WobLog

Update: I've reposted this item from a few months back. See the comments for an update on how Phil Vischer is cleverly "subverting" NBC's censorship.

A week or two ago, there was a big furor on a Catholic home schooling mailing list I'm on about the new Veggie Tales kids show airing Saturday mornings on NBC. Rumor was that NBC required that all the references to God be taken out of the shows. NBC claimed that cuts were only made to get the shows down to the necessary time. Neither statement turned out to be true. Phil Vischer, the creator of Veggie Tales, has the details on what actually happened on his blog:

NBC has now issued a new statement about VeggieTales, refining their earlier statement that cuts were only made for timing, not content. They now acknowledge the cuts they requested and explain that they don't want to air programming that offends or excludes any individual religious group.

In another blog entry, he describes the details of NBC's edits:

Four days before the first three episodes were due to be delivered to NBC, we got an email from NBC's 'standards and practices' department with a list of lines that needed to be removed from one of those shows - every line that implied God or the Bible might have an impact on how we live our lives today.

It became perfectly clear: NBC didn't want a religious children's show. They wanted a 'values-based' children's show. At that time in history, the new Big Idea was referring to its products as "values-based" rather than "Christian" in order to reach a wider audience and avoid scaring away potential marketing partners uncomfortable with religious companies or products.

Historical references to God were okay, but any reference to God being active in the present had to go (e.g., the signature tag line of the show, "God made you special, and He loves you very much," was history). Why would Vischer allow this to happen when he has control over the Veggies, you ask? Well, the "new Big Idea" reference above is the clue: Phil Vischer no longer controls the Veggies. The company he founded, Big Idea Productions, declared bankruptcy in 2003 and was purchased by Classic Media. A subsidiary company, Big Idea Inc., was formed that now controls the Veggies. Phil has a contract with the new Big Idea to write and produce some Veggie shows, but doesn't call the shots.

How did this happen? Well, that's a long, interesting, and instructive story. Phil tells the tale on his blog at some length. He also has a book coming out about the lessons he learned in the Veggie saga. It's heartbreaking to read about all the bad things that happened to Phil and the people at Big Idea, but Phil's attitude today after all that's happened is an inspiration.