Fred Thompson: SVU

Fans can breathe a sigh of relief. Just because Fred Thompson is officially now running for president doesn't mean he will be off the air entirely. His show, Law and Order, will remain on cable stations even though he is no longer allowed to appear on NBC.
His role on the show is the New York district attorney who rules over some dark-haired lady and the guy from "Great Gatsby". According to the above article, NBC will have to pull the re-runs of over 100 episodes that Thompson appeared in. His character, Arthur Branch, was actually fairly important and reoccurring person on the show (seeing how he was in charge).

Why pull these amazing episodes? That bully the FCC. NBC is worried that if they allow him to stay on, they will have to allow equal airtime for all of Fred's opponents. And, quite frankly, John McCain just isn't as convincing as a "bad cop" in the streets of New York City. So, because NBC is worried about these rules and really has no power over them, they chose to pull his beloved episodes (even the one where the guy from those financial ads almost quits).
Why is Fred even running? Well, he spent 8 years in the Senate. ... So why not?
What I wanted to know is... what's up with the FCC?
Well, turns out... they had outdated laws that mean nothing to anyone nowadays. Technically, it's called the Fairness Doctrine, and was created in 1949. Even though this was rejected by the FCC in Reagan's time, it still holds in some obscure ways. The equal times ideal still stands in many news outlets and channels on air. Because his appearances are not in the context of news and "public affairs", his episodes would be banned in the equal time rule. If he had appeared on news shows or something along those lines, it (for whatever reason) would not be rejected and would be allowed to re-run.

As well as no longer being on NBC reruns, Thompson has also asked to be free of later commitments with the show. This means no more Law and Order episodes, but also commercials that some actors are required to do once signed with NBC. The same problem popped up when Reagan ran in 1980 and when The Arnold ran in 2003 (and losing out on Kindergarten Cop was a loss to us all, let me tell you).

The bright side? First of all, TNT can still show his episodes because they do not follow the same rules as NBC, regarding the FCC. Also, the guy from Great Gatsby (aka Sam Waterson) got an on-air promotion. He will now be taking Thompson's role as district attorney (cleverly written into the script, like when someone gets preggers or has a dispute over who's prettier).

Lastly: why I think Fred Thompson would be a good president (even though I will not be voting for him). First of all, he's been a leader. Making decisions for those dark-haired women who come and go so fast I haven't gotten any names can't be easy. And Sam Waterson has quite a mind of his own... Do these people sound familiar? People leaving a lot and a guy with a strategy you can't comprehend or follow? Let me be more specific: He leads a headstrong man and a group full of people who keep RESIGNING and LEAVING the "administration", we'll call it. You go ahead and take that however you want to and then you'll understand why he's well-prepared to be our next president.