FCC OK's Clothed Sex With Vampire

The FCC has concluded that it is OK to have sex with a vampire, so long as you keep your clothes on.

The Federal Communications Commission has denied a Parents Television Council indecency complaint against a sex scene in an episode of The WB Television Network's drama, Angel,that aired on WBDC(TV) Washington, D.C., and other affiliates of the netlet. The WB no longer airs the show.

The complaint involved a scene in the Nov. 19, 2003, broadcast in which a couple are apparently having sex. PTC described it this way: "Spike is on top of Harmony, their clothes are on, but his body rocks back and forth and their breathing is heavy. She tries to speak, but he tells her not to spoil the moment. Her eyes start to bleed, and suddenly she turns into her vampire self and bites his neck."

The FCC concluded that the sex scene was not patently offensive because it was brief, contained no nudity, and was not sufficiently graphic or explicit.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.