Content Won’t Be Affected, CBS Claims

The revised system for rating television programs will have no effect on their content, CBS stressed Tuesday, while saying that one of its new shows--the Steven Bochco police drama “Brooklyn South”--may be the first prime-time series to be labeled for mature audiences.

CBS Entertainment President Leslie Moonves made those remarks to an assembly of TV critics in Pasadena. The executive appeared determined to reject the notion, proffered by some within the entertainment industry, that NBC--as the only major network not to augment its ratings--may attract top writers and producers to the network by taking that stand.

“Let me state categorically: [The ratings] will not affect our programming one iota,” Moonves said.

Pressed as to whether that will be sufficient to mollify advocacy groups and Congress, Moonves added: “The whole point is to inform parents what is on the schedule, not to edit what is on the air.”

Some of television’s critics have registered precisely that complaint, suggesting that rating programs does nothing to tone down prime-time content they feel has become too permissive in regard to sex, violence and language. Industry officials have maintained that it’s ultimately up to parents--once provided with such information--to decide what is appropriate for their children to watch.

Meanwhile, CBS said the network has yet to determine whether the pilot episode for one of its most eagerly anticipated new shows, “Brooklyn South,” will be rated TV-M, a label that has yet to be applied to a prime-time series. NBC did use that rating, which counsels caution in viewers under 17 watching, on its broadcast of the movie “Schindler’s List.” Also, some episodes of the syndicated “Jerry Springer” talk show have received that label on local stations.

The program opens with a graphic shootout between police and a gunman, and Moonves said there will be clear warnings as to its content.

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In another potentially controversial aspect of “Brooklyn South,” one of the program’s producers, “NYPD Blue” co-creator David Milch, said the pilot will be revised to diminish what some have perceived as racial polarization within the show. Specifically, the suspect is an African American, while most of the officers are white.

Milch said an African American investigator, who was to have first appeared in the second episode, will be added to the pilot to avoid any “unintended thematic statement” by the cast’s racial composition. The suspect’s death, and its impact on the police and local community leaders, will be explored throughout the program’s first season.

Milch also defended the more graphic material in “NYPD Blue” and “Brooklyn South,” saying the intent is to convey the realism of police work, not for shock value or to generate publicity.

“The goal [with “NYPD Blue”] was not to show more ass or to use dirty words,” he said. “The goal was to do more complicated and adult stories. . . . No one was looking to create controversy for controversy’s sake.”

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According to CBS, “Brooklyn South” is already a hit in one respect, having amassed what the network claims is a record sum in terms of overseas sales for any first-year TV program. The network is hoping that success will help support the program’s steep production costs.

CBS also confirmed that “Murphy Brown” will begin the coming season with an arc of episodes dealing with breast cancer. The program, which begins its 10th and presumably final year in September, is moving from the Monday time slot it has occupied throughout its run to Wednesdays, following “The Nanny.”

Regarding congressional efforts to regulate television, Moonves cited a “tendency in Washington to run over” the broadcast industry. In June, the executive was named co-chair of a presidential commission looking into what broadcasters can do to better fulfill public-interest obligations.

That commission, working with the Federal Election Commission, is principally charged with addressing the issue of television providing free air time to political candidates--which some consider a key element of any attempt to achieve campaign-finance reform.