City Panel Cancels ‘Pfeiffer’ Screening

The Los Angeles Human Relations Commission on Friday canceled its scheduled screening of the controversial Civil War sitcom “The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer” and said it had no plans to proceed with the review that had been ordered by the City Council.

In a statement, commission Director Joe Hicks cited several reasons, including problems with the venue, indecision over which episode to show and confusion over the goal of the gathering. He plans to ask the council for further direction but said that the matter may be moot.

Viewers, said Hicks, have already made up their minds about the comedy, which premiered Oct. 5 on the UPN network to blistering reviews. The show’s ratings “have been, at best, dismal,” he said. The first episode ranked 124th out of 125 prime-time programs on the six commercial broadcast networks.

The City Council called on the commission to screen and review the series after Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas said he believed “Desmond Pfeiffer” would promote racial discord and was an “irresponsible” and “embarrassing” depiction of a painful period in history.

The series, which is produced by Paramount, concerns a black butler who serves as an advisor to President Abraham Lincoln.

Although the Writers Guild of America West had been announced as the site for the Human Relations Commission’s screening, Hicks said Friday that “appearances of censorship made the Writers Guild inappropriate” for the event.

“We remain staunchly opposed to any governmental body requiring or attempting to block distribution or broadcast,” a Guild spokesman said.