Call it an eye poke from the Eye network.
CBS refused to air a hilarious 30-second spot during Monday night's NCAA Men's Basketball Championship for 20th Century Fox's The Three Stooges—all because it dared satirize those ubiquitous television prescription-drug ads.
Per Deadline, CBS rejected "The Three Stooges Exclusive Stoogesta" spoof from the studio on the grounds that it was "making light of prescription drug ads"—and by the sound of the narration riffing on those generic drug spots, network suits would be right.
"Ever dropped a bell on a nun, ripped the armpit hair off an old man or stuffed a live lobster down a loved one's pants? Then you may suffer from being a stooge," intones the commercial's narrator.
Fox submitted the "Stoogesta" commercial for approval on March 22, but after CBS initially granted approval, knuckleheads higher-ups changed their minds and turned it down. (Guess they don't want to piss off Big Pharma, one of their biggest advertisers.)
But as the website reports, the move didn't catch Fox totally off guard, as the studio confirmed alternative The Three Stooges spots did air during early rounds of the basketball tournament.
Stoogesta's not for everyone indeed. Reps for CBS and Fox were unavailable for comment.
The Three Stooges, directed by Peter and Bobby Farrelly, nyuck-nyucks its way into theaters on April 13.