TVSquad

It hasn't been a good week for television-watching Christians. First, the Parent's Television Council drops the bomb that Fox has gone to number one with a bullet in the Christian-mocking competition, and now, Two and a Half Men has gone and crapped all over a Christmas carol.

On the December 11th episode of Two and a Half Men, Charlie Sheen sang a "vulgar adaptation" of "Joy to the World." The American Family Association is demanding an apology for these altered lyrics:

Surprise, surprise. NBC is reportedly getting cold feet over plans to air a Madonna concert in which she crucifies herself. The New York Daily News reports that NBC is being pressured by the American Family Association to censor the explicit portions of Madonna's concert. Of course, Madonna does not like to be censored and she is threatening to pull her concert off the air entirely. The crucifixion is in her Confessions tour and Madonna says the point of it is not to shock the audience, but it's a plea for people to help one another.

The American Family Association has convinced T-Mobile to pull its advertising from FX because of the adult-themed subjects covered in Rescue Me and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. According to AdAge, Don Wildmon and his supporters in the American Family Association "bombarded" T-Mobile and other advertisers with e-mails to complain about advertising on two programs that the organization does not support (what do they support??). T-Mobile CEO Robert Dotson said the e-mails prompted him to actually watch the programming that they're supporting through advertisements. In a letter to the AFA, Dotson says, "Candidly, some of the choices we have made are inconsistent with who we are and what we stand for." Consequently, Dotson pulled all advertising from FX. So far this year, T-Mobile spent $1.2 million on advertising on FX and it is the network's 21st largest advertiser.

I wonder whether this will backfire on the AFA. Granted, it succeeded in pulling advertising (they got lucky, says Joel over on AdJab). But, this news may cause people to tune in to see what all the fuss is about.

Responding to a fine of $3.3 million from the Federal Communications Commission, CBS has said that none of the complaints regarding a recent episode of Without A Trace came from actual viewers. The network says that all of the 4,200-plus complaints labeling the episode as "indecent" came from the Parents Television Council and American Family Association, two socially conservative advocacy groups. CBS claims in its appeal that to be valid a complaint must come from an actual viewer of th show. Ironically, the broadcast of the episode that drew the complaints was a repeat. When the episode was originally aired no complaints were filed. The appeal from CBS seeks to rescind the fine, the largest ever doled out by the FCC over an indecency issue. A PTC spokesperson says that this is just legal manuvering and that the will of the people must be recognized. That might be true but the complaints are hardly valid if they didn't watch the show, are they? And where were the complaints the first time around?

Surely, you've seen the ads for NBC's big new midseason dramedy, The Book of Daniel? The one where the Vicodin-addicted Episcopal priest talks to a bum-hippie Jesus about his drug dealing daughter and his gay son and the fact that his lesbian secretary is sleeping with his sister-in-law? You know, the one that looks like a piece of overcooked, self-conciously "quirky" Ally McBealist crap? As Adam pointed out yesterday morning, the American Family Association is even more excited about Daniel than I am, although for entirely different reasons; in fact, they're calling for NBC to cancel the show before it even airs. In a statement sent to their members, AFA said, "It would be beneficial to all if NBC showed a little more respect for Christians who believe the Bible." They're asking their members to bombard the network with letters until they get their way. Meanwhile, NBC has fought back with a statement of their own, predictably insisting that if we try it, we might like it. "We're confident that once audiences view this quality drama themselves, they'll appreciate this thought-provoking examination of one American family," the network says. 

Hmmmm... an absurdly reactionary organization is trying to get an apparently crap show canceled before it debuts. That's just silly. Then again, it is, by all appearances, a crap show. What side to take?

Who didn't see this one coming from about twelve million miles away? The Book of Daniel, the new series about a pill-popping priest who hangs out with Jesus and has a son who is gay and a daughter who sells pot has come under fire from the American Family Association. The AFA's favorite targets are shows or companies which they see as "gay friendly." The group most recently went after the Ford Motor Company for advertising in LGBT mags. They're urging a boycott of the show and its advertisers. I'm sure they have a few words for Jesus, too, and his decision to appear on this show.