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Chuck

Rating: TV-PG DV

Network: NBC

NBC’s adventure series Chuck tells the story of a computer nerd who finds himself thrust into the exciting world of the CIA when government secrets are “downloaded” directly into his mind. In the episode “Chuck Versus the Third Dimension,” which aired February 2^nd at 8:00 p.m. ET, Chuck was assigned to protect rock star Tyler Martin, whose life is in danger.

The episode was rated TV-PG DV, the D and V indicating sexual dialogue and violence; but despite the episode’s PG rating, it was rife with adult content.  In the opening scene, Chuck dreams that his CIA partner Sarah is trying to seduce him. Wearing mostly-sheer lingerie which reveals her cleavage, Sarah massages Chuck’s feet, then straddles him while slowly crawling up the length of his body as he lies in bed. Sarah also threatens Chuck with a knife before he wakes up. Later, two groupies take Chuck and Tyler up to a hotel room, where Tyler leaves Chuck alone with the two women.  The groupies grope Chuck, kissing his neck and fondling him below his belt, then unzip and take off his pants and throw Chuck on a bed. Chuck babbles frantically about his lack of sexual experience as he runs out of the room. Many parents were likely tempted to run their own children out of the room.

While the episode’s content was bad enough, NBC’s promotion of the program was even more egregious. Chuck was heavily promoted during the Super Bowl, a program with the single largest audience in America, including millions of children. The promotion focused on the fact that the episode was filmed in 3-D; with the result that aspects of every sex scene popped out into the living rooms of the viewing audience. Finally, the fact that the show aired at 8:00 p.m. ET (only 7:00 p.m. Central/Mountain time) with a PG rating practically ensured that there were young children in the audience. If the episode had been rated properly, TV-14 DVS, parents would have been able to anticipate the adult content and have chosen a more family-friendly program.

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.