NBC Searches for ‘New Normal’ Home in Salt Lake City

When the NBC television affiliate in Salt Lake City decided against showing “The New Normal,” a sitcom about a gay couple adopting a baby, network executives were not surprised. That station, KSL-TV, which is owned by a subsidiary of the Mormon Church, has a long history of steering clear of NBC programs it deems of questionable content.

Last fall it blocked the NBC drama “The Playboy Club” and for years it has refused to carry one of the pillars of NBC entertainment, “Saturday Night Live.” It also blocked a previous NBC comedy considered too racy, the short-lived “Coupling.” In the most recent case, Jeff Simpson, the chief executive of the parent company that owns the station, told The Salt Lake Tribune, which first reported the news last week, “For our brand, this program feels inappropriate on several dimensions, especially during family viewing time.”