NBC "Tonight Show" star Jay Leno played host to Motley Crue rocker Vince Neil during his New Years Eve broadcast, and Neil used the occasion to wish his band mate Tommy Lee a "Happy f---ing new year." The show is normally taped, but was broadcasting live on this special occasion, and a delay mechanism was not in use. The network was able to bleep out the incident on the west coast broadcast.

It is reminiscent of the infamous Bono/Golden Globes flap. Originally, the FCC Enforcement Bureau determined that Bono's the use of the word was fleeting and inadvertent (they went on to excuse it because its usage was as an exclamation/modifier rather than a verb or noun). The EB ruling was overruled by the commissioners, however, who said that use of the f-word is never allowed, even while letting NBC off without a fine in a 3-2 split decision.

The FCC is said to be looking into the Neil incident. It certainly is being prodded - - the Parents Television Council is organizing its standard complaint campaign, and is also providing an email address and phone number for the "Tonight Show," which it notes are unavailable on the NBC website. It is encouraging its constituents to give NBC an earful even if the call is long distance.

RBR observation:
The difference between the Bono incident and the Neil incident is time of day. Neil had the good taste to wait until after safe harbor had begun - - it lasts from 10:00 PM until 6:00 AM - - whereas Bono committed his utterance during prime time. You would think that the midnight utterance would be immune from punitive action. And if that is the case, Americans should be proud of broadcast programming executives, who do NOT view the arrival of 10:00 PM as a signal to pull out the smut, as Mel Karmazin pointed out last year before the House Commerce Committee.

Ironically, this may be one of the few nights of the year when safe harbor is not safe, and there may well be a large number of children up to welcome in the New Year. I know my kids, ages seven and five, were up, drinking their sparkling apple cider and counting down the final seconds of 2004 with my wife and I. However, our TV viewing of the event did not include the "Tonight Show," and the person we were bringing in the new year with, Regis Philbin, did not venture into any verbally dangerous areas.