Fox Stirs Up the Pot With Sitcom

The fall TV season is still a few months away, but already concerns have been raised over the pilot episode for a new comedy scheduled by Fox that derives some of its humor from a group of teens obtaining beer and smoking marijuana.

Although they have not yet seen “Feelin’ All Right,” two anti-drug groups have criticized the pilot, saying that any comedic depiction of teenage marijuana use is irresponsible. The series is scheduled to air Sundays at 8:30 p.m. after “The Simpsons,” which last year averaged about 2.5 million viewers a week between the ages of 2 and 11.

Executive producers Terry Turner and Mark Brazill and Fox Entertainment President Peter Roth acknowledged that some scenes in the pilot may be controversial, and that they are concerned about audience reaction. But they defended the series on grounds that it is set in the 1970s, a period when they said the use of alcohol and marijuana among young people was commonplace, as chronicled in films such as “Dazed and Confused,” “Boogie Nights” and “The Last Days of Disco.”

Said Fox programming chief Roth: “ ‘Feelin’ All Right’ explores the experience of an eclectic group of teens growing up in the 1970s. While the pilot touches on the subject, there are no plans at this time to include or imply drug use in future story lines. We are confident that the show’s creators and producers will deliver a responsible, quality television series suitable for our viewers.”

Roth has had discussions with the producers about possibly “tweaking” some of the scenes in the pilot to show consequences for the drug use, although Turner insisted, “We’re not going to turn this into an ‘ABC After-School Special.’ ”

The series, a Carsey-Werner Co. production that stars a group of young unknowns, revolves around a group of high school students living in Point Place, a suburb of Green Bay, Wis. In one of the first scenes, the teens, including Eric Forman (Topher Grace), are gathered in the basement of the Forman family house while Eric’s parents hold a party upstairs. Eric is recruited to get some beer and bring it downstairs. He is successful, but the youths are not shown drinking the prized catch.

Later in the episode, several of the teens are gathered around a table in the basement after smoking pot. No drugs or paraphernalia are shown, but the friends are giggling and babbling nonsensically, and whiffs of smoke can be seen. When Eric’s parents call for him to come upstairs, the boys quickly open the outside basement door and try to fan the smoke and odor into the yard.

As Eric talks with his parents in the next scene, they are shown addressing him while he hallucinates that the wall behind them is moving. There is uproarious laughter on the soundtrack.

Leigh Leventhal, spokeswoman for the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, a private nonprofit coalition of communication professionals, said: “I haven’t seen the show, but it just sounds like they’re treating pot and getting drunk as if it’s a light, funny thing to do. The issue is much more complex. There are no consequences shown. I understand it may be funny, but that may not be enough. Do we want kids to see drugs as being hilarious?”

Said Turner, one of the creators of the hit “3rd Rock From the Sun”: “ ‘Feelin’ All Right’ is about a rite of passage. We are concerned about the reaction to a couple of scenes, but one of the things we wanted to do was portray the attitudes of the ‘70s. We are not endorsing drug use, but for us to deny that any of this was happening would not be right.

“We hate doing stuff that would show contempt for the audience,” he added. “It’s like talking down to them. We have to be more honest, to show the stupidity of using drugs, like having the kids zone out and miss a concert they really wanted to go to. That’s more honest and real.”

Anti-drug advocates have long criticized Hollywood for depicting the casual use of alcohol and drugs for entertainment purposes. In a 1997 radio address, President Clinton said he regretted that “movies, music videos and magazines” often have promoted “warped images of a dream world where drugs are cool” and have failed to highlight their potentially harmful effects.

Even though “Feelin’ All Right” is taking place in a bygone era, said Alan Leavitt, a spokesman for the the White House Drug Control Office, the show’s nostalgia element may be lost on children for whom marijuana, alcohol and other drugs remain a reality of life. “The impact is the same for the kids watching it,” he said.

A recent survey sponsored by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America found that 28% of the9- to 12-year-old respondents reported being offered drugs in 1997, compared to 24% the year before and 19% in 1993. Children’s exposure to marijuana, as measured by the statement that they had close friends who used marijuana sometimes, doubled from 7% in 1993 to 14% in 1997. The survey also found that 7% of sixth-graders had tried marijuana at least once, a figure that grew to 23% among seventh-graders and 31% among eighth-graders.

As for the show’s time slot, Turner argued that commercials for violent movies and TV shows, as well as promos on late-breaking news stories, run during the early evening hours. He also said that sexual activity between unmarried couples is often depicted during what was once known as the family hour.

“We don’t think we need to say using drugs is a good or bad thing,” Turner said. “In this day and age, it is a bad thing. TV doesn’t need to comment about that. With all these sexual liaisons taking place with abandon, no one ever says, ‘Oh, of course I use protection.’ ”

Brazill added: “It would just be a disservice for this show to be buried under this controversy. We don’t want this to be the thing the show is known for. It’s so much more than that.”