Plenty of TV shows have drawn the ire of protest groups, but the protests normally start after the shows hit the air. That wasn’t the case for “NYPD Blue,” which was almost derailed months before the pilot episode aired.
In the ’90s, broadcast networks were losing viewers to cable television, partly because cable wasn’t under the same scrutiny from censors. It’s a problem faced today by both broadcast and cable networks as they compete with streaming services. Enter, “NYPD Blue” creator Steven Bochco, who was no stranger to battling with censors over content in his shows. Bochco said that for “NYPD Blue,” he wanted to create a network show specifically designed to compete with the ever-growing list of cable channels. “What we wanted to do was create a show that, in fact, went significantly further in terms of language and sexuality,” Bochco told the Deseret News in 1993. “… I think that we can’t compete [with cable] anymore unless you can paint with some of the same colors that you can paint with when you’re making movies.”
Interviews like that drew the ire of religious groups, including the American Family Association, who publicly called for stations to pull “NYPD Blue” from their lineups even though the show was still months away from premiering. In the end, 57 out of 200-plus ABC affiliates decided not to show the pilot episode, and many major advertisers passed on buying airtime for it. The backlash didn’t have the desired effect, however. Over 30 million viewers ended up tuning in that first night, and the show easily won its time slot.
Protesters ended up helping NYPD Blue become a success
The American Family Association protested that “NYPD Blue” was full of sex, violence, and naughty language, but that didn’t do much to dissuade viewers from watching. In fact, co-creator Steven Bochco said it helped draw attention to the show, which he said was good enough to overcome the attacks. “If that show hadn’t been a hit from its very first episode, I don’t think it would’ve lasted four weeks,” Bochco said in an interview with the Television Academy, “because ABC was under such assault for putting the show on that they just would have withered.”
Instead, “NYPD Blue” became a breakout hit for ABC, whose affiliates eventually all started airing the episodes. Advertisers also relented, and by the end of the 1st season, they had started coming on board with the show. Even though the series continually pushed the boundaries with language, violence, and occasional nudity, it would go on to run for 12 seasons, win 20 Emmys, and go down in history as one of the best police procedural shows of all time.
