History shows TV boycotts only backfire

Here's a little quiz for you: What do these TV series have in common? "Cheers," "Gilmore Girls," "Friends," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "The Simpsons."

Answer: They all joked about Mormons. And in the case of "Gilmore Girls," "Friends" and "The Simpsons," each show featured Mormon jokes in at least three episodes.

And how about these? "Picket Fences," "Walker, Texas Ranger," "Frasier," "South Park," "Cold Case."

Answer: Each had an episode featuring Mormon characters, or characters who claimed to be Mormons.

Some of them are funny, others are harmless and some are offensive or inaccurate.

And there are many, many more — too many to list here. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been referenced on shows ever since the early 1950s, when a TV became as common to the average household as a refrigerator.

And before that, they were fodder for books, plays and movies.

But in the past decade or two, TV has been more in your face and unafraid of crossing lines, or "pushing the envelope," as insiders like to put it. And when the LDS Church is referenced, members are on tenterhooks, wondering "What's next?"

And here comes the HBO polygamy drama "Big Love" to answer that question, with an episode Sunday that apparently goes inside an LDS temple, or, rather, a fictional replica.

To faithful Mormons, temples are sacred places, and the ordinances performed therein are not to be bandied about in light conversation, much less depicted for entertainment. Naturally, they're bothered by this.

And in a rather unprecedented move, the LDS Church even published a statement about the episode on its lds.org Web site. The statement alludes to a boycott some members are trying to mount against AOL, although why AOL instead of parent company Time Warner is not explained. A raft of Internet chatter also suggests canceling subscriptions to HBO — or to cable/satellite altogether.

My suggestion? Ignore it and it will go away.

Sure, the episode will air. Yes, it will be on the DVD release later this year. But so what? All those episodes mentioned above are also on DVD or available on the Internet. And though people still see them here and there, it hasn't damaged the LDS Church.

What's more, history suggests that TV boycotts backfire. They bring attention to and often increase viewership of the shows being boycotted.

One infamous example is the boycott started by Michigan homemaker Terry Rakolta that was aimed at "Married … With Children" in the middle of its third season, as it was struggling in the ratings.

In the late 1980s, the sitcom was a vulgar, raunchy, working-class sitcom that was, sad to say, ahead of its time in terms of scatological and sexual humor. Today, it could follow "Two and a Half Men" and no one would flinch.

Offended by a particular episode in January 1989, Rakolta, a Mormon, pushed advertisers for a national boycott and went on TV to shout her effort from the rooftops. The result? A ratings boost that helped extend "Married … With Children's" run by eight years.

Boycotting "Big Love" — which has already been renewed for another season, by the way — will only increase its numbers. Besides, it's on a subscription channel that even at its peak garners relatively low numbers.

Will I be watching? No. And neither will most of America.

Like me, most of them do not subscribe to HBO.

E-MAIL: hicks@desnews.com