Steamy Sheridan ad upsets US viewers

US regulators ruled today there was nothing indecent about a steamy introductory segment to US television’s Monday Night Football featuring actress Desperate Housewives star Nicolette Sheridan appearing to jump naked into the arms of a football player.

The segment showed Sheridan in a locker room wearing only a towel and provocatively asking the Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens to skip the game for her.

She then dropped the towel and leaped into Owens’ arms.

Only the upper back of the actress was exposed and no foul language was used. But ABC TV said it received complaints from viewers who thought it was inappropriate.

The network, Owens and the Eagles all apologised. The US Federal Communications Commission opened an investigation after receiving many complaints. But the five-member panel unanimously ruled the segment did not violate federal indecency standards.

“Although the scene apparently is intended to be titillating, it simply is not graphic or explicit enough to be indecent under our standard,” the commission said.