'Pooman' TV show in poor taste - BSA

A TV programme that showed a "Pooman" character throwing faeces, and Jesus being beaten up by Santa Claus has been found to have breached broadcasting standards.

Aucklander Cyril Lotriet complained to the Broadcasting Standards Authority following an episode of Back of the Y, which aired on C4 at 10.30pm on January 27 .

The programme showed a skit involving "Jesus" being beaten up by Santa Claus, as well as a skit entitled "Pooman and Wees", in which the character Pooman threw imitation faeces at his enemies and Wees tried to clean faeces off a woman by spraying her with imitation urine.

Mr Lotriet said the Jesus skit launched an "unadulterated defamatory attack on Christianity", that suggested Jesus was not wanted in society. He said the skit amounted to a "hate crime".

He also complained the programme contained "scenes of simulated masturbation, cursing, bare bottoms, excrement, excrement hitting the face of a person" and "references to sodomy".

The broadcaster, TVWorks, said none of the programme's content was meant to be taken seriously and that the target audience would have understood the farcical approach to themes like religion.

It said, given the programme's niche audience, it was unlikely that a significant number of viewers found the programme offensive.

However, the Broadcasting Standards Authority said while the programme was aired late at night, was targeted at a young-adult male audience, and contained warnings about the episode's content, these factors were not sufficient to prevent it from breaching standards of good taste and decency.

The authority said it was particularly concerned with how the programme associated defecation with sexual pleasure, when a woman licked imitation faeces off her hands in a suggestive way.

The complaint was upheld.

- NZPA