Fox's The Mick: How Low Can It Go?

Now in its fifth episode, Fox’s new “family comedy” The Mick brings the concept of the dysfunctional family to a new low. With teens having sex, smoking, drinking, and swearing, as their alcoholic, drug-using aunt does nothing to set boundaries or stop them, Fox's The Mick is hitting new lows. The question is: how much lower can the program go? In just the first five episodes, viewers have seen the following:

• Mickey advising teen Chip to confront a bully by “ yanking his pants down and point at his tiny pecker.”
• Chip returning home beaten and bloody, complaining, “Now Steffi thinks I’m a joke and Geno’s got the raddest freaking dong in school.”
• Mickey teaching little Ben to steal ice cream by lighting fires nearby to distract the seller.
• Chip daring little Ben to lick the grill in a restaurant, with Ben burning off his taste buds and being forced to wear a bizarre device on his face.
• Sabrina’s grandmother slapping her in the face multiple times.
• A loan shark beating Mickey’s boyfriend, then pushing Mickey against the wall, his hand on her throat, and hitting her hand with a hammer.
• Mickey drugging maid Alba and taking her to a bar, where she hallucinates.
• Mickey holding the vomiting Alba’s hair back in a bar’s bathroom, while blatantly checking out a man’s genitals at the urinal.
• Mickey, Jimmy, Sabrina and Alba hiring Sully the Clown for Ben’s birthday party. They find Sully the clown in the bathtub, unconscious after shooting up drugs. A cocaine spoon is at his side, and he holds a hypodermic in his hand.
• Ben swallowing Sully’s drug-filled balloon.
• Mickey jams her fingers down Ben's throat to induce vomiting, but he doesn't throw up. Overcome at the thought of what she's doing, Mickey vomits.
• Later, excited by the sight of a pony at his party, Ben vomits.

In addition, there are numerous scenes of teenage girl Sabrina smoking and drinking, with aunt Mickey’s full compliance and permission:

• Sabrina gets in an (underage) drinking contest with Mickey. Mickey wins the drinking contest by drugging Sabrina’s liquor.
• Mick talks to Sabrina as the latter smokes in the kitchen.
• Mick talks to Sabrina in the foyer as they try to light their cigarettes.
• Mick catches Sabrina smoking outside and then smokes with her.

In what is possibly the show’s most disturbing sequence thus far, 16-year-old Sabrina has sex with an adult man, with Mickey’s full knowledge and permission. “So, I guess you guys are having sex huh?” Mickey shrugs. Mickey’s boyfriend Jimmy adds, “It’s cool to have sex with a 16 year old in the state of Connecticut.” (Technically, it is legal; the age of consent in Connecticut is 16. But only Fox’s writers think sex with a minor is “cool.”) In fact, Mickey actually abets the teen she’s supposed to be caring for in having sex, first giving her an IUD -- “You squish it, and you actually stick up your ‘pffh,’ and you’re open for business” – then giving Sabrina and the man a pack of condoms as they lie in bed together. When little Ben inquires about the sex sounds, Mickey tells him, ““Your sister’s getting fu…uuurrniture.” All this is accompanied by language from Mickey like, “When you grow up, you want to turn into a moody little bitch?”, “That guy is a hall of fame piece of ass,” “I’m gonna bang his beautiful brains out,” “What a dick,” and (of niece Sabrina) “That bitch! If she wants to get pregnant, fine.” The minor children on the show return the favor, spewing profanities at Mickey and others:

• Sabrina to Mickey: “You’re a lying bitch.”
• Chip: It’s only a matter of time until some gold digging whore lures me into her honey trap.”
• Sabrina: "Screw that! Let's drop that thing right through the front door and right up the gut of her stupid-ass party!"
• Chip: “How about you tell Omacron to say that to my face so I can slap his bitch ass back into the woods.”

And even little Ben gets into the act, with "Hey everyone! Come inside if you wanna have your butts blown by a freaking clown!" From the debut of Married With Children, through Family Guy and American Dad, and now to The Mick, grotesque, disgusting families have been Fox’s stock-in-trade. At what point will the network realize that American citizens don’t enjoy having this kind of programming blasted into their homes?