Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...

In the talkback for the article that Herc posted yesterday about the second season of MASTERS OF HORROR, many of you mentioned the brewing controversy over the Takashi Miike episode, and today, the story broke wide open thanks to the series creator, Mick Garris.

Here’s a link to the article where Mick discusses the decision that Showtime made to not air the episode.

If you don’t want to register for the New York Times, then I’ll sum it up quickly. Showtime saw the episode, they freaked out, and they decided not to show it. Considering it’s Miike, that shouldn’t really surprise anyone. Hell, when I was talking to Stuart Gordon about the show before anyone had actually started shooting, I asked him which one would be the craziest, and he started laughing. “Oh, Miike. No question. American TV is just not ready.” Turns out Stuart’s prescient, because American TV indeed does not appear to be ready.

I haven’t seen or read the episode, so I can’t really explain Showtime’s decision at all, but I can say this: stop blaming the producers. The whole point of this is that they aren’t going to cut the episode or alter it or water it down. Miike’s original vision will be released intact on DVD. Remember... Showtime didn’t produce this series. They didn’t cast it, they didn’t pick the filmmakers, and they didn’t have any input in the scripts. Everything was handled before Showtime came onboard as a cable distributor. IDT and Industry Entertainment are the producers, and they’re supporting Miike here, not censoring him. We’ll all have a chance to see the episode. We’re just going to have to wait a little longer.

Having just finished my script for season two, I’ll admit that I’m a little nervous now because Scott and I intentionally tried to push the envelope much further this time than we did with CIGARETTE BURNS, and now it’s apparent that there is indeed a limit to what Showtime is comfortable with. Still, I love the fact that the producers allowed Miike to pursue his own demented vision to the extreme that they did, and I look forward to seeing it when it’s finally released.