The State - News from Oct. 23, 1988

Demonstrators in San Francisco temporarily halted production of the upcoming NBC-TV series “Midnight Caller,” saying one episode will encourage violence against people with AIDS. Filming of the series stopped when about 50 noisy demonstrators from ACT UP, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, blew whistles at an outdoor set in the city. In the controversial episode, a bisexual man carrying the AIDS virus deliberately infects others by having sex with them and is killed by one of his partners at the end of the episode. Rene Durazzo, media relations coordinator for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, said the episode’s message is “that basically it’s justifiable to kill a person with AIDS.” NBC officials have agreed to hold negotiations with the demonstrators, and Bob Singer, executive producer of the program, said he has asked for revisions in the script to reflect the protesters’ concerns.