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In "Deflator of the Faith: Director Begs to Differ" (Aug. 1), the article on Kevin Smith's film "Dogma,"
I noticed another reference to the Catholic League's assertion that it deserved credit for the demise
of our series "Nothing Sacred. " This claim has more to do with the organization's incessant and
unattractive efforts at self- aggrandizement than it does with reality.
In its brief life, "Nothing Sacred" won the Peabody Award, the Writers Guild Award, the
Viewers for Quality Television Founder's Award and the Humanitas Prize (from a foundation created
and presided over by a Paulist priest). The series was canceled because of low ratings, and it had low
ratings primarily because it was initially programmed in the proverbial death slot
-- Thursdays at 8 P.M. on ABC -- one that has killed several other promising series. It was then pre-empted 11 times and
ultimately shifted 3 times into equally dismal time slots.
The Catholic League, which trumpets an undocumented membership of 350,000 (less than 1
percent of the country's Roman Catholic population) receives a level of media attention far beyond
its power or the size of its constituency. The news media's unchallenged repetition of such claims as
those concerning "Nothing Sacred" unwittingly enhances the organization's power in the public eye
and abets its campaign to discourage freedom of expression.
--David Manson, former executive producer of "Nothing Sacred, " in a letter to the Arts & Leisure
section of the Sunday New York Times
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