The Detour vs. The Mick – Same Story, Different Rating

Written by PTC | Published January 27, 2017

Different channels rate similar content differently. Shouldn’t the ratings be consistent? Basic cable network TBS’ TV-MA rated “family comedy” The Detour is set to begin its second season on February 21st. The program is about a typical family’s experiences on the road to Florida…but their experiences are anything but typical. In the premiere episode, the little boy on the show walks into a strip club and sees women pouring drinks on their half-naked bodies, as well as women dancing on poles. Other problematic content from this show continued in the second episode, when the kids learn about sex from their parents and discover that their mother has tasted semen. And at one point, the little girl on the show is heard using a bleeped but apparent f-word when she tells a man to “f*ck off.” Showing kids joining in on adult humor has, unfortunately, become a trend on television. In shows that center around family, oftentimes the underage kids are shown using vulgar and sexually-charged dialogue. And in a later episode, a much older man was shown having such strong feelings for a 16- year old girl that he wants to marry her, with multiple scenes of the two kissing. Disturbing as this situation is, at least that program was rated appropriate for adults only. But the same sistuation was also shown on Fox’s new series The Mick, when a teenage girl Sabrina also became involved with a much older man – and that program is rated TV-14, appropriate for young teens. Do we really want TV telling our underage daughters that having sex with adult men is a harmless, even hilarious, thing to do? These storylines were intended as comedic entertainment; but there is nothing funny about the situation of an older man molesting a minor girl, and it needs to stop.

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