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!!!

Numbers on CBS

Some of the most dangerous programs for family viewing are those that are inconsistent in terms of content -- shows that are clean the majority of the time, but occasionally feature extreme or inappropriate themes or stories.  Case in point: the October 19th episode of Numbers on CBS.  While Numbers is typically a relatively clean program for its 10 p.m. (ET) time slot, this episode was graphically violent and would be considered offensive by many people of faith.

The episode starts off with the detectives investigating a single murder, which quickly snowballs into a series of horrific crimes.  A serial killer is said to be terrorizing the city and leaving numeric codes to lead police on a chase.  The detectives discover that the murderer is killing people with the same names as the twelve Apostles, and is killing them in the same manner that Christian tradition states the Apostles were killed.  Extremely graphic footage is shown of men begging for their lives while being tortured.  One man is whipped to death, while another is beheaded.  One particularly disgusting scene involves a man who has been bound in a tanning booth for three weeks, slowly burning to death. This imagery is disturbing on its own, but the show takes the outrage a step further in one scene, where the images of the dead bodies are shown with a transparent overlay of scripture covering them. 

It is appalling that one individual, let alone an entire production staff, could think that such content is appropriate for prime-time television.  The imagery is simply vile.  This disregard for the values of millions of American families, coupled with grotesque violent content, makes Numbers the clear choice for Worst of the Week.