NBC Searches for \'New Normal\' Home in Salt Lake City

By BILL CARTER

When the NBC television affiliate in Salt Lake City decided against showing “The New Normal,” a sitcom about a gay couple adopting a baby, network executives were not surprised. That station, KSL-TV, which is owned by a subsidiary of the Mormon Church, has a long history of steering clear of NBC programs it deems of questionable content. Last fall it blocked the NBC drama “The Playboy Club” last fall and for years it has refused to carry one of the pillars of NBC entertainment, “Saturday Night Live.” It also blocked a previous NBC comedy considered too racy, the short-lived “Coupling.”

In this case, Jeff Simpson, the chief executive of the parent company that owns the station, told The Salt Lake City Tribune, which first reported the news last week, “For our brand, this program feels inappropriate on several dimensions, especially during family viewing time.”

The show, which has the same creative team as the Fox hit, “Glee,” centers on a young woman who makes an arrangement to be a surrogate for two gay men, who will adopt her baby. It also includes the character of the woman's mother, played by Ellen Barkin, who is a flagrant bigot in terms of both race and homophobia. Ms. Barkin reacted personally to the station's decision by noting that it apparently has no trouble broadcasting the NBC drama “Law & Order SVU,” which deals with sex crimes. She tweeted a message: “Shame on u @kslcom not airing @NBCTheNewNormal. So L&O SVU (rape and child murder) is OK? But loving gay couple having a baby is inappropriate?”

NBC itself has had little official reaction. The network issued a brief statement: “The New Normal,” is a contemporary look at how families are defined today, portrayed through a comedic prism. We are confident that the show will find another home in the Salt Lake City market.“

The logical alternative in Salt Lake in an independent statio n, KUCW, which has become the home of “SNL” in that city and also picked up “The Playboy Club” last year. NBC is in talks with the station to add “The New Normal,” but as of Monday afternoon it had not finalized a deal to relocate the comedy.