Why Your TV Is More Vulgar and Less Violent

As if the Clinton White House hadn't provided us with more than enough R-rated fare to last several years, it looks like prime-time television producers are intent on peppering us with more. According to a new report from a conservative-leaning watchdog group, the Parents Television Council, Americans who settled in to watch their favorite evening shows in 1999 were bombarded with more than three times the onscreen sexual situations that we saw 10 years ago. The use of "foul language," which in council terms includes references to being gay or to having any kind of sex life, has also increased sharply. In addition, the report somewhat grudgingly admits that depictions of violence have remained roughly static — and would have actually dropped sharply if not for the popularity of professional wrestling.

All this hand-wringing over sex and cursing is business as usual, says TIME entertainment correspondent James Poniewozik, and it's unlikely to attract much attention from network executives. "Various groups perennially cry about this every few months," he says. Blame the increase in sex and "foul language" on the market: Networks struggling to compete with "edgy" cable shows come out with their own "edgy" shows — and that generally means pushing the envelope in terms of language and sexual situations.

As for the reduction in non-wrestling violence, credit that to the expense of making of shoot-'em-up, cops-and-robbers-type shows, a genre that has been in decline anyway in recent years. In fact, says Poniewozik, members of the council should look more on the bright side. "Things really look pretty good for folks who want to avoid the promulgation of violence on TV — all you have to do is avoid the networks that show professional wrestling."