FoxSports.com Tones Down Debut Episode Of Racy Online Series

By Brian Helfrich, Assistant Managing Editor

FoxSports.com Replaces Initial "Cubed" Offering With More Politically Correct Version

FoxSports.com’s Web series "Cubed" may have pushed the line too far with its debut episode. The Web site early Friday afternoon pulled the launch episode of "Cubed" and replaced it with a much more politically correct version. Female nudity that made up about 35 seconds of the 16-minute clip was at first pixilated and then later removed entirely. Also, some of the raunchier segments were deleted completely, including a discussion among the show’s three main characters about whether they would rather watch the WNBA or gay porn.

Fox replaced the original show with three separate segments that total a little more than 13 minutes. Reviews of the premiere, which launched Thursday afternoon, were almost unanimously negative. Fox Sports said in a statement, “The entire concept of ‘Lunch w/ Benefits’ was always described as experimental, as it is quite simply, a world first. In an experiment, things happen which are not always predicted. As one moves down the experimental pathway, it is normal to make changes and adjustments, hence the changes in the Cubed version now available.” The WNBA also was not able to comment by presstime.