PTC Takes Aim At '$#*! My Dad Says'

Group emails FCC, pledges "unrelenting campaign" against show's advertisers

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 5/20/2010 2:16:03 PM

Like a flag waved in front of a bull, CBS' just-announced new Twitter-based show, $#*! My Dad Says, has the Parents Television Council seeing red.

The group, which helped push the FCC to crack down on fleeting profanity and nudity, fired off an e-mail release Thursday (May 20) saying it would "wage an unrelenting campaign" against every advertiser on the show and challenge the license of every affiliate that airs the show or a promo for it before 10 p.m. (the beginning of the FCC's "safe harbor" for indecency).

The show is currently slated for Thursday nights at 8:30.

“CBS intentionally chose to insert an expletive into the actual name of a show, and, despite its claim that the word will be bleeped, it is just CBS’ latest demonstration of its contempt for families and the public," said PTC President Tim Winter.

PTC also said it would amend its court filings on various indecency cases to argue that the show indicates CBS' intent to air such fare.

PTC pointed out that CBS announced the show the same day it filed a brief in the ongoing Janet Jackson Super Bowl halftime show reveal case indicating it did not intend to air any breast-baring.

"The program is inspired by the wildly popular Twitter phenomenon, which now has more than 1.5 million followers and also has spawned a best-selling book of the same name," said CBS in a statement. "It will in no way be indecent and will adhere to all CBS standards. Parents who choose to do so will find the show can easily be blocked using their V-Chip.”