NBC's moral censor does keep an eye on Peoria

Herminio Traviesas... NBC's chief censor

By Philip Nobile

Television is the most censored medium in the United States. Film, stage and press, thanks to the First Amendment, can just about write their own ticket.

But television caters to a Middle American ethic. If a program won't play in Peoria, the networks won't play it anyplace else either.

Herminio Traviesas is the man who decides what goes on NBC and what doesn't. He is the company's chief censor or, euphemistically speaking, a vice : president in charge of broadcast standards.

No program or commercial can be transmitted on the network until it has passed through the moral filter of his department.

I didn't think I'd like Traviesas or his work. But I discovered he was a reasonable man performing a reasonable job.

Q. What cannot be seen or heard on TV?

A. Blasphemy, anything that's considered erotic, unmotivated or unwarranted violence, and many, many situations that common sense tells you don't belong.

Q. You must interpret your erotic guidelines rather loosely. Scantily clad women are showing up on my screen more and more.

A. Well, at NBC I facetiously say we do not allow any frontal backal or side nudity. We do not show bare breasts or rear ends. Of course, we're not always successful, but we do try to avoid anything that arouses sexual desire.

The country is basically puritanical and shouldn't forget it.

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Q. What happens when you do, when you go too far?

A. We get letters. For example, the Dean Martin Show used to receive a lot of mail criticizing the abbreviated costumes of the Ding-a-Lings.

Also, people didn't like the idea of a middle-aged Martin cavorting with those young girls.

Q. I am surprised by NBC's clean record on violence. No Mannix,' "Kojak," "Hawaii Five-0," or “Cannon.”

A. NBC is the toughest on violence. There are programs on other networks that we wouldn't run. But now NBC tends to be too antiseptic.

Q. You mean murder victims die too slowly?

A. No, they die off cam-

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Uncommon Conversations

era. You don't see the consequences of violence. That's why I welcome "The Godfather" on NBC this fall. It's a good portrayal of the horror of violence.

Q. What about NBC's grisly TV-movie "A Case of Rape" that caused such a sensation last season? Didn't you stretch the boundaries then?

A. I originally turned down "A Case of Rape.” It seemed too shocking. After reviewing it a second time, I realized I was running away from an important issue.

You might laugh, but my job involves creative editing. As a censor, it's easy for me to say no, yet I'd rather show how a script could be done better within the framework of our standards.

Q. Blacks, women and ethnics have been liberated on television. But, except for a few one-shot characters in various series, homosexuals are still in the network closet. Why?

A. If you attend a meeting of local station managers and talk frankly of homosexuality, they freeze up on you.

They haven't been exposed to it, and don't understand it.

It's no different than my going back to my country club in Los Angeles and bringing up the subject of Jews or blacks with my WASP friends.

If I were in charge of gay liberation, I'd urge gradualism.

Q. Why is public TV so much racier than the networks? If they can get away with adult program-

ming, why can't you? A. My theory is that public television is not mass audience entertainment. Therefore, people who select it aren't offended. But network television is for the whole family.

Q. However, the networks can avoid the corrupting-the-minds-of-children argument by scheduling the rough stuff at late hours.

A. We're already accused of having a double standard because Johnny Carson can do things that wouldn't go on the "Today Show."

The simplest way out of the double standard is to admit it, but I don't.

Q. As far as Carson is concerned, you must. His material is the bluest on television. Doesn't anybody censor him?

A. Oh, yes. You'd be surprised. I frequently get calls at home at night questioning certain material.

But Johnny is show business. He's always in control. I have fewer problems

with him than with some of his guests.

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Q. Why doesn't someone tell Carson his homosexual jokes are passe?

A. We have. The message finally got through to him. Q. But not to Bob Hope. A. Next question.

Q. Although TV has surfeited us with hard-core violence and soft-core sex in the past, don't you think the coming season's emphasis on goodness for example, "Happy Days," "Good Times," "Little House on the Prairie”—is a bit much?

A. Do you want my personal point of view and not NBC's? Then, yes.

Television works in trends. Variety shoes, for example, have disap-

peared. But this is not an issue for broadcast standards.

if you would like to suggest personalities as candidates för Philip Nobile's interview or react to the opinions of those interviewed, please write to Philip Nobile in care of The Plain Dealer. Because of the volume of his mail, personal realies are not possible.