Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 4, 1994 TAG: 9411040100
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: TORONTO LENGTH: Short
Two channels dropped the children's adventure series after the Canadian Broadcasting Standards Council condemned it as too violent.
The show, seen in more than 30 countries, features high school students fighting, kicking and brawling to protect the planet from aliens.
The program was pulled from a private television network in Scandinavia after the death of a Norwegian girl at the hands of playmates. The death was blamed on violent children's television programs.
In Canada, YTV, the youth cable channel, has withdrawn the show and the Montreal-based French TVA network said Wednesday it would drop it.
The Global TV network, part of the CanWest Global system that broadcasts the show across Canada, has said it will edit out some of the roughest scenes. The network also has approached Saban International, the show's producer, about toning down the violence.
``When you're the No. 1 children's show in the world, people are going to look to knock you off the mountaintop,'' said Barry Stragg, spokesman for Saban International in Burbank, Calif.
Stragg said ``it's too soon'' to promise any changes in the show.
by CNB