episode of "CSI" are available from the Parents Television Council.

COMPLAINANT believes that this synopsis of content on "CSI" on Feb. 17, 2005 is in context and fully representative of the show's overall tone and quality, which the FCC must declare is indecent.

COMPLAINANT also believes that such material is:

(a.) Clearly offensive according to the standards of my community;

(b.) was designed to appeal purely to prurient interests; and

(c.) lacks any serious artistic merit

COMPLAINANT urges the Commission to take notice of the high ratings for this episode of "CSI" ratings -- reportedly viewed in 30.72 million households. Given its relatively early broadcast time, it was without question viewed by millions of children.

COMPLAINANT further urges the Commission to take notice of the evidence that Viacom/CBS deliberately targets children for "CSI," including the fact that CBS Consumer Products licensed a line of toys based on "CSI" for marketing to children 8 and up.

Finally, COMPLAINANT urges the Commission to note that "CSI" is not a live show but is videotaped well in advance of its broadcast. Therefore, the stations which broadcast the show had ample time to evaluate its content and should have been on notice as to its potential to run afoul of community standards of decency. Accordingly, COMPLAINANT urges the Commission to sanction all CBS affiliated and owned stations which broadcast the Feb. 17, 2005 episode of "CSI."

For the reasons above stated, the FCC should exercise its responsibility to enforce the existing law against indecency on broadcast TV between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. (Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 1464) by levying severe sanctions against the broadcasters of this program.

Click here to read/view the offending content from the Feb. 17, 2005 Episode of CBS's "CSI"

This broadcast of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" was patently offensive on multiple counts of gross, perverted sexuality, extreme, sickening violence, and frequent foul language.

In view of the federal statute (Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 1464) defining broadcast depiction or description of sexual or excretory material in a manner offensive to community standards between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. as indecent, the Commission should reach a finding that this episode of "CSI" was in violation of the law against broadcast TV indecency.

PLEASE KEEP ME INFORMED OF THE PROGRESS AND RESULTS OF YOUR INVESTIGATION INTO THIS MATTER.

A copy of this COMPLAINT will be sent in your name to the following national sponsors of the Feb. 17 episode of "CSI":

Best Buy
Capital One
Citigroup
Kraft

The copy sent to these sponsors will include the following message:

I am outraged at the frightening increase in violence, sex, filth, smutty humor and coarse language on prime-time television. TV shows have been poisoned by a flood of offensive material that is helping destroy family values and seriously harming America's children and grandchildren... and YOUR COMPANY IS HELPING TO SPREAD THE FILTH BY PAYING FOR IT WITH YOUR ADVERTISING DOLLARS!

In particular, TV viewers young and old were slimed by the Feb. 17, 2005 episode of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," aired on CBS-TV and PAID FOR IN PART BY YOUR COMMERCIALS.

As a consumer, I am taking part in this grassroots campaign organized by the Parents Television Council (PTC) to urge you and all commercial TV Sponsors to STOP USING YOUR ADVERTISING DOLLARS TO UNDERWRITE THE FILTH AND VIOLENCE THAT ARE POISONING THE MINDS OF MILLIONS OF IMPRESSIONABLE YOUNGSTERS.

I hope and expect to hear from the PTC that your company has adopted a new and more responsible advertising policy that will preclude sponsorship of any program containing material as indecent as that featured in the Feb. 17, 2005 episode of "CSI - Crime Scene Investigation."

Important Reminder: Have you already forwarded the urgent E-Mail Alert to your friends and family? If not, please click here.

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