That Desperate Housewives/MNF Skit could have been worse...

[SirFozzie]

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- ABC's first choice for the infamous Monday Night Football dropped towel episode wasn't Terrell Owens -- it was announcer John Madden.

For reasons that are unclear, Madden couldn't find the time to perform for the skit. Owens, the Philadelphia Eagles receiver, filled in for him in the steamy sketch that drew viewer protests and a network apology, said ABC entertainment president Stephen McPherson on Sunday.

In the spoof that preceded the football game Nov. 15, Desperate Housewives actress Nicollette Sheridan persuaded Owens to skip the game by dropping the towel wrapped around her and jumping into his arms.

ABC initially thought it would be funny to have the, uh, less attractive Madden as the subject of Sheridan's ardor, McPherson said.

The towel-dropping was another last-minute addition to the script that plainly backfired, said Marc Cherry, executive producer of Desperate Housewives, who helped write it.

Cherry said it was all a mistake. But he and McPherson both said they were surprised at the reaction.

"I feel really bad about it," Cherry said. "I didn't want to upset people. I didn't realize that Monday Night Football was such a family viewing experience. I wouldn't let my 5-year-old watch beer commercials with big-busted cheerleaders, but that's just me."

Sheridan, appearing before television writers Sunday, said the purpose was simply to amuse people.

"Taking a pop culture incident like that and having it take precedence over the underlying problems of the world was absurd," Sheridan said.

[Farrah Whitworth-Rahn]

That just makes me want to barf.

[rkmsuf]

BOOM!

[Cringer]

How would that have been worse, after all Madden is white. One of the main problems some people had was because they felt it was racist....

And Madden would have been pretty damn funny, just give her some food to hold and wave at him and its even better.....

[cthomer5000]

Holy Roller!

[rkmsuf]

Joe Namath would have been the obvious choice.

[Joe]

why are we still talking about this? they should just let the story die.

[CamEdwards]

i love their indignation and justification after the fact. Hollywood breeds such odd people.

[EagleFan]

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

Joe Namath would have been the obvious choice.

"I reeaally wanthtt to kitthss yooo... hey, beer."

[kcchief19]

Originally Posted by Cringer

How would that have been worse, after all Madden is white. One of the main problems some people had was because they felt it was racist....

And Madden would have been pretty damn funny, just give her some food to hold and wave at him and its even better.....

Which is worse -- a skit that reinforces negative racial stereotypes or a shirtless John Madden? I think the survivors would have envied the dead.

[Cringer]

Originally Posted by kcchief19

Which is worse -- a skit that reinforces negative racial stereotypes or a shirtless John Madden? I think the survivors would have envied the dead.

I still don't get how a black man being with a white woman is a negative racial stereo type, but I will tell my mom and sister to stop seeing the guys they are and let it slide...

[rkmsuf]

Where the white women at!?

[Farrah Whitworth-Rahn]

Originally Posted by Cringer

I still don't get how a black man being with a white woman is a negative racial stereo type,

I don't get it either. How was the ad racist?

Edit: Asking because I'd never heard that complaint. Not asking in the She-Rahn smart-assy sort of way.

[flere-imsaho]

"I feel really bad about it," Cherry said. "I didn't want to upset people. I didn't realize that Monday Night Football was such a family viewing experience. I wouldn't let my 5-year-old watch beer commercials with big-busted cheerleaders, but that's just me."

Indignant and self-righteous! Woo!

[JeeberD]

Originally Posted by Farrah Whitworth-Rahn

I don't get it either. How was the ad racist?

Edit: Asking because I'd never heard that complaint. Not asking in the She-Rahn smart-assy sort of way.

Something about it exploiting the stereotype of pro athletes being promiscuous and womanizers or something.

Ask Tony Dungy about it, he'll go into greater detail than me...

[Yossarian]

[/quote]John Says.. [quote]that was like the last shot out of the roman candle

[JimboJ]

Originally Posted by JeeberD

Something about it exploiting the stereotype of pro athletes being promiscuous and womanizers or something.

Ask Tony Dungy about it, he'll go into greater detail than me...

Sterotype of "pro athletes"? How is that racist then? Its probably true that most pro athletes are black, but I've never thought of black athletes being any more promiscous than white athletes.

And it was the white housewife who seduced the black athlete. Is this a common occurance in society these days? Or maybe my defintion of stereotype is different from everyone elses.

[Yossarian]

It was just Dungy looking for racist intent where there wasn't any.

[ISiddiqui]

I guess this idea is better than a naked John Madden jumping in Nicolette Sheridan's arms .

[rkmsuf]

If the Crusier is rockin, don't come a knockin.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by JimboJ

... but I've never thought of black athletes being any more promiscous than white athletes.

Ever heard of Wilt Chamberlain?

After Chamberlain retired, he made news of a different sort, stirring controversy -- and a litany of jokes -- by claiming in his 1991 biography that he had had sex with 20,000 women, averaging 1.2 a day from the time he was 15.
http://espn.go.com/nba/news/1999/1012/110493.html

Or, check out this article. Make note as you read through of the ratio of black athletes cited vs white athletes cited. By my count, it's nearly 4-1
(and two of the 3 whites are actually F1/IRL drivers, so I'm not sure if they count in the U.S.)
http://www.cfl.ca/Slam040419/col_lankhof-sun.html

I'm not saying there's any difference between the promiscuity of the athletes that breaks down along racial lines, but I'd say there's a good case to be made that the image is much more closely associated with black athletes regardless of whether that's fair or accurate.

[rkmsuf]

Larry Bird was a sex machine.

[johneh]

The ad should have been Madden turning her down because of the buffet in the press box.

[kcchief19]

The racial stereotype in question that concerned people who saw it is that there is a stereotype pervassive in some areas in the country that black men are always on the make for white women. Read or watch "To Kill A Mockingbird" to get a sense for what they are taking about.

The fact that many people saw nothing racist in the ad is a credit that many people no longer have that stereotype in-grained. I belive, however, that is more a regional prejudice. I know growing up in southwest Missouri that a disturbing number of people continued to caution their daughters to "watch out for the black man." You see the reverse of that stereotype prevalent in society as well. There are blacks who criticize black men for dating white women.

That said, I think there were a lot of reasons the clip ticked people off. The NFL types were put off that the NFL was used to promote a chick drama. The family values group was offended at the sexuality. The Terrell Owens haters were offended by the presence of Terrell Owens. Internet geeks were offended that it was Teri Hatcher. I could go on and on.

However, I think we can all rally behind the idea that we are against the visual image of John Madden booming supermodels.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

Where the white women at!?

"How many times have I told you to wash your hands after a weekly cross burning?"
"For my next impression, Jesse Owens."

One of the funniest movies of all time, easily.

SI