Catholic League demands NBC sitcom be shelved

Feb 24, 2005 / 22:00 pm

The Catholic League is demanding that NBC retire the sitcom “Committed” after the network made “a direct frontal assault on Roman Catholicism, choosing to mock, trivialize and ridicule the Body and Blood of Christ.”

During the Feb. 22 episode, two non-Catholics characters are mistakenly given Holy Communion at a Catholic funeral mass. Nate, who is Jewish, and Bowie, a Protestant, don’t know what to do with the Eucharist, so they make several failed attempts to get rid of it. For example, they try slipping it into the pocket of a priest and dropping it on a tray of cheese and crackers. 

At one point, the priest, who is portrayed as not knowing the difference between the host and a cracker, goes to grab the “cracker” from a tray of appetizers; he initially balks when he discovers that it is the last one. Then he changes his mind, saying, “Oh, what the hell.” The most offensive scene occurs when Nate and Bowie accidentally flush what they think is the host down the toilet.

Catholic League president William Donohue said clergy and laity from right across the country have deluged the league with complaints. He said the league hasn’t received this many complaints in quite a while.

“To say that Catholics are angry about this show would be an understatement—the outrage is visceral and intense,” said Donohue.  

“What happened was deliberate,” he said. “According to a Jan. 2 story in the Cincinnati Enquirer, the writers for the series, Eileen Heisler and DeAnn Heline, have been encouraged by NBC executives ‘to push the limits of comedy.’”

Donohue said the writers of “Roseanne,” “Murphy Brown” and “Ellen” “decided to play it safe and stay in good standing with their bosses by bashing Catholics” rather than attacking some other group that is protected by political correctness. 

“More than an apology is needed,” said Donohue. “This episode should be retired for good, and that is what we will demand.”