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Written by PTC | Published July 9, 2015
This Tuesday, July 7th, the FYI network debuted a new show called The Seven Year Switch. The premise of the show is troubled couples swapping spouses and living with a stranger in an "experimental marriage." And every cable and satellite subscriber in America is paying for it.
Airing at 9:00 p.m. Eastern (only 8:00 p.m. Central/Mountain), and rated appropriate for young teens, FYI’s The Seven Year Switch features four couples on an emotionally difficult journey in which they “swap” spouses with one another – allegedly, to help repair their relationships. The show doesn’t stint on its prurient premise; the first episode is even titled, “Swap Therapy.”
In it, the action centers on couple Leah and Neal, who naturally are eager to discuss their sex life in detail with the TV audience. You know, like any real-life married couple would be.
Noting that “Our sex in the beginning was, like, awesome,” Leah, like, tells the audience that after she, like, gained weight, Neal didn’t, like “look at me the same way.” As a result, Leah turned to a former boyfriend, which – as she so delicately puts it – “created an infidelity situation.” A month later, Leah returned to her husband Neal, who claims he “accepted that it was a mistake and that it wouldn't happen again” – but who nevertheless used Leah’s actions as an excuse for an affair of his own:
Neal: “After finding out that she was having dealings with someone else, I let her know that I was gonna see other people. But she's using that as a reason to not own what she did.”
And this was just the first episode. One can only wonder what other thinly-veiled excuses for bad behavior will be offered in future episodes…with the FYI network encouraging (and profiting by) further adultery all along the way.
The FYI network is virtually unknown, one of those channels everybody skips over when “channel surfing” or looking at the schedule grid. FYI used to be called the Biography Channel; but then, the network’s owner A&E “rebranded” it -- without giving cable companies a choice of whether or not to carry it, or subscribers a choice as whether or not to receive it. Instead, everyone is required to pay for it, as part of Big Media’s extortionate cable and satellite “bundle.”
The Seven Year Switch is A&E’s second desperate attempt at attracting an audience. The first was the similarly sleazy Neighbors with Benefits, a show in which “swinger” married couples in an “average suburban neighborhood” swapped spouses with their neighbors, in an attempt to portray fornication as “normal.” (A&E used to stand for “Arts & Entertainment;” apparently, today it means “Adultery & Erotica.”) Neighbors with Benefits met its demise after a mere two episodes; but obviously, A&E is going to continue to try to legitimize spouse-swapping as often as possible, no matter how many people are offended or refuse to watch. The network also shows Married at First Sight, in which random strangers get “married” and have sex literally on their first date.
Most amazing of all is the decision of the leadership of A&E to promote this kind of programming. The network’s last major success was the faith-and-family-oriented Duck Dynasty. It’s hard to believe that the sane A&E audience which made the Robertson clan a household name would be interested in programming about sex “swingers” and devaluing marriage.
But A&E is not alone in undermining marriage and traditional values in an attempt to gain publicity at any cost. VH1 is showing Dating Naked and Walk of Shame Shuttle, in which nudity and casual sex are glorified. And the PTC has already aided in the defeat of the WE tv network’s slimy series Sex Box, in which couples had sex live on stage, then talked about their sexual problems to a group of so-called “therapists.”
Each of these series was or is rated TV-14, appropriate for 14 year-olds (meaning many younger kids will also be watching). What is this teaching our children about the nature of marriage and human relationships?
Today’s so-called “entertainment” industry is controlled by rapacious extortionists who will put on any kind of program, no matter how crass and prurient, without any regard to the impact on our society and our culture. As a result, every individual with a cable or satellite subscription is FORCED to support these programs. With FYI on the basic cable tier, everyone with a subscription is paying 10-15 cents per month for the channel.
$1.50 a year for a channel you never watch may not sound like much; but multiply that amount by the 100 million cable subscribers in America, and A&E is making $150 MILLION A YEAR GLAMORIZING ADULTERY TO KIDS. VH1 draws a similar income. Every subscriber should be outraged that they have to pay for these programs, and subsidize new, unwanted cable networks such as FYI.
The PTC is calling on A&E to refund the annual fee for FYI to all cable and satellite subscribers who do not wish to subsidize programming like Seven Year Switch, Married At First Sight, and Neighbors with Benefits.