NBC puts seasoning back in Veggies

Posted: 12/01/06

NBC puts seasoning back in Veggies

By Chansin Bird

Religon News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Fans of Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber may notice a welcome change in the VeggieTales episodes aired on NBC’s Saturday morning cartoon lineup—less editing of religious content than originally feared.

“The last batch of episodes are airing with very little editing,” VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer said. “Not none whatsoever, but very nearly none whatsoever. Much less than earlier episodes.”

Originally, NBC had asked for changes in four of 13 episodes—mostly editing out references to God and the Bible.

Vischer said he was not thrilled with the edits, but was happy to have the cartoons on network television.

Vischer said he had “no idea” why many recent shows have had fewer edits.

But Paul Irwin, president of the American Bible Society, said his organization has sponsored “several hundred thousand” complaint letters to NBC and its parent company, General Electric.

“NBC has learned that this is not a matter of casual interest to the people of this country,” Irwin said.

However, Terry Pefanis, chief operating officer of Big Idea—the company that created VeggieTales—said NBC has been pretty consistent from the outset, and never asked for all God references to be taken out.

“God has been in the shows all along—just not as many references as in the original shows,” Pefanis said.

In addition to the four initial edits, all 13 of the shows’ “bookends”—an opener that starts with a letter from a child, a biblical resolution to an issue and a Bible verse at the end—were removed from the NBC versions

“I think what really brought a lot of these issues to the forefront is our shows close with a Bible verse as well as Bob and Larry saying, ‘Remember kids, God made you special and he loves you very much,’” Pefanis said.

“Those were taken out for the broadcast version. I think that’s largely what a lot of this public debate has been about.”

For its part, NBC said none of its standards have changed. The network still abides by an episode-by-episode review.

“NBC is committed to the positive messages and universal values of VeggieTales,” the network said in a statement.

“Our goal is to reach as broad an audience as possible with these positive messages, while being careful not to advocate any one religious point of view.”