TV & VIDEO - March 27, 1989

NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” got a dig in at a Christian group and two major advertisers who had objected to language used on previous shows Saturday when guest host Mary Tyler Moore said the word penis twice in her opening monologue. Last week, Ralston Purina and General Mills had announced that they would no longer advertise on the program after they received letters from the American Family Assn., a Christian organization based in Mississippi that monitors television programs for what it perceives to be morally offensive content, protesting a sketch in which the word penis was used 28 times. Moore first used the word discussing her longtime association with wholesome family entertainment and assuring the audience that “that word” would not be uttered on Saturday’s show. She then concluded her monologue, saying, musical guest “Elvis Costello’s penis is here tonight, so stay tuned.”