Ellen Barkin Sounds Off on Twitter After Utah TV Station Bans The New Normal

Show's star blasts the station on the social networking site, calling the decision "homophobic"

By Brandi Fowler Aug 25, 2012 4:10 PMTags
THE NEW NORMALRobert Trachtenberg/NBC

Ellen Barkin is tweeting mad over a Utah TV station's decision to not air The New Normal. The show, which premieres in September on NBC, features a gay couple and the family of the woman who decides to become a surrogate for their baby.

Jeff Simpson, CEO of  Bonneville International, parent company of of Salt Lake City NBC affiliate KSL-TV, told the Deseret News in a statement Friday that the show's "crude dialogue, explicit content and offensive characterizations," were the main reasons the station decided to ban it.

"After viewing the pilot episode of The New Normal, we have made the decision to keep it off our fall schedule. For our brand, this program simply feels inappropriate on several dimensions, especially during family viewing time."

"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?," Barkin tweeted Friday. "Anyone in Utah interested in @NBCTheNewNormal please clog up @ksl5tv feed 4 their blatantly homophic decision 2 not air the show #KSLBigots," she later added.

GLAAD also weighed in on the controversy. "Same-sex families are a beloved part of American television thanks to shows like Modern Family, Glee and Grey's Anatomy," wrote GLAAD President Herndon Graddick. "While audiences, critics and advertisers have all supported LGBT stories, KSL is demonstrating how deeply out of touch it is with the rest of the country. We invite Jeff Simpson to sit down with GLAAD and local LGBT families.

"We know that if he would, he would see that not only are our families normal, but by citing 'crude and rude' content and refusing to affirm LGBT families, KSL and Mr. Simpson are sending a dangerous message to Utah."

KSL isn't the first station to have issues with the show's content, though.

Last month, One Million Moms demanded that advertisers boycott the NBC comedy, calling The New Normal "harmful to our society."

"Every person and group has a right to protest something," show creator Ryan Murphy said at the time. "I find it to be interesting that they would take a position before they've seen it."

(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)