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Two and a Half Men and Family Guy are on different TV networks. One is a live-action sitcom while the other is an animated sketch. But these two shows are peas in a pod, really. They both revel in explicit, bawdy humor. They boast outrageously dysfunctional family arrangements. And they claim huge fan bases.
A glance at Nielsen's weekly ratings any time in the last couple of years reveals that CBS' Two and a Half Men has consistently nabbed more viewers than any other sitcom, making it America's favorite comedy. Fox's Family Guy ratings aren't quite as good. But it's the only show in history to be cancelled twice—only to be brought back because of massive DVD sales. In its December 2008 profile of the "25 Smartest People in TV," Entertainment Weekly magazine put Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane at the top of its list, reporting that his animated show has generated a cool billion dollars in revenue for 20th Century Fox. "With reruns airing approximately 20 hours a week on various networks," EW says, "It's no wonder MacFarlane is now the highest-paid writer in TV."
These programs also share two other similarities: Both have repeatedly been called out for being among the most damaging programming on broadcast television by the Parents Television Council. Both have earned the not-so-coveted PTC award for "Worst TV Show of the Week."
I Hate You ... I Hate You More
You might think that the securely wealthy and powerfully influential creators of Two and a Half Men and Family Guy wouldn't much care about what a conservative watchdog organization thinks of their blue humor. But it must sting a bit, because both show's creators have gone out of their way to lash out against the PTC's criticism.
And their comments may reveal even more than their shows do about what they believe about life, liberty and the pursuit of a wild and wooly worldview. But first, a bit of background:
It's no news flash that many of the most popular shows on TV these days include gratuitous content, be it violence, sexuality, drug use or profanity. And the Parents Television Council works to make its constituents aware of shows with problematic material.
According to the organization's website, "The PTC's primary mission is to promote and restore responsibility and decency to the entertainment industry in answer to America's demand for positive, family-oriented television programming. ... Because of the pervasive and powerful influence of television, the PTC seeks to discourage the increasingly graphic sexual themes and dialogue, depictions of gratuitous violence, and profane/obscene language that have crowded out family viewing options."
Periodically, the PTC asks its constituents to take action by filing indecency complaints with the Federal Communications Commission when a particular program steps egregiously over the line. That happened most recently in March 2009, following an episode of Family Guy that included visual and verbal references to homosexual orgies, bestiality and mistaking containers of horse sperm for milk. Adding insult to injury, a "straight camp" counselor says, "Your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ ... hates many people, but none more than homosexuals."
It wasn't the first time the PTC had singled out Family Guy. MacFarlane's show, in fact, has earned the PTC's "Worst TV Show of the Week" nearly 20 times. (And as I was putting the finishing touches on this article, I received an eNewsletter from the PTC that informed me—you guessed it—that Family Guy was once again the worst TV show of the week.)
In a January 2008 interview published in The Advocate, MacFarlane was asked about another episode ("Pat Robertson Industries") that had earned such an award. Interviewer Brandon Voss: "The Parents Television Council voted the episode, along with many others, 'Worst TV Show of the Week.' Do you appreciate that honor?"
MacFarlane: "Oh, yeah. That's like getting hate mail from Hitler. They're literally terrible human beings. I've read their newsletter, I've visited their website, and they're just rotten to the core. For an organization that prides itself on Christian values—I mean, I'm an atheist, so what do I know?—they spend their entire day hating people. They can all [expletive] as far as I'm concerned."
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