DATE: Monday, July 28, 1997                 TAG: 9707260945

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: Bonko in Hollywood 

SOURCE: Larry Bonko 

DATELINE: PASADENA, CALIF.                  LENGTH:   73 lines

FOUR LITLE LETTERS SPELL TROUBLE FOR NETWORK EXECS IN THE FALL SEASON

But what a big fuss they've created among actors, producers and television network executives who've come together here to talk about the season of 1997-98.

Those four little letters will be used come October by five of the six broadcast networks to label TV programs. It will be V for violence, S for sexual content, L for strong language and D for suggestive dialogue.

These letters will be tossed into the alphabet soup of ratings that have been in use since the first of the year - the TV-G, TV-PG, TV-14 and TV-MA stuff. Television is applying this code under pressure from Congress and the White House.

Boy, are people here mad about that.

They call it censorship, which is a word that producers and network bosses choke on. The president of NBC Entertainment, Warren Littlefield, said the ratings are the work of meddling politicians who want to tell us what to watch and when.

``We do not believe that the government should control the content of programs we put on the air,'' said Littlefield. NBC, in a move that says enough is enough, will not add the S, V, L and D letters when rating its shows.

``This issue is a little like a snowball rolling downhill,'' said Littlefield. ``I think we're looking at a potential avalanche.''

Also making Littlefield and his peers nervous is this news out of Washington: Some members of Congress want to pass a law that says the networks must devote the 8 p.m. hour to good, wholesome, uplifting family TV instead of the butt-grabbing TV you see on ``Friends'' at 8.

It's that C word again, said Littlefield. He means ``censorship.''

``We feel it's extremely dangerous for broadcasters to put the control of what goes on the air in the government's hands,'' he added.

You'll forgive your humble columnist for suspecting that there is more to NBC's stand than just the fact the Peacock Network doesn't want more letters on the screen. (Cable channels such as HBO have been fine-tuning the ratings for years. Lots of letters.)

Is NBC worried that if it slaps a TV-14 or TV-MA and a D on it's 8 p.m. shows such as ``Friends'' and ``Mad About You,'' it would scare away advertisers?

``So far, the advertisers are comfortable being on `Friends,' '' Littlefield said. He also said NBC is under pressure from other networks to give in and use the V, S, L and D designations.

Of the actors and producers who have participated in meetings with the Television Critics Association, virtually all have said they object to the guidelines and the labeling. Nobody objects louder than producer Dick Wolf of ``Law & Order'' and a new NBC series, ``Players.''

``Congress is out for blood,'' said Wolf. ``It wants to control what programming comes into your home. Who says that 10 or 20 years from now these same people will not want to limit your free access to news and information?''

Wolf suggested that the senators and congressmen keep their noses out of TV and do something constructive such as controlling the flow of guns on our streets. Wolf offered to debate with the elected officials who forced the networks to launch a ratings system.

He said: ``I applaud NBC for saying, `Wait a second. Let's think about this ratings' thing. It's ridiculous.' ''

The buzz here is the NBC will eventually give in and add the Vs, Ss, Ls and Ds.

There's been much Congress bashing going on here this month with TV writers as a captive audience. What Hollywood forgets in deploring the ratings is that they would never have come about if during the sweeps the networks hadn't loaded up with violent and sexually suggestive programming.

That's V for violent, S for suggestive. MEMO: Virginian-Pilot television columnist Larry Bonko is in Los Angeles

for the twice-yearly television press tour.

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