Chicago's very own on-air cuss could have been prevented

There are reasons that actor David Carradine's face looks like 71 miles of bad road.

Many of Carradine's 71 years have been rough commutes, filled with potholes of booze, frequent exits for drug trips and an occasional stop to get married.

When Betsy Kachan of Arlington Heights flipped on her TV Friday morning, she didn't even recognize the movie star, eldest son of acting patriarch John Carradine.

"I like to turn on WGN morning news to hear what is going on locally," Kachan stated in an angry e-mail to me. "However this morning when I turned on my television around 7:45, they had someone on making a pitch for his movie which is showing somewhere locally."

That someone was Carradine, who had been booked to appear on the WGN-Channel 9 morning news to promote an upcoming film.

Carradine was introduced by co-anchor Robin Baumgarten who referred to him as "legendary."

Then Betsy Kachan heard the first thing Carradine said.

"I was SHOCKED when out of his mouth came the 'F' word," she told me.

Sure enough, Carradine had dropped the F-word in between "legen" and "dary" right there on live TV.

"Where is the decency in television today? How can a guest get away with such language on the show? Do they fine the stations when people use this type of language? Children are listening and most parents don't want them to hear this type of language. I am a senior citizen and I was offended."

All good questions Betsy, none of which were addressed on WGN in the interview with Carradine that inexplicably continued on. Why didn't they boot him off the set right after that was the first thing from his potty mouth?

Maybe they were waiting for him to show the carp picture tattooed on his right posterior. Or were they afraid that he would show off his Kung Fu skills, which have made him a darling of the martial arts media set?

A WGN spokeswoman later said: "Live on WGN Morning News this morning, guest David Carradine inserted a swear word into a phrase as he was being introduced. The slip was unexpected and the AM News team immediately issued an apology."

Slip?

Unlikely.

Had the WGN research department checked, they would have noticed that Mr. Carradine usually inserts "a swear word" or three into his phrases, even while being publicly interviewed.

Sometimes he'll drop a word-bomb into descriptions of his bad-boy history, when he recalls "drinking every minute I was awake. I got up to a quart and a half a day. Vodka, you name it - I would drink all day long."

He claims not to drink or take drugs anymore, but his woozy nature during interviews makes it difficult to tell. He just calls himself "philosophical."

So, if WGN had checked, they would have found that on April 14, 2004, Mr. Carradine was waxing philosophical at the beginning of an interview he was doing on a morning show in Toronto, Canada.

The CFNY-FM anchorman, Dean Blundell, said, "All right, 8:36. Joining us is our guest from "Kill Bill, Volume I."

With that, David Carradine who was in the studio with him said: "As long as I don't say (the F-word) right?"

And then, just as occurred on WGN, the interview continued for another few minutes as planned, complete with the apropos apologies, disclaimers, etc.

The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council investigated the case after complaints were filed about why no electronic delay system was in place that could have bleeped Carradine's language before it being broadcast. The radio station also tried to convince authorities that the word was never used, despite being heard by thousands of listeners.

"The Ontario Regional Panel reviewed the previous decisions of various CBSC Panels and concluded: The use of the f-word by the guest David Carradine was gratuitous. The broadcaster was responsible for avoiding such an occurrence, whether by tape delay or otherwise. The failure to do so constitutes a breach of Clause 9 of the CAB Code of Ethics."

The punishment to the radio station was that they had to make repeated on-air apologies to their listeners, in which they admitted breaking the rules.

I doubt the FCC will make WGN apologize to anybody, although the Tribune Co. executives might want to give Betsy Kachan a call in Arlington Heights before they lose her as a viewer.

The best punishment might be to make WGN morning show employees go see Carradine's new movie "Autumn" when it comes out. The film is a touching story of a virus that wipes out billions of people within minutes. Carradine is among the few survivors who must deal with the shock of the apocalypse.

Now that's entertainment.

Chuck Goudie, whose column appears each Monday, is the chief investigative reporter at ABC7 News in Chicago. The views in this column are his own and not those of WLS-TV. He can be reached by e-mail at chuckgoudie@gmail.com.