The episode, which had been comically promoted by Ellen DeGeneres herself as "Ellen Kisses A Girl and Makes the Network Very Nervous," deals with Ellen's first date. During a conversation at a loud disco, Ellen tries to explain that she remembered it as a quiet bar. Her date can't hear her over the music. Ellen says, "I want to take you like a wild animal," thinking that her date can't hear her.

The line dubbed over from the episode was in response to this, when the pair reached a quieter bar. Her date originally said, "I thought you wanted to take me like a wild animal." After the garbled dubbing, she said, "Besides, I've never dated a wild animal."

When the parental advisory first appeared, Ellen DeGeneres, GLAAD and others condemned the warning as a double standard, maintaining that similar displays of same-sex affection on other television shows and vastly more explicit ones between heterosexual couples have not warranted a special advisory.

Ellen is one of ABC's top-rated shows in a season of new programming which is floundering for the network. According to Neilsen, it has become one of the top 20 shows, and yet ABC is treating it as if the program is its dirty little secret.

ABC's approach to the show seems schizophrenic: On one hand, it is profiting off of the controversy surrounding the show and the strong audience share Ellen garners due to its consistently high quality, clever writing and innovative storylines.

On the other, ABC is trying to play it safe by hampering its own groundbreaking program with double standard advisories and last minute script switcheroos.

As GLAAD Executive Director Joan M. Garry noted earlier this week, the network is telling people that "dating and affection between members of the same sex is somehow akin to graphic sex, guns and gore, and so require extreme warning labels and special circumstances. In the past ABC has shown coverage and backbone for supporting Ellen. Now, it's time to follow through on commitment to fairness and drop the double standard. Ellen is a show all of America, including ABC, can be proud of."

Tell ABC their efforts to create this history-making show are commendable, but enough is enough-Dump the double standard and embrace the show in all its diversity.

Contact: …

Jamie Tarses, Entertainment President, ABC, 2040 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles, CA 90037, phone: 310.557.7777 (ask to be connected to the Audience Information Line), fax: 310.557.7679, e-mail: abcaudr@ccabc.com … Michael Eisner, Chairman and Dean Valentine, President of Network TV and Television Animation, The Walt Disney Company, 500 South Buena Vista Street, Burbank, CA 91521, fax: 818.560.1930, e-mail (via website): http://www.disney.com/Mail