Summary by Category
#1 ABC 54.71
#2 FOX 55.89
#3 NBC 63.31
#4 CBS 73.75
ABC won this category with the help of its numerous comedies, such as Dharma & Greg, The Drew Carey Show, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Spin City, as well as multiple airings of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. While these shows had little to no violence, they didn't always score well in other categories.
FOX's comedies also scored well, including King of the Hill, Malcolm in the Middle and That '70s Show.
NBC came in third here, due mainly to a schedule heavy with police, courtroom, hospital dramas. Although these shows involved incidents of violence, the episodes usually scored well on social responsibility because they addressed the causes and consequences of violent actions. And analysts reported that most of the violence was not shown explicitly.
CBS scored the worst in this category due in part to its Friday and Saturday night male-aimed action shows with plenty of fighting and gunplay: Walker Texas Ranger, Martial Law and Nash Bridges.
The programs that eventually ranked at the bottom were those that actually showed a killing and/or had the camera linger over a dead body, particularly a woman or young girl. The worst offenders is this category included broadcast airings of theatrical movies, which tended to glamorize violence.
Biggest offenders in Violence:
Independence Day (theatrical movie) on FOX
Walker Texas Ranger on CBS
The 10th Kingdom (miniseries) on NBC
Ransom (theatrical movie) on ABC
48 Hours on CBS
#1 NBC 68.67
#2 CBS 74.95
#3 ABC 81.67
#4 FOX 101.31
NBC scored the highest in gender composition based on its diverse casts, including a number of strong women and women of color. Shows like ER, Profiler and Law & Order ranked in the top of this category.
CBS also scored well based on the shows Family Law, City of Angels, Touched by an Angel and Judging Amy, which include many positive female characters.
ABC's Millionaire and Whose Line is it Anyway helped drop the network's score in this category due to their lack of female participants. The Drew Carey Show also boasts a very male cast. Sabrina the Teenage Witch was a bright spot with its rare female-centered cast.
FOX's last-place rank was due to reality shows like Robbie Knievel Head-On Train Jump Live, Cops and World's Wildest Police Videos, with very few women in sight. FOX's Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire dove to the bottom based on its many negative stereotypes. FOX's Ally McBeal and The Simpsons were the two shows on the network that landed near the top of this category.
Overall, our analysts found that men still dominate television casts; people of color and women of different body types are under-represented; and lesbians and people with disabilities are virtually non-existent. Where there were positive role models of women, they were frequently offset by sexist stereotypes.
Worst Scores in Gender Composition:
Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire on FOX
World's Wildest Police Videos on FOX
Winning Lines on CBS
Robbie Knievel Head-On Train Jump Live on FOX
Who Wants to be a Millionaire on ABC
#1 NBC 71.00
#2 ABC 75.67
#3 CBS 75.73
#4 FOX 84.91
NBC won this category thanks to shows like Law & Order, ER, Third Watch, Providence and Profiler, which portray strong women who are treated with respect and valued for their skills and intelligence.
ABC scored well because of the numerous nights of Millionaire. Although the gender composition is poor on this game show, there is little--if any--exploitative or offensive content. Other shows that scored well on ABC included the Practice, Once & Again and NYPD Blue, all with fully-drawn female characters (women and girls).
CBS is in a virtual tie with ABC, brought low by the movie "Perfect Murder, Perfect Town," which exploited the Jon Benet Ramsey murder and included many over-the-line images of the girl's body. The canceled comedy Grapevine also scored extremely low based on its use of women strictly as sex objects. On the bright side, most of CBS's dramatic series scored well and the sitcom Becker performed surprisingly well in this category.
FOX bottomed out with its own depiction of the JonBenet Ramsey story and, of course, Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire. Interestingly, the movie The Nutty Professor scored very low for its inclusion of several scenes blatantly exploiting women. The X-Files was FOX's one top scorer in this category, for its positive portrayal of Dana Scully.
Overall, situation comedies also scored poorly here. Our analysts reported that much of comedy seems to focus on men's advances toward and humiliation of women. Offenders of this style included The Drew Carey Show, Norm and Spin City, all on ABC.
Bottom of the Barrel in Sexual Exploitation:
Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire on FOX
Perfect Murder, Perfect Town on CBS
Getting Away with Murder: The JonBenet Ramsey Story on FOX
The Nutty Professor on FOX
Spin City on ABC
#1 NBC 61.87
#2 CBS 65.39
#3 ABC 78.36
#4 FOX 86.46
Analysts gave NBC programs high scores for socially responsible content, particularly The West Wing, Law & Order, Third Watch, The Pretender and ER for addressing issues relevant to people's lives. Specific episodes were praised for dealing with topics rarely shown on TV. A Dateline that devoted the whole hour to the horror of international trafficking of women was singled out for its excellent handling of the subject. The comedy Will & Grace was also noted for its candid portrayal of gay male characters.
CBS came in second thanks to shows like Family Law, Chicago Hope and City of Angels. An episode of Family Law which dealt with a transsexual mother trying to win custody of her daughter topped this category. A nice surprise was a high score for JAG for responsibly addressing the issue of gays in the military.
ABC scored third here due to a line-up of programs which offer little relevance to viewers lives. The Drew Carey Show and Norm were singled out for their mean-spiritedness, especially toward women and people of color. The few high points on ABC in this category included Once and Again, 20/20, The Practice and NYPD Blue.
With FOX's Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire, Independence Day, The Nutty Professor and the JonBenet movie bottoming out this category, analysts indicated that FOX's special programming is far from responsible. On the good side, one episode of Ally McBeal was praised for dealing well with a sensitive issue, and Malcolm in the Middle and Party of Five both scored well here.
Worst Offenders in Social Responsibility:
Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire on FOX
Perfect Murder, Perfect Town on CBS
Getting Away with Murder: The JonBenet Ramsey Story on FOX
Independence Day on FOX
The Nutty Professor on FOX
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