Pavan
04-05-2005, 05:16 PM
The worsening condition and subsequent death of Pope John Paul II forced the producers of the smash hit "Desperate Housewives" to quickly edit out a reference to Catholics in Sunday night's episode.
While it would have been hard for anyone to find the line offensive (nor did it mock Catholics), ABC officials and the producers agreed it was better left out.
In the episode, Bree Van De Kamp (Marcia Cross) and Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman) are attending the funeral for Gabrielle's (Eva Longoria) mother-in-law.
"You have to hand it to the Catholics, they do grief better than anyone," Bree said to Lynette when the show was taped long before Sunday.
But on Friday, when the Pope was near death, network execs asked the producers to edit out the word "Catholic." The Pope died Saturday.
"We got a phone call from ABC Friday evening asking about the line," said executive producer Michael Edelstein. "In light of world events, we felt we should be more sensitive. We were happy to go in and make a last-second fix."
Because of the timing, the producers were not able to get Cross back into the studio, so editors worked quickly to fix the scene. They took clips of Cross' voice saying "Gabby and Carlos" and inserted them into the moment where she originally said "Catholic."
Viewers, however, could notice that Cross' lips said "Catholic" while they heard her saying "Gabby and Carlos."
"It was a little slapdash," Edelstein said. The producer said it was the first time in the short history of the show when such a last-second fix was necessary.
"These were extraordinary circumstances," he said. "This is about respect for an individual, in respect for a religion."
Meanwhile, "Desperate Housewives" continues to roll in the Nielsen ratings; it averaged 24.4 million viewers Sunday night.
The huge "Wives" draw helped boost viewership for "Grey's Anatomy," a new medical drama that averaged 18.2 million viewers, up 2 million from its premiere a week earlier.
The second week of strong numbers for "Grey's Anatomy" raised a question about its future and that of "Boston Legal," which normally airs Sunday at 10 p.m. ABC programmers may opt to keep "Grey's Anatomy" after "Desperate Housewives," and move the legal drama elsewhere.
So far, though, there's nothing official from ABC brass.
Originally published on April 5, 2005
While it would have been hard for anyone to find the line offensive (nor did it mock Catholics), ABC officials and the producers agreed it was better left out.
In the episode, Bree Van De Kamp (Marcia Cross) and Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman) are attending the funeral for Gabrielle's (Eva Longoria) mother-in-law.
"You have to hand it to the Catholics, they do grief better than anyone," Bree said to Lynette when the show was taped long before Sunday.
But on Friday, when the Pope was near death, network execs asked the producers to edit out the word "Catholic." The Pope died Saturday.
"We got a phone call from ABC Friday evening asking about the line," said executive producer Michael Edelstein. "In light of world events, we felt we should be more sensitive. We were happy to go in and make a last-second fix."
Because of the timing, the producers were not able to get Cross back into the studio, so editors worked quickly to fix the scene. They took clips of Cross' voice saying "Gabby and Carlos" and inserted them into the moment where she originally said "Catholic."
Viewers, however, could notice that Cross' lips said "Catholic" while they heard her saying "Gabby and Carlos."
"It was a little slapdash," Edelstein said. The producer said it was the first time in the short history of the show when such a last-second fix was necessary.
"These were extraordinary circumstances," he said. "This is about respect for an individual, in respect for a religion."
Meanwhile, "Desperate Housewives" continues to roll in the Nielsen ratings; it averaged 24.4 million viewers Sunday night.
The huge "Wives" draw helped boost viewership for "Grey's Anatomy," a new medical drama that averaged 18.2 million viewers, up 2 million from its premiere a week earlier.
The second week of strong numbers for "Grey's Anatomy" raised a question about its future and that of "Boston Legal," which normally airs Sunday at 10 p.m. ABC programmers may opt to keep "Grey's Anatomy" after "Desperate Housewives," and move the legal drama elsewhere.
So far, though, there's nothing official from ABC brass.
Originally published on April 5, 2005