Enough is enough.....
You know what, I've had enough of this garbage done by the PTC. No, it's not the Parent-Teacher-Conference that many dread, it's the Parents Television Council, which is literally changing the WWF's ways. They constantly badmouth the WWF, and they attack it's sponsors, pressuring them to stop advertising for the WWF. The PTC feels that this show is hurting their children, so they feel that they need to attack WWF sponsors to drive Smackdown away. Will this work in the long run?
Well, first let's talk about this CULT known as the Parents Television Council. They have their lovely website(which I'm not plugging because I'm not giving their site hits), and on it they have their thoughts and feelings about what's on network television. They also have a place for you to sign up. Readers told me that the membership has a price, and when I looked I saw that it's costs $25 to get in! You have to pay your hard earned dollars just to get into this cult, so therefore, the organization isn't doing this for the children, they are doing it for money! The more attention they get, like attacking the largest wrestling federation in the world, the more members they get. Therefore, they get more money for themselves to enjoy..and I'm talking about the organizers of this group, and NOT the members. Oh yeah, Visa and Mastercard are accepted when applying for a membership. It's not about getting what is safe for their children, it's about making money. Bozell, the chairman of this organization, is loving how much money is rolling in lately.
Is it just Smackdown they are going after? Well, in looking at their top ten list, they have shows like, in respective order from first to last, Dawson's Creek, Melrose Place, Will & Grace, Ally McBeal, Spin City, Drew Carey, Friends, Millennium, Suddenly Susan, and that 70's show on their 98-99 list of shows. These shows are considered to be shows which depict everyday life. Wrestling is considered fake. Even the owners of the federations tell you that it's fake, and NOT REAL. Wouldn't these shows have more of a negative impact on a child? The WWF might act out a sex scene, but the others on this list actually make it seem real. Besides, does this PTC ever go after any of the sponsors on their Worst list? NO! They go after the WWF's sponsors, since their has always been this prejudice against wrestling from parents. The members of the PTC see the growing ratings of Smackdown every week, and they have become jealous of it. They can't stand wrestling personally, and it's probably their goal to screw over wrestling before going after anything that was on their top 10 Worst list.
Why is the PTC doing this anyway? They are doing this in order to keep their children or other children from enjoying wrestling..which is really what they want to see, and not a show that resembles the Care Bears. When I was a kid, wrestling was the only thing I wanted to watch. It was fun, and it was always different each week, unlike those boring shows that have re-runs. The main members of this Cult probably aren't responsible enough to control what their children watch, so their main purpose is to totally screw over the show that they don't want their kids to watch. In this case, it's Smackdown. They see how kids love it, but yet they do nothing to stop their children from watching it. Maybe they could do something to tell parents to stop letting their kids watch the program rather than attacking the WWF's sponsors to get their show cancelled by UPN.
I'm sure that the PTC is really happy now, because they really have a firm grip on the WWF now. They nailed 7 of the WWF's sponsors already, including M&Ms, Coke, AT&T, Air Force, Wendy's, the Coast Guard, and the Army. Losing 7 top sponsors made the WWF realize that they need to tone their show down to either get some of their sponsors back, or just to keep what they have left. The PTC will keep attacking because they know the WWF has become weak because of their efforts. They don't want it toned down, they want it off the air! Therefore, the WWF toning their show down won't stop the PTC's annoying cause.
I'm just wondering...can the WWF sue the PTC for their actions? I mean that the PTC pressures the WWF's sponsors to stop advertising for the WWF. The WWF is a corporation, which is affected when their lose advertisers. A large chunk of their revenue comes from advertising, so by having the PTC pressure their advertisers means that they are really costing the WWF a whole lot of money. That's a lot of damages to really consider, as they are costing the WWF a lot of money. Something to consider.
So what's my final take on this so-called Parents Television Council? I think they are nothing but a money hungry cult filled with a bunch of unresponsible parents. It's a damn shame that it's just the WWF that they are attacking, as they are contradicting what their group is really for..and that's to make "television safer and friendlier to their children". Attacking just one show won't do the trick, as I see shows on network television that make the WWF look like Barney. This Cult really needs to back off, or lay off because they've done enough damage to the hardworking WWF. The WWF only means to provide entertainment to their fans, and the PTC is conflicting that. Yes, you could just say that the PTC is using their first amendment rights of freedom of speech. I don't know whether that's a form or not when you are attacking sponsors for advertising on a show which they don't like. Oh well, maybe the toning down on the raunchy angles will provide more wrestling matches.
-Too Cold Scorpio made his return to ECW Television last night in Atlanta, GA. Now how long do you think that his third stint or maybe more will last in ECW? This man has been floating around from indy to indy in hopes of finding some place where he can call home. This man has a sad story, because he was really successful in WCW and ECW before he jumped to the WWF. When he jumped to the WWF, his life was forever changed. The WWF slapped on a horrible gimmick on him, where he would act somewhat like a pimp and he was called Flash Funk. Too Cold suffered through that gimmick until the WWF decided to finally lift it...but the damage was already done. He tried to wrestle again at ECW, but again..the damage was done. He would be eventually released from the WWF, and just floating around for work. Hell, he was even at the Heroes of Wrestling pay per view, which serves for those who already seen their hay days. Now, he's back in ECW, and lord help him, he needs to find what made him great back in the day.
-Oh my, early numbers are indicating that WCW Mayhem did a 0.45 in terms of buyrates. Damn, that's rather weak, but again, WCW is just starting their new system. I figured at least the tournament would interest some viewers, but apparently not. WCW has a large mountain to climb still because they know the WWF can at any moment beef up a show to take their ratings back. This was more evident this Monday, which had the great wedding. WCW had a triple threat tag team match in a cage no less that didn't do squat in the ratings against the blockbuster wedding. The thing that WCW needs to do is to be consistent. They need to keep putting up good Nitros and good pay per views from here on out to maybe slowly get some ratings. Their new program doesn't seem to generate ratings upon shock value, so they have to do it the long way.
-On the other hand, Suvivor Series did a 1.14. Many considered this to be a letdown, and I'm wondering how many complained to the WWF about having no promised Stone Cold on this card. It seems to have gone un-noticed these days, but the WWF really did pull a fast one on everybody by doing that. Oh well, I guess they got what they wanted out of it, and that's a good buyrate for their pay per view off of hype. Maybe next time before you buy a pay per view, check into some of the rumors, cause I know the Stone Cold injury rumor was everywhere.
-For those of you hoping that Torrie Wilson might be making the jump to the WWF, maybe think again. She seems content on staying with WCW, as she suggested on her website. They are just having a few contract disputes, which can be easily ironed out once they set their minds to it. This dispute comes at a very perfect time, seeming that just about all of the Filthy Animals are out with some kind of injury.
-The WWF is very proud of the 7.3 rating they did during the Wedding run-over. They went up against a F'N cage match for christ sakes, and they still whipped them! This is twice now that two 'non-wrestling' segments have whipped a wrestling match on Nitro. The sketch with the Rock and Mankind dominated the ratings one time with HUGE 8.3 rating!! Of course, I don't think that there was a decent match during then, at least I don't remember. You know that the WWF is probably thinking up another non-wrestling segment to throw at everyone because it seems to draw more ratings and viewers than the actual wrestling does.
-It's funny how Vince Russo like runs WCW now. He drops the prestigious television title, which has so much damn tradition in it, plus it allows for a title for those many midcarders to wrestle for. Next, he's going to drop the Cruiserweight title!! Ok, I'll admit, the Cruiserweight title has been down lately due to the fact that the ones who fit in that category don't wrestle for it. Of course, after Russo tries to push the small guys against the big guys, he'll need something to lay back on..which is where the Cruiserweight title would come in. I don't know, it just seems that Russo is commanding everything on WCW programming now. We'll see how much power he really has if his idea of having Nitro being cut to two hours works.
@That's all for today. I hope you enjoyed the little PDC vs. PTC segment, because that damn organization is truly pissing me off. Anyway, thanks for reading, and do check out the Phat Farm because just about all of the columns have been updated for your reading pleasure!
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Take Care, and to hell with the PTC!