NBC’s new comedy The New Normal is feeling the heat again. One month after Ryan Murphy and Ali Adler‘s upcoming series drew the ire of anti-gay group One Million Moms, Utah station KSL-TV says it will not be broadcasting New Normal when it premieres this fall. New Normal centers on a single mother’s life as she becomes a surrogate for a gay couple.
“After viewing the pilot episode of The New Normal, we have made the decision to keep it off our fall schedule,” Jeff Simpson, CEO of KSL parent company Bonneville International, told Deseret News. “For our brand, this program simply feels inappropriate on several dimensions, especially during family viewing time.” Crude dialogue, explicit content and offensive characterizations were the main reasons why KSL-TV would not bring New Normal to air when it launches Sept. 11. The same station opted not to broadcast the shortlived NBC drama The Playboy Club, which was canceled after three episodes last fall.
“The New Normal is a contemporary look at how families are defined today, portrayed through a comedic prism. We are confident that the show will find another home in the Salt Lake City market,“ an NBC spokesperson said in a statement. Meanwhile, co-star Ellen Barkin – who plays an often racist and homophobic character on the comedy — took to Twitter to call out KSL-TV’s decision.
“Anyone in Utah interested in @NBCTheNewNormal please clog up @ksl5tv feed 4 their blatantly homophic decision 2 not air the show #KSLBigots,” she wrote. Another tweet read: “Shame on u @kslcom not airing @NBCTheNewNormal So L&O SVU (rape & child murder) is ok? But loving gay couple having a baby is inappropriate?”
However, Simpson made it clear that the decision for KSL-TV not to air New Normal was not a slight against NBC.
“NBC is a valued partner — and as the Summer Olympic Games prove, they are committed to great news, sports and entertainment programming,” he said. “KSL is confident that with the proliferation of digital media, those who wish to view the program can easily do so.”
In July, One Million Moms told advertisers to boycott New Normal, which also stars Andrew Rannells and Justin Bartha.
“NBC is using public airwaves to continue to subject families to the decay of morals and values, and the sanctity of marriage in attempting to redefine marriage,” the group said at the time. “These things are harmful to our society, and this program is damaging to our culture.”
A preview of New Normal was shown during NBC’s coverage of the London Olympics.
Yesterday morning Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, Terrence Howard, and others attended Sunday morning service at the Potter’s House in an effort to promote a movie project.
We thank all of you who have continued to support EX Ministries through prayers, financial support, and every word of encouragement we have received. Tonight we present part 7 in the Truth Behind Hip Hop Series. Please keep us in your prayers and we share this powerful message.
Isaiah 47:1-15 NET
““Fall down! Sit in the dirt, O virgin daughter Babylon! Sit on the ground, not on a throne, O daughter of the Babylonians! Indeed, you will no longer be called delicate and pampered. Pick up millstones and grind flour! Remove your veil, strip off your skirt, expose your legs, cross the streams! Let your private parts be exposed! Your genitals will be on display! I will get revenge; I will not have pity on anyone,” says our protector – the Lord who commands armies is his name, the Holy One of Israel. “Sit silently! Go to a hiding place, O daughter of the Babylonians! Indeed, you will no longer be called ‘Queen of kingdoms.’ I was angry at my people; I defiled my special possession and handed them over to you. You showed them no mercy; you even placed a very heavy burden on old people. You said, ‘I will rule forever as permanent queen!’ You did not think about these things; you did not consider how it would turn out. So now, listen to this, O one who lives so lavishly, who lives securely, who says to herself, ‘I am unique! No one can compare to me! I will never have to live as a widow; I will never lose my children.’ Both of these will come upon you suddenly, in one day! You will lose your children and be widowed. You will be overwhelmed by these tragedies, despite your many incantations and your numerous amulets. You were complacent in your evil deeds; you thought, ‘No one sees me.’ Your self-professed wisdom and knowledge lead you astray, when you say, ‘I am unique! No one can compare to me!’ Disaster will overtake you; you will not know how to charm it away. Destruction will fall on you; you will not be able to appease it. Calamity will strike you suddenly, before you recognize it. Persist in trusting your amulets and your many incantations, which you have faithfully recited since your youth! Maybe you will be successful – maybe you will scare away disaster. You are tired out from listening to so much advice. Let them take their stand – the ones who see omens in the sky, who gaze at the stars, who make monthly predictions – let them rescue you from the disaster that is about to overtake you! Look, they are like straw, which the fire burns up; they cannot rescue themselves from the heat of the flames. There are no coals to warm them, no firelight to enjoy. They will disappoint you, those you have so faithfully dealt with since your youth. Each strays off in his own direction, leaving no one to rescue you.””
A remake of cult classic about three girls making it big in the music industry will be filmed in Detroit. The Michigan Film Office announced Thursday that the feature film “Sparkle” has been approved for a film incentive from the state. The film will be set in Detroit during the Motown era and will chronicle the journey of three musically talented sisters to stardom.
“Sparkle” is expected to shoot in Metro Detroit and will be produced and directed by Salim Akil. Akil directed “Jumping the Broom” and helms the BET television series “The Game.” Also producing the film is the nationally known Bishop T.D. Jakes of Potter’s House Church.
“We are excited about the project because it will showcase the great culture and work force that Michigan has to offer,” says Michelle Begnoche of the Michigan Film Office. “The film is a great fit for the state and for the film incentive program.” ”Sparkle” was awarded an incentive of $3,104,455 on $7,410,216 of projected in-state expenditures. The project is expected to hire 266 Michigan workers with afull-time equivalent of 44 jobs.
Plot synopsis of the 1976 film “Sparkle” Harlem, New York, 1958. The Williams sisters – Sister (Lonette McKee), Dolores (Dwan Smith), and Sparkle (Irene Cara) – are singers in their local church’s teenagers’ choir along with their friends Stix (Philip Michael Thomas) and Levi (Dorian Harewood). The girls’ mother Effie (Mary Alice), works hard as a maid for the Gerber family in Long Island, and struggles to keep her girls, especially the “high-spirited” Sister, safe. Stix, a budding songwriter is in love with Sparkle, wants to start a group, and arranges the five of them into a quintet called “The Hearts”. The Hearts enter a local talent show contest, which they win with the help of Sister’s stage appeal. Shortly afterwards, however, Levi drops out of the group so that he can become an important man in the operations of local gangster Satin (Tony King).
Stix decides to repackage the group as an all-girl trio, appointing Sister lead singer and reducing his role in the act to manager and songwriter. The girls, now known as “Sister & the Sisters”, debut at the seedy Shan-Doo Club; their immediate success gains them a position as regular performers there. Satin, invited to the show by Levi, takes up with Sister, who leaves home to move in with him. Sister begins showing up at the Shan-Doo with bruises from Satin’s abuse, and begins taking cocaine. When Dolores learns that Satin has gotten Sister hooked on drugs, she plots revenge, coming on to one of Satin’s flunkies in order to set the kingpin up. Dolores calls the police to let them know when and where Satin’s next drug pick-up will be, but Levi is the one caught in the sting. Regretful and weary of life in Harlem, Dolores packs up and leaves home in order to pursue her dreams of racial equality.
Sister’s drug use and her life in the “big time” caused Sister to relinquish her position as lead singer of the group, and a frustrated Stix gives up on music. He leaves Harlem to work in construction upstate, breaking Sparkle’s heart in the process. Several months later, Sister dies of a drug overdose, and Stix reconciles with Sparkle after her funeral. By this time, Stix has moved back to New York and gained employment with a record label, and offers to produce Sparkle as a solo star.
He borrows money from Effie’s employer Max Gerber (Paul Lambert), to fund a recording session, and Sparkle’s first single becomes a smash hit. Stix lands Sparkle a gig at Carnegie Hall as Ray Charles’ opening act, but finds himself kidnapped by Gerber’s partners in the Mafia for refusing to agree to a partnership in owning the rights to Sparkle’s fame. Despite being threatened with death, however, Stix refuses to give in, and the impressed Gerber lets Stix go free. Stix arrives at Carnegie Hall just in time to see Sparkle finish her set.
It was one of the most talked about new dramas of the past year, and MTV’s most-discussed scripted show ever.
Yet the controversial Skins will not be back for a second season.
“Skins is a global television phenomenon that, unfortunately, didn’t connect with a US audience as much as we had hoped,” said MTV in a statement. “We admire the work that the series’ creator Bryan Elsley did in adapting the show for MTV, and appreciate the core audience that embraced it.”
When MTV first announced the acclaimed UK dramedy would get a U.S. revamp, fans were skeptical an ad-supported cable network could maintain the show’s rebellious and graphic nature.
Ratings rose for the show’s March finale to 1.2 million viewers and the series outperformed last summer’s first season of The Hard Times of R.J. Berger — which was renewed. But Skins was inaccurately bashed as “child pornography” by the Parents Television Council and bled advertisers scared off by the headlines and boycott threats.
The show’s creator had defended the series as a “rather old fashioned television series,” and says its content is “a very serious attempt to get to the roots of young people’s lives. It tries to tell the truth. Sometimes that truth can be a little painful to adults and parents.”
It amazes me how little feedback we receive when we post articles that deal with abortion, teen suicide, sex trafficking, Pre-marital sex, pornography, AIDS/HIV, drugs, family issues, etc.
It is only when we deal with someone’s favorite artist or superstar preacher that people begin to comment that do not even visit our site on a regular basis. Now all of sudden folks find this site and feel it necessary to weigh in on the issue at hand of which gives us the opportunity to exercise the delete button.
This is truly a sad day for the church because we have many of those that do not want to deal with what lies in plain site. You have church folks that come on here that could care less about a pastor sleeping with boys, teen sex, abortion, teen suicide, sex trafficking, divorce, and anything else else that hinders our progress as a church, but the minute we begin to deal with corrupt leadership that has been proven countless times by those such as Bishop Jakes (The father of the fallen ones) Bishop Blake (The Inclusionist) people cuss us out.
Forget the fact that African Americans lead the country in HIV cases and abortion. Who cares as long as it doesn’t affect Bishop Jakes, Joel Osteen, or our favorite artist?!
Forget the fact that since the Diddy’s visit to the Potters House when Bishop T.D. Jakes allegedly “prayed” for him, he steps on the stage of the Grammys and channels the thug demon through the gold grillz in his mouth (TTBHH3).
The group performed 'Natural Woman,' and individual renditions of "Ain't No Way" 'Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)' 'Freedom' 'Respect' 'Spirit In The Dark' and 'Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves.'
Ok so forget the fact that Yolanda Adams agrees to do a collaboration at the Grammys with some of the most sinful, gay affirming artists of our time. After all, she at least provided the gospel portion that caused many that were there and around the country watching from television to come to Christ. Right? Wrong!!! As soon as Yolanda walks off the stage, Lady Gaga walks on to perform a satanic ordinance which was ALSO viewed by millions of people.
The reason why we are receiving all of this opposition is because people have allowed themselves to sit under satanic leadership. They have become desensitized to truth by having their flesh constantly affirmed. They do not care about family structure or what it takes to maintain it and as long as they can receive their season, miracle breakthrough, harvest, favor, purpose, and destiny then they will be ok. Right? Wrong! Come on people of God. Nothing changes if nothing changes. God did not save many of you to sit back in the lazy boy chair of life just to receive your breakthrough and harvest. We have a devil to fight and a flesh to crucify. Now either we begin to deal with issues or issues will continue to deal with us. Either way we @ EX Ministries/EX Times will continue to hold up the standard of God by sounding the alarm through prayer and informing God’s people about the issues that threaten to plague the church.
Proverbs 14:6
6A scoffer seeks Wisdom in vain [for his very attitude blinds and deafens him to it], but knowledge is easy to him who [being teachable] understands.
Ephesians 4:14
14So then, we may no longer be children, tossed [like ships] to and fro between chance gusts of teaching and wavering with every changing wind of doctrine, [the prey of] the cunning and cleverness of [a]unscrupulous men, [gamblers engaged] in every shifting form of trickery in inventing errors to mislead.
Jeremiah 23:32
32Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, says the Lord, and tell them and cause My people to err and go astray by their lies and by their vain boasting and recklessness–when I did not send them or command them; nor do they profit these people at all, says the Lord.
Hebrews 5:11-14
11Concerning this we have much to say which is hard to explain, since you have become dull in your [spiritual] hearing and sluggish [even [a]slothful in achieving spiritual insight].
12For even though by this time you ought to be teaching others, you actually need someone to teach you over again the very first principles of God’s Word. You have come to need milk, not solid food.
13For everyone who continues to feed on milk is obviously inexperienced and unskilled in the doctrine of righteousness (of conformity to the divine will in purpose, thought, and action), for he is a mere infant [not able to talk yet]!
14But solid food is for full-grown men, for those whose senses and mental faculties are trained by practice to discriminate and distinguish between what is morally good and noble and what is evil and contrary either to divine or human law.
Although blacks make up only 13.6% of the U.S. population, they account for 50.3% of all diagnosed cases of HIV, federal health officials reported.
The rate of HIV diagnosis among black men is eight times that of whites, and the rate for black women is 19 times that of whites, finds a new analysis of data from 37 states by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“What this study confirms is the severe and disproportionate burden of disease borne by African Americans when it comes to HIV,” said Dr. Kevin Fenton, director of CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention.
Compared to Hispanic men, black men have twice the rate of HIV infection, and black women are four times as likely as Hispanic women to have an HIV diagnosis, according to the Feb. 4 edition of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
For one thing, the background prevalence of the AIDS-causing virus is higher in the black community, he said.
“This higher background prevalence really continues to drive transmission within the community, because it increases the probability of someone coming into contact with HIV, even with low-risk behaviors,” Fenton said.
Sharing drug materials and having unprotected sex are key ways to spread HIV.
Fenton said there is also a higher rate of sexually transmitted diseases in the black community, noting other STDs facilitate the transmission of HIV.
High rates of male imprisonment are another factor, he added. “This leads to imbalances in male-to-female ratios in the community, which in turn result in sexual networks which facilitate transmission of HIV,” he said.
William Jeffries IV, a CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer and co-author of the report, said this spike is not just the result of increased HIV screening, which would by itself uncover many new cases of HIV.
The number of syphilis cases also increased, which suggests a rise in HIV infection, Jeffries said.
The Milwaukee findings probably mirror similar HIV increases in some areas across the country, said the researchers, calling for new or better efforts to educate this group of males.
The CDC already is testing ways to expand HIV testing and referral services within the black community, Jeffries said.
These “intensive behavioral interventions,” he said, combine education, counseling, skills development and esteem building, as well as safer sex promotion.
Apathy about HIV is a problem, Fenton said. “We are really grappling with increased complacency as we enter the fourth decade of this epidemic,” he said. This is particularly true in the black community, where there are so many health and economic concerns that HIV becomes a back-burner issue, Fenton said.
Commenting on the report, Dr. Michael Kolber, professor and director of the Comprehensive AIDS Program at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, said that programs to reduce the spread of HIV need to target those communities where transmission rates are highest and take into account various cultural differences.
“In the African American community, we are working with faith-based organizations,” he said. “They really play a major role in daily living.”
The programs Kolber runs go into churches and provide HIV/AIDS education in the context of overall health issues.
“When you discuss these things, you need to do it in a manner which is sensitive to what they are willing to listen to,” Kolber said.
There is a show on MTV that is borderline child porn. Fox-news today is saying the same thing. The show iscalled “skins”; and it centers around teenage sex and drug use. Glorifying this sin by using
children to play in parts that promote and popularize teenage sex and drugs.
I don’t believe in just complaining and saying it’s wrong. We have no right to say anything if we are not willing to do something about it.
Fox-News has the email address for mtv and a link to file
complaints with the FCC.
We all need to be a part of the fight against this Godless exaltation of wickedness.
Psalm 12:8 says when the vilest are exalted wickedness walks freely.
We need to take a stand against it and not just talk about it.
Lets email mtv (with knowledge and respectful denunciation, not with foolish and ignorant rants), file complaints with the FCC, and spread the word to have every Christian we know do the same. If we don’t fight we are just handing the youth to the enemy.
You are a guest on EX Times your readership, viewership and participation is greatly appreciated. However, your ability to leave comments is a privilege, not a right. If all you want to do is express how much you dislike what (we) say here, then don’t expect us to oblige your comment by allowing it to be posted. If you become a disturbance or nuisance, we are not under absolutely no obligation to allow you to leave comments. You will receive a lifetime BLOCK from all EX Ministries social media networks.
