EUQAL TIME! EQUAL TIME!
a Facts Machine exclusive!

Attention, recall replacement candidates: Here's your chance for some real face time on a network afiliate in a huge market!

On thursday, October 2nd, FOX11 (LA's Fox network afiliate), aired two Simpsons reruns after the completion of the New York Yankees vs Minnesota Twins baseball playoff game. The latter of the two episodes was 1999's "Grift of the Magi", in which Springfield Elementary is taken over by a toy company that enlists the students help to design the perfect toy for Christmas, the creepy "Funzo":



BUT... that episode also featured a significant, credited appearance by actor and GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE Gary Coleman.



Because Coleman is running for governor, this appearance, far exceeding four seconds in length, should set off the FCC's equal time rules for candidates. From an August 13 AP article on the matter:

Arnold Schwarzenegger's foray into California's gubernatorial recall election poses a dilemma for broadcasters who might be tempted to show his films during the race: Doing so would allow rival candidates to demand equal time.

For that reason, broadcasters in California will likely not air Schwarzenegger movies such as "Total Recall" and the "Terminator" or a repeat of a "Diff'rent Strokes" episode with Gary Coleman for the next few months.

Cable channels are not covered by the Federal Communications Commission's equal-time provision, which in the past kept reruns of "Death Valley Days" off the air while Ronald Reagan ran for president. A repeat of a "Saturday Night Live" episode featuring Don Novello, aka Father Guido Sarducci, on cable, for instance, would not trigger the provision.

Novello, Schwarzenegger, Coleman and more than 240 other candidates have filed to run in the Oct. 7 election to recall Gov. Gray Davis. The equal-time rule kicks in on Wednesday, when the state is expected to officially certify the list of candidates.

The major networks do not have a Schwarzenegger movie scheduled over the next two months, but local stations can make their own decisions about what to air.

In a post in August (stupid archive isn't working), I warned California network afiliates about this, but did they listen? Oops.

But the equal time rule isn't mandatory. From the AP article:

Equal time is not automatic. Candidates must file a request within seven days, and the provision makes exceptions for appearances on news programs, interview programs such as "Meet the Press," documentaries or spot coverage of news events.

Coleman played himself on the episode, and was prominently credited. Not to mention, he had some memorable lines ("six prawns is hardly a galaxy!") The episode was viewed by an unusually large audience because it followed a playoff baseball game. Despite the fact that he's animated, it's clearly him, and this should be enough to set off the FCC equal time rule.

Time to notify some candidates!

(shh, don't tell them, TFM's motivation is to get more and more fringe candidates on the air, to make this whole recall seem more and more circus-like, thereby turning people off to it)

Hmm, where should I go first? McClintock? Georgy? Michael Jackson? (no, not that one)

(maybe georgy, given her close relationship with Gary, hehe)

By the way, if you live in another area in California, and have spotted the Gary Coleman Simpsons episode (and I think there's actually others too), email TFM, or notify your candidate of choice! That includes Davis, who probably could use the rule even though he's not a replacement candidate.