Worst TV Show of the Week 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!!!

Killer Wave on ION

By Josh Shirlen

Not too long ago, it would have been unthinkable that a television show aired by the PAX network, would ever be chosen as our Worst of the Week. But with the PAX network’s change to ION Television and it’s acquisition by NBC-Universal, such a choice became only a matter of time.  This week Bud Paxon, founder and CEO of PAX -- who started the network in an effort to bring family-friendly programming to the airwaves -- must have been disappointed to see the road down which his predecessors are steering his former network.

Killer Wave, a four-hour mini-series, kicked off the ION Network’s original programming on August 5th at 7:00 p.m. ET/PT. Bearing only a TV-PG rating, the program was clearly influenced by the violent anti-terrorism Fox show 24, both in style and content.  Mass casualties, graphic gunfights, bloody fistfights, and foul language are found throughout the program, making it completely inappropriate for viewing by children and families.

The show opens with two teenagers being killed by a giant wave which crashes on their beach.  At that point, the viewer suspects that the plot will surround the natural occurrence of tsunamis and their deadly impact. But the show’s heroes quickly discover that the killer waves that are wreaking terror on the East Coast are actually a weapon of mass destruction created by a terrorist group.  Lead character John finds himself on the run after he is framed as the terrorist mastermind. He must avoid being killed by the terrorists, prove his innocence, and save the world. During the course of his adventures he finds himself under attack from savage hit-men. He is finally driven to the point where he must defend himself by fighting back, and using a small sculpture he bludgeons a female assassin to death.  In other scenes, a hit-man is cornered by police and opens fire on them, killing two police officers before being shot himself at close range by an officer with a shotgun; and a woman is shown being shot in the head by a terrorist with a handgun. Her body slumps lifeless on the ground, with blood streaming from a hole in her forehead. In addition, the program was peppered with language like “hell,” “damn,” “ass,” and “g*ddamn.”

Killer Wave would have qualified for our pick for Worst of the Week on any network, but we at the PTC are particularly disappointed that it aired on ION.  This once wholesome network is headed down the wrong path.  It is our sincere hope ION corrects its course.