The far right was none-too-pleased when CBS aired the “Victoria’s Secret Lingerie Show” in 2002 and 2003, flooding the network and the FCC with organized outrage. In 2004, the network balked at bringing the show backing, suggesting to many that conservative activists had won. In the broader culture war, it was seen as a victory for the right.
But as is often the case with conservatives, success was fleeting.
After leaving its lingerie tucked away last year, Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is coming back.
The show, yanked from the air after Janet Jackson’s breast-baring performance in the 2004 Super Bowl, is returning to the runway, CBS announced Thursday.
“We missed it when we took it off the air last year,” Ed Razek, chief creative executive for the lingerie brand, said on Friday. “It’s clearly an important part of the brand’s DNA.”
CBS aired the show in 2002 and 2003 before deciding to pull it last year in the wake of “Nipplegate,” when the Federal Communications Commission cracked down on all things racy, raunchy and risque.
How irritated is the right? James Dobson’s Focus on the Family sent its members an alert with CBS President Leslie Moonves’ personal office phone number so outraged families could explain why they don’t want undergarments featured on network TV.
Looking back, the last time CBS aired the “Victoria’s Secret Lingerie Show,” FCC officials sat down with the Southern Baptist Convention, the Parents Television Council, the Family Research Council, and Bill Bennett’s Empower America, just to listen to them whine. When the 2004 show was cancelled, it seemed like this was over. It appears, however, you can’t keep a good lingerie program down.
In light of this year’s broadcast, I have a few questions:
* How much does CBS love this publicity?
* Does the show suggest the network’s fear of the puritanical movement is fading?
* Will the Parents Television Council successfully overwhelm the FCC’s phone lines?
* Will James Dobson watch the show, telling Mrs. Dobson that it’s necessary for “research purposes”?