When Fred Thompson left Law & Order because of his presidential aspirations, it also raised the issue whether older episodes featuring Thompson would still be allowed to air under the equal airtime guidelines granted candidates running for office. As you will recall, Thompson asked to be released from his contract after rumors of his presidential dreams hit the press.

seem that TNT isn’t worried about issues surrounding Fred Thompson and the 100 or so episodes of the long-running drama he appears in.

TNT will air 23 episodes of the drama next week alone, apparently unworried about limiting Branch’s airplay even as the Tennessee Republican plans to announce his presidential candidacy.

“TNT has no plans to alter its schedule,” spokeswoman Shirley Powell said, a stance that could provoke a fight in the courts or before the Federal Communications Commission.

Equal time rules require TV stations to provide the same airtime to opponents when a candidate appears on the air. The many exceptions — news shows, talk shows, interviews, documentaries — essentially mean the rules apply to entertainment programming.

Thompson’s expected post-Labor Day entrance into the race triggered NBC’s decision to stop airing “Law & Order” reruns featuring him starting Sept. 1. Next week Thompson will essentially shift time slots on NBC: The “Tonight” show announced said that he will appear as a guest with Jay Leno on Thursday.

I am kind of hoping one of his opponents does challenge it to see how the ruling holds up for entertainment fictionalized shows on television.

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This spoiler posted on Sunday, September 2nd, 2007 at 1:29 am.

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