It's Spelled P-A-R-O-D-Y

Another website has been fooled into believing a story at the well-done entertainment biz parody site Dateline Hollywood.

From a recent edition:

FCC BANS ALL FOUR LETTER WORDS ON TV

Writers trying to avoid “your,” “that,” “don’t” in dialogue to avoid multi-million dollar fines

Hollywood – Sparking renewed accusations that its regulation of the television industry has gone too far, the Federal Communication Commission has banned the use of all four letter words on the air. Coming after a recent $3.6 million fine against CBS for an episode of “Without a Trace” featuring teenage sex and PBS for the Martin Scorsese-produced documentary “The Blues,” which included profanity, the FCC has decided to clarify its rules on obscenity. “It’s really simple now,” said FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin. “Just count the number of letters in every word you say on the air. If it’s four, you’re obscene.”

The site Fire the FCC took the joke a little too seriously, however:

Criticism of Recent FCC Rulings Continues

According to Dateline Hollywood, television writers are re-examining upcoming scripts as they seek to eliminate the use of any four letter words in an actor's dialogue. The reason for that assertion is FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's recent summary statement as to what the commission considers indecent on television.

In an attempt to justify why the FCC managed to rule a documentary on blues musicians indecent, new FCC Chairman Martin responded with this explanation: "It's really simple now. Just count the number of letters in every word you say on the air. If it's four, you're obscene."

Dateline Hollywood responded to the vagaries of that statement with the suggestion that Hollywood script writers would need to eliminate such words as "your," "that," and "don't" to be assured of passing the indecency bar. That web site went on to suggest that the FCC would also look to clarify its rules on sexual obscenity by "considering a proposal to ban the showing of any human skin on TV as well." Said Dateline, it is time for television to purchase burkas for all cast members to ensure that future FCC guidelines could be met.

Oops. You'll remember, last September that several Internet sites and message boards took Dateline Hollywood at its word that Pat Robertson blamed Hurricane Katrina on the TV academy's decision to hire Ellen DeGeneres to host the Emmys. (Which, granted, was pretty damn believable.)

Congrats to the Dateline Hollywood gang for another piece so spot-on that readers actually believe it.