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Whacked to the Rafters, as Seven breaches Code of Practice.

An episode of Packed to the Rafters which drew shocked responses from viewers last year has now been found to have breached the Code of Practice.

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An episode of Packed to the Rafters which drew shocked responses from viewers last year has now been found to have breached the Code of Practice over its classification.

The episode contained fantasy scenes for male Rafters characters including scenes implying masturbation when  Nathan Rafter (Angus McLaren) was fantasising over a sexy colleague. In one scene his wife Sammy (Jessica McNamee) walked in on him in the toilet and asked “what are you doing?” An embarrassed Nathan replied “everyone does it” as he pulled his t-shirt down over his crotch area.

The scene lasted 21 seconds.

It was one of several fantasy scenes in the episode which surprised some viewers who had been weaned on a predominantly lighter tone by the show. Online forums and talkback radio were hot with debate at the time.

Seven said it had 16 written complaints about the episode. The network also defended the impact of the scene as being diminished by its light tone.

But the Australian Communications and Media Authority found the episode did not fit the PG classification given by Seven, despite being played at 8:30pm an M-rated timeslot and ruled SAS7 Adelaide in breach of the Code of Practice.

“Viewers’ decisions about what they and their children watch are fundamentally informed by a program’s classification, so it is vital to the integrity of the broadcasting sector’s co-regulatory framework that licensees accurately classify programs,” said ACMA Chairman, Chris Chapman.

“As the ACMA has indicated on more than one occasion in recent times, the presentation of material with themes directed more towards an adult audience requires particular care if a program is to be classified PG.”

The code prescribes that depictions of sex and nudity in PG programs must be ‘restrained, mild in impact and justified by the story line or program context.’ The code also prescribes that ‘themes directed towards a more adult audience should be carefully handled and mild in impact.’

ACMA says in light of the Seven’s sound record in classification matters in recent years and in providing a copy of the final investigation report to its classification and programming staff as part of training sessions, the steps hare considered commensurate with the circumstances of the breach.

This is the second time this week ACMA has found a TV network to have breached the Code of Practice over episode classification.

26 Responses

  2. I think it can be compared to “Underbelly” in the sense that if it is judged not PG then it is deemed to me M – that is in the same class of potentially offensive as “Underbelly”. And to my eyes they are chalk and cheese. Mild sexual fantasy sequences and very much implied masturbation that are integral to the plot line surely is as nothing compared to the M fodder we see each Sunday in the same timeslot. It seems very extreme to place what I saw on Rafters in the same category.

  5. I really dont think Channel Seven will care. Packed To the rafters is Seven’s highest rates show and not to mention the fact it won Most popular drama at the logies for a second year on the trott.

  7. @Franz Chong: I think you have missed the point. You may see “things even worse” in an AO version of 2.5 Men but that would be because it will have been given an appropriate rating (M or MA). The fact that it is a comedy is irrelevant.

    The problem with the PttR incident is that it occurred during a supposedly PG-rated episode. The issue is not whether simulated masturbation should be shown on TV, it’s about advising the correct program classification so that people can make properly informed choices.

  9. Haha love the bit where they specifty ‘the scene lasted for 21 seconds’. I wonder if they have a list of exact lengths scenes containing iffy material can be shown for then…. the mind boggles ROFL. 😀

  10. i did not see the episode but this is mild.You see things even worse on the adults only versions of two and a half men and that is a comedy by the way

  12. So for the idiots out there.. It’s not about what is acceptable, or what used to be shown… It’s about the content based on the classification.!!

    More importantly.. How could it take more than 6 months to work this out..?? Does anyone form the ACMA actually take an interest in what it is supposedly policing.?

  16. Have they been watching each Sunday night to see what is in “Underbelly”? What was in Rafters was like a church picnic in comparison. The world has gone mad.

  17. It is amazing in 2010 that content such as this is breaching guidelines. I was telling a young friend about Number 96 and the sorts of things that the program broadcast from 1972 to 1977. This is nothing!!!!! Full nudity, characters discussing fetishes, homosexuality, transvestism, blow up dolls, simulated sexual activity. Loco landscape in t v land that cannot deal with an inferred act of masturbation despite its censorship ruling and time of broadcast.

  21. What a lot of rubbish,but i guess the Code Of Practice feel they probably have to say something.Just so it can keep the negative people to a minimal

  22. It may have a short mild scene, but it should not have aired at that time slot, and definitely not with a PG rating.
    When will these TV networks realise that community standards have not changed as much as they may like to think!

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