|
So You Think You Can Rate a TV Show?
Brought to you by the Parents Television
Council
WARNING: Graphic
Content!!!
Do NOT push play if you don't want to see the explicit video!!! |
Just for Laughs
on ABC
Rating: TV-PG
By Caroline Schulenburg
One would hope the network that
has brought us Ugly Betty, Private Practice and Grey’s Anatomy
would be able to accurately rate a half-hour program comprised entirely of silly
hidden-camera comedy. Unfortunately this was not the case on March 4th,
2008 at 8:00 p.m., when Just for Laughs was rated TV-PG but contained a
significant amount of obscured nudity.
In one comic scene, a woman was
shown naked in a portable toilet actually containing a shower. Unsuspecting
people trying to use the toilet opened the door to find a naked woman showering.
When the woman opened the door to let the viewer in on the joke, she was shown
through a clear plastic curtain with her breasts and genitals pixilated. In the
course of the show several men and woman opened the door and were startled to
see a naked woman inside. As the woman motioned to them to hand her the
conditioner, help her scrub her back and various other shower-related
activities, her pixilated body was seen again and again. Ultimately, one of the
men who happened upon her climbed into the shower with her and pulled the door
closed.
The premise of Just for
Laughs may be simple, but that – and the fact that the program airs during
the Family Hour in the earliest part of prime time -- makes the program all the
more attractive to young children. While there was no sexual activity depicted,
some parents would be uncomfortable exposing their children to the nudity shown.
For the sake of accuracy, and to allow the V-Chip to work correctly, this
episode should have carried an S-descriptor denoting sexual content.
If you agree that this program was inadequately
rated, please write to the TV ratings advisory board at
tvomb@usa.net and let them know that the TV
ratings once again failed to adequately warn parents about inappropriate
content.
For more information about the TV ratings,
please visit
http://www.tvguidelines.org/contact.asp.
