Fox: No Content Changes To Drama On Serial Killer

By DAVID BAUDER

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) ⿿ Fox's entertainment chief said Tuesday that the network did not change the content of "The Following," its upcoming drama about a serial killer, because of the Connecticut school shooting or other real-life acts of violence.

The drama, featuring Kevin Bacon chasing a grisly killer who recruits murderous disciples, is simultaneously the most stomach-churning and most anticipated new dramas on television's docket. Debuting Jan. 21 on Fox, the Kevin Williamson-created series opens by showing the bloody aftermath of knifed prison guards, has a woman commit suicide by gouging her eye and piercing her skull with an ice pick, and shows a man set on fire at a coffee stand.

While Kevin Reilly, Fox entertainment chairman, initially said the series' promotion wasn't affected, a spokesman later noted that some ads for the show were softened immediately following the Connecticut shooting. Electronic billboards depicting a woman with an ice pick were changed to pictures of Bacon, said Fox's Joe Earley. Some on-air ads with action sequences were also changed to focus on Bacon, and Fox combed its promotions to make sure none of them depicted actors with guns, Earley said.

Williamson, creator of the "Scream" movie franchise, said he was traumatized by the events of Dec. 14, when 20 first graders and six educators were gunned down in a Newton, Conn., elementary school.

"I know it affected me," Williamson said. "I know what happens in the real world affects me. So when I take pen to paper, there is a reaction to it and it sort of finds its way into what I do."

He doesn't know how the latest attack will affect his work. "It just happened," he said. "We'll see."

But Williamson said "The Following" is partly inspired by the Columbine school shootings of a decade ago. He said he wonders how people like the Columbine killers are attracted to evil as a way of filling a void in their lives. The serial killer in "The Following" is a charismatic figure who attracts followers by trying to provide them with something they are missing.

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