NBC announced Tuesday that the pop star will make an April 13 guest appearance on the popular gay-themed sitcom as a Christian broadcaster who takes over the fictional TV network of Jack, the gay character portrayed by series regular Sean Hayes, to do a cooking segment on his show called "Cruci-fixin's."
The American Family Association says it "mocks the crucifixion of Christ" and will "further denigrate Christianity" by airing the night before Good Friday.
Meanwhile NBC executives claim that neither a script nor story line for the episode in question has been written.
"Some erroneous information was mistakenly included in a press release describing an upcoming episode of 'Will & Grace,' which in fact has yet to be written," NBC spokeswoman Rebecca Marks told Reuters late in the day. All that has been decided is that Spears will play a central role in an upcoming episode that will likely air sometime in April, Marks added."NBC wanting us to believe they were mistaken in describing the segment, that they didn't know what was in their own press release, just doesn't hold water," said AFA Chairman Donald E. Wildmon. "Plainly put, NBC heard from their affiliates that they did not want to go through another 'Book of Daniel' situation while losing millions in advertising avenue."
On the American Family Association website, the group called on its supporters to urge network affiliates to refuse to run the episode and to write letters of protest to NBC, while the network claims that the dispute originates from an inaccurate press release that went out without being properly examined.
NBC, a unit of the General Electric Co., yanked “The Book of Daniel” from its schedule last month after just three weeks on the air. The drama, which starred Aidan Quinn as a Vicodin-addicted Episcopal minister who talks to Jesus, had trouble finding commercial sponsors for the show, and several smaller affiliates declined to carry the series, objecting to its portrayal of Christian themes.
