By Randall Murphree
February 21, 2002

The American Family Association, a pro-family media watchdog group, was not surprised by the display on the popular TV program. "It's not surprising that [NYPD Blue director] Steven Bochco would be the one to break this barrier," said AFA President Don Wildmon. "Bochco has made no secret of his plans to demolish every moral standard of prime-time TV."

Before the program's fall 1993 debut, Bochco promised to use NYPD Blue to push the envelope in the areas of nudity and foul language. He has been true to his word. Through previous seasons, the series has often included partial nudity in countless bed scenes featuring its stars. It has also introduced a number of vulgar expressions that have now become prime-time staples.

This week's episode includes a woman's exposed breasts. The scene occurs when Det. Andy Sipowicz and his partner knock at a door, and a woman answers the door totally nude. The cops tell her to put her clothes on, but she soon returns to the door still nude. Sipowicz takes her by the arm and directs her toward the bedroom, instructing her to put clothes on. Her buttocks are fully exposed in her retreat to get dressed.

"No doubt ABC and Bochco counted on the fact that the nude woman is aging, obese, and mentally unbalanced to diminish any negative backlash," said Wildmon. "While I'm not surprised at the network or the program doing this, I am surprised at some of the advertisers, which included Volkswagen, General Motors, Toyota, and Johnson & Johnson."

Wildmon's organization has a history of successfully organizing grassroots efforts targeting advertisers of offensive television programming.