It is tempting to dismiss ABC’s full-page newspaper ads on behalf of the Catholic-priest series “Nothing Sacred” as just another plea for attention to a show that has earned more of it from writers than viewers.
But in addition to being open to a less skeptical interpretation, the network’s advertisement illustrates some of the innovative ways commercial speech is being used to try to shape opinions about television programming.
Another interesting ad gambit will appear on this week’s “Murphy Brown” episode. As its breast-cancer story line continues, the CBS sitcom this Wednesday will run with commercial messages for only one company, Ford, which in aligning itself with breast-cancer education is apparently trying to echo the image-building success it had as the sole sponsor of the broadcast of the movie “Schindler’s List.”
The full-page ad on behalf of “Nothing Sacred,” the first-year ABC series that has drawn fire from the conservative Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights for its depiction of a devoted but conflicted liberal young priest, was headlined “Catholic Leaders Speak Out for `Nothing Sacred.’ ” It ran last Thursday, the day the series airs, in major papers including the Tribune.
The ad body is a full-page, black-and-white, head-and-shoulder shot of Kevin Anderson, of Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre troupe, as Father Ray, the central character who fights on behalf of the downtrodden in a city parish. Printed in white letters across his chest are four generally laudatory quotes about the program from men including Rev. Robert Darow, a Chicago parish priest.
That Darow’s name is misspelled “Darrow,” or even that novelist/gadfly Rev. Andrew Greeley is one of the “leaders,” does not dull the ad’s pointedness.
What generally happens in a controversy like the one over “Nothing Sacred” is that a fairly extreme group — in this case, the Catholic League — gets up in arms. Individual reports on the furor may spell out that the protests originate with one not necessarily representative organization, but what tends to trickle down to the general public is a simple notion such as “Catholics don’t like `Nothing Sacred.’ “
“Our ads were an honest effort to communicate to people that there’s another point of view, that prominent and responsible Catholics actually find much to like in the show,” said Preston Padden, the president of ABC Television.
His comment echoes my experience. In a recent column, I ran a letter from a Catholic woman who was a staunch critic of the show. The next few days saw a flurry of responses from readers, including a nun, who wanted me to know they were Catholic and they strongly disagreed.
“I find it artistically well done and intelligent and religious and theological,” said Darow, the pastor at St. Hilary’s parish on the Northwest Side. “I’d go so far as to say I think it’s a great ad for the priesthood. I think it shows the young people that we can still be heroes.”
Darow, who said the ad took him by surprise, said he thought both the quote — “I saw the love and faith in the show and felt that the show was a total success” — and the misspelling came from a story on “Nothing Sacred” that ran in a Chicago Archdiocesan newspaper.
Even Commonweal, an independent journal for Catholic intellectuals, weighed in on the controversy, also on the side of ABC and the show. In a strongly worded editorial in its Oct. 24 issue, the magazine argued that the true damage to Catholicism was being done by the Catholic League and its call for a boycott of “Nothing Sacred” advertisers: “The Catholic League itself is perpetuating the most negative stereotypes of Catholics as prigs and censors. . . .”
Quoting the League’s “warning” to advertisers to “move your ad money to some other show,” the editorial asks, “To NBC’s . . . gleefully hedonistic `Friends,’ perhaps?”
For all the fuss about the show, “Friends” is “Nothing Sacred’s” most potent opponent. “Nothing Sacred” is in trouble in the ratings, as is, almost by default, any show that runs in prime time Thursday against “Friends” and the rest of NBC’s powerhouse lineup.
Its tendency to draw fewer than 5 million households per week, however, is weak even by non-NBC Thursday standards. The show did slightly better than usual the day the ad ran, but just slightly, and the competition from NBC was a far less potent World Series broadcast.
But on the other hand, as Padden pointed out, even a feeble prime-time drama series is an extremely costly investment. When one is as innovative and as effective as “Nothing Sacred” — Darow is on the mark in his critique — networks have been known to give it extra time to find an audience.
ABC has already canceled “Timecop,” another low-rated new drama series. So its willingness to pony up hard cash to try to shore up “Nothing Sacred” should be encouraging, not just to newspaper advertising departments or to the show’s newly identified Catholic fans but to boosters of good TV generally.
