Salt Lake City Sucks

One of NBC’s possibly-not-sucky new shows next fall is “The Playboy Club,” about the Chicago power players who met and interacted in the 1960s club and the bunnies who titillated them. At the NBC upfronts, CEO Robert Greenblatt assured advertisers that the program was “tame compared to what you’d see on ‘Jersey Shore,” while star Amber Heard called it “not all that racy.”

But Salt Lake City viewers won’t get the opportunity to decide if they like it: KSL-TV, the Mormon-owned NBC affiliate there, won’t air the program.

“The Playboy brand is known internationally,” KSL president and CEO Mark Willes said in a statement. “Everyone is clear what it stands for. We want to be sure everyone is clear what the KSL brand stands for, which is completely inconsistent with the Playboy brand.”

The station is owned by Deseret Media Companies — which is controlled by the Mormon church — whose mission is to “champion values that have been cherished by good people from diverse backgrounds for centuries.” [THR]

I assume that by “centuries” the Mormon church means “since 1978,” which is when they allowed black people to become priests in the Church of Latter-Day Saints. So I guess that’s right. The end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century is technically “centuries.” So good work, KSL. Everyone knows that the best way to champion values is with censorship.