HIV Muppet unwelcome on US TV
2002-07-15 07:25
Los Angeles - Republican lawmakers are worried about plans to introduce an HIV-positive Muppet to the Sesame Street gang, Hollywood trade paper Daily Variety reported in its Monday edition.
A day after show executives announced they would develop the as-yet-unnamed character for South African audiences, five members of the House committee on energy and commerce said the Muppet would be unwelcome on American TV.
In a letter sent on Friday to the president of the government-funded Public Broadcasting System, which airs Sesame Street, the lawmakers noted the average age of US viewers of Sesame Street in the US is 2- to 4-years old.
"As such, while it is important to teach children in an age-appropriate manner about compassion for those who contract certain diseases, we would like to inquire as to whether there is other PBS programming, aimed at an older age group, which may be more suitable for such sensitive messages," Daily Variety reported the letter as saying.
The letter to PBS president Pat Mitchell was sent by committee chairman WJ "Billy" Tauzin, a Louisiana Republican; as well as by Joe Barton of Texas; Richard Burr of North Carolina, Charles "Chip" Pickering of Mississippi, Cliff Stearns of Florida and Fred Upton of Michigan, the paper said.
"We look forward to working with you to ensure that only age and culturally appropriate programmes air on PBS, which is a mainstay that millions of parents have come to rely upon over the past 35 years," the letter also read.
Joel Schneider, vice president and senior adviser to the Sesame Street Workshop, announced the new female Muppet at the 14th International Aids conference in Barcelona.
It is scheduled for a September 30 bow in South Africa, where one in nine people have the virus that can lead to Aids. The local version of the show is called Takalani Sesame. Schneider said last week that there would be no explicit mention of sex.
Daily Variety said Tauzin's letter gave Mitchell until Friday to answer such questions as the amount of money PBS dedicates to Sesame Street, how much is being earmarked for the new Muppet, whether she will be introduced to the United States and whether corporate underwriters might participate in the decision-making process.
- Reuters