Too Blue for Prime Time? : Networks: The screening of ABC’s ‘NYPD Blue’ left many station execs hot under the collar. Though the new series was applauded for superior writing and acting, many said the sexual content is too hot to handle.

ABC station executives got their first glimpse here this week of what is almost certain to be the TV network’s most controversial new show this fall, and many are seeing red over “NYPD Blue.”

Not the red of anger about the show’s quality, but the anticipation of the color that many viewers might turn with embarrassment or rage over the raw language, nudity and violence in the latest series from Steven Bochco, co-creator of “Hill Street Blues” and “L.A. Law.”

Enthusiastic applause followed Wednesday’s screening of the first one-hour episode of “NYPD Blue” at the annual ABC affiliates convention at the Century Plaza, and many station managers and owners called the writing, direction and acting superior. But some of them raised concern about its appropriateness for network television and questioned whether advertisers will want to buy commercial time during it.

In one scene of the series, which is scheduled to run Tuesdays at 10 p.m., an angry police detective grabs his crotch and curses at a female district attorney. In another scene, a man is shot several times at close range. In another, a couple make love as the camera pans up and down their uncovered nude bodies rolling around in bed.

Many station executives indicated that they will lobby for the show’s sexuality to be toned down considerably. If it isn’t, some expressed doubt that they would run the series.

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“We would probably have to preempt the show as it stands now,” said Dean Hinson, president and chief executive officer of the Morris Group, which owns ABC affiliate WDHN-TV in Dothan, Ala. “It’s a great show, and you certainly can’t fault the quality. But with some of the language and the sex that is in it, this is guaranteed to have all the religious groups in the front office the following morning.”

Harry Roth, owner of KRDO-TV in Colorado Springs, Colo., where prime time begins an hour earlier than on the West and East coasts, said, “There’s definitely a problem. This show would air in our area at 9 p.m., when kids are still up, and it’s a bit strong. You could imply the same thing in the sex scenes without showing it all. The language is a bit rough, and we’re supposed to be cutting down on violence.”

The Rev. Donald Wildmon, the Mississippi fundamentalist minister who has staged protests against numerous TV series, movies and artworks, already has launched a campaign against “NYPD Blue,” calling it an “R-rated program.” Congress, meanwhile, is threatening to clamp down on what many members feel is an overabundance of violence in television shows and movies.

On Thursday, ABC Television Network Group President Robert Iger acknowledged that some station executives “are very concerned about the sexual content, about the sexuality. They feel it’s gone too far. That’s the main concern. They weren’t as bothered by the violence because we have assured them it is not going to be a violent show.”

The day before, ABC officials had said that the episode screened for the affiliates would be broadcast as is this fall. Asked Thursday if that was the case, Iger declined to comment.

Bochco, in an interview after the screening, said he was aware of the anxieties surrounding the series but added that he was unconcerned and does not plan to make any changes. He expressed hope that the series’ quality and story lines will overwhelm controversy about its more graphic elements.

“From what I’ve heard, the affiliates are concerned and nervous about something that has not been done before,” Bochco said. “But this is the show that ABC committed to, and the show that we wanted to do.”

He continued, “I have strong belief in the integrity of the viewer, and it’s the right of the viewer to make his or her own choice on whether to watch the show. I have a long-standing relationship with the public, but they won’t watch something because I ask them to or they won’t watch something because Rev. Wildmon says not to. I would hope the stations would trust their constituency, but it’s not my call.”

As far as some of the station representatives feeling that the sex, profanity and violence should be toned down, Bochco said, “Shakespeare could have been toned down. We could have done a cop show where everyone just sits inside and all the information just comes in. One makes choices.”

“NYPD Blue” revolves around the personal and professional life of New York City Detective John Kelly (David Caruso). His partner in the first episode is Andy Sipowicz (“Hill Street Blues” veteran Dennis Franz).

Early in the episode, Sipowicz gets into an argument with a female district attorney after he uses unorthodox methods to arrest Mafia-connected criminal Alfonse Giardella (Robert Cospanzo).

“I’d say res ipsa loquitur if I thought you knew what it meant,” the district attorney says to Sipowicz, using a legal term referring to the negligence of a defendant.

“ Ipsa this, you pissy little bitch,” Sipowicz responds, grabbing his crotch.

Later, Kelly confronts a drinking, depressed Sipowicz in a saloon: “When was the last time you tried going on the wagon?”

“When was the last time you tried growing tits?” Sipowicz answers.

Sipowicz later confronts Giardella in a bar, and they wrestle out into the street. Sipowicz shoves several objects in Giardella’s mouth, including dollar bills, socks and Giardella’s toupee.

Later, he has an encounter with a prostitute, whom he undresses in a room. The tryst is interrupted by Giardella, who shoots Sipowicz several times, slamming him against the wall in slow motion.

Appearing before the affiliates Thursday, ABC Entertainment President Ted Harbert defended “NYPD Blue,” saying that pushing the boundaries of acceptable content was justified by the show’s quality.

He said he hoped the questions about it would not turn into a “media circus.” “Great shows are worth fighting for,” he said, reminding the station managers that “Soap” premiered in 1977 amid a firestorm of controversy over its sexual content and is now regarded by many as a classic.

Bochco compared “NYPD Blue” to a feature film: “If all of this were in a PG-13-rated movie in a theater, it wouldn’t raise an eyebrow, including that of a 13-year-old who could just walk in without a parent.”

He said that with cable, satellite dishes and VCRs bringing R-rated movies into homes on a regular basis, such material should not be as sensitive to television viewers as in previous years.

But Pat Cherin of WBRZ-TV in Baton Rouge wasn’t so sure. “I’m very sensitive to the nudity and the sexual gestures,” she said. “It’s a great show, but I’m not sure it’s right for prime-time television. It might be better on HBO.”