The Parents Television Council wants the network to apologize for scheduling the adult drama right after the kid-friendly flick.
- Nov 5, 2014
AceShowbiz - The TV watchdogs are not happy that there are only 26 seconds between a kid-friendly "Peanuts" movie and a sex-filled "Scandal" episode. The Parents Television Council released a statement in which the organization demands an apology from ABC.
"It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" was aired on Thursday, October 30 as part of ABC's annual Halloween special. After the one-hour broadcast ended, an episode of Kerry Washington's drama "Scandal" sees Olivia suddenly dreaming about steamy sex with Jake. It was enough to irk PTC.
"Unless parents had the remote control in their hand, thumb on the button and aimed directly at the TV screen, they didn't have a chance," PTC's president Tim Winter said in a statement. "Such a transition is grossly irresponsible by the network and entirely unfair for parents. ABC owes families an apology."
He continued, "Network programmers know the importance of audience flow when constructing their broadcast schedule, and in fact they build their schedules around audience retention rates. So they know full well the importance of program adjacency. The juxtaposition of a reliably classic family-friendly children's cartoon special like the 'Great Pumpkin' - a huge family draw every year for decades - with such a graphic bedroom scene is unjustifiable."
No response yet from ABC but "Scandal" creator Shonda Rhimes was aware of the situation. She retweeted a message read, "@shondarhimes The leap from Charlie Brown to the first scene of #Scandal #CloseYourEyesKiddies".
