The new season of Nip/Tuck proved that the show is continuing the ignominious tradition of sexually explicit, profane, and violent television programming, taking it to new depths. In the season premiere, which was solely sponsored by the Sony Corporation, viewers witnessed disgusting surgery procedures which included doctors removing a morbidly obese woman from a couch to which she had become grafted.

Extreme close—ups of flesh being cut, gaping wounds and blood—soaked surgical tools were shown. In another surgery scene, leaky breast implants were being removed and replaced. The camera showed the doctor's hands grabbing a woman's breasts, slicing into them and the surgeon's hand being thrust deep inside the breast to grab and yank out the faulty implant. The leaking mass of silicone was a bloody, stringy mess when removed. Then the doctor violently shoved the new implants into the woman's chest and close—ups of the breasts being stitched back together were shown.

The season premiere also picked up on last year's story line which involved a character called The Carver, who slashes people when attacking them. The show featured a flashback of one of the lead male characters being raped by The Carver. The sexploitation didn't end there however. In the final scene viewers were subjected to one of the lead male characters having sex with two women at the same time.

In the face of opposition from family groups, the producers of the show have arrogantly proclaimed that this type of material will continue in the new season. Furthermore, in an article in the New York Post, actor Julian McMahon who plays one of the doctors said,

"I'd like to be even more brutal and more weird. In our show, the sex scenes are very particular to what the characters are going through. I feel very lucky that we've gotten away with what we have, but I'd like to go even further."

Never before has any advertiser—based telecast shown human beings at such low levels of mental corruption, not only in their bizarre sexual encounters, but also in their unbridled, narcissistic, insatiable lust for self—promotion and money. It's quite evident that the producers of this monstrosity might just as well have played the roles.

I'm not exactly a prude. Having grown up on the lower eastside of Manhattan, followed by 20 years as a cop in the NYPD, I have seen more than most. Hence, I have no fear of being morally and spiritually destroyed by the meretricious machinations of Hollywood hedonists. But what about the innocent, absorbent minds of our children and grandchildren?

Is there any social redeeming value in watching sexually explicit scenes with all the nudity, guttural sounds, and vulgar language? Add to that the bedroom gymnastics of heteros, gays, lesbians, and 3—way, mix—and—match groupings, and you have a motley menu of in—your—face depravity hitherto reserved for videos wrapped in brown paper bags.  But this video is wrapped in a remote control button, easily accessed by millions of youngsters whose TVs are equipped with regular cable reception.

Proponents of this grisly depiction of humanity say it's a freedom of choice issue; if you don't like it, don't watch it. By that logic, we could have programs that graphically illustrate how to make pipe bombs, homemade anti—aircraft missiles, and other weapons of mass destruction. After all, if you don't want to make devices that kill large numbers of people, simply don't watch the show.

Keep in mind that, according to Nielsen, this program is available to over 75% of the households in America, including the children in over 80 million families. Just as the body reflects the food we consume, the mind reflects the sights and sounds we consume. Exposing the sponge—like consciousness of adolescents to the nauseating behavior of adult and teenaged miscreants is tantamount to feeding them an arsenic—laced dinner.

Since there appears to be an all out assault on our sensibilities, with no concern for the effect it may have on our children, we should protest with our pocketbooks by refusing to patronize those companies that sponsor such garbage. The Parents Television Council is leading a campaign to stop TV networks from continuing to violate commonsense decency standards. Thank God for those who care enough to get involved. We can only imagine how much more hardcore these programs would be if there weren't some decent people to object.

Bob Weir is a former detective sergeant in the New York City Police Department. He is the excutive editor of The News Connection in Highland Village, Texas. BobWeir777@aol.com