Take action against latest NBC raunchy show

By: American Decency Staff

In the premiere episode of “Are You There, Chelsea?â€Â (originally titled “Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me Chelseaâ€Â), this is what we find out about the lead character: Chelsea is a lush of a sports bar waitress who can slurp the worm out of a bottle of tequila (which lands her in jail with a DUI – where she kisses a female inmate); has an endless supply of sexual terms she uses in every conversation; and has taken a Marine to bed on Veteran's Day claiming it was patriotic. Take Action!  Click here to let the advertisers of the raunchy “Are You There, Chelsea?â€Â know that you will not support companies that empower such degrading shows. Read more below: There’s a new trend on network television that makes me think of a song I learned in an elementary school music production.  The song is “Anything You Can Doâ€Â from the Broadway musical “Annie Get your Gunâ€Â with the memorable line – “Anything you can do, I can do better; I can do anything better than you.â€Â In this duet, one male singer and one female singer playfully attempt to outdo each other in everything from shooting to singing. What we’re currently seeing on TV is a new breed of programs which showcase lead female characters and seem to follow the same theme as the above-mentioned song lyric.  However, their claim isn’t anything you can do, I can do better.  Rather, instead of “better,â€Â the claim of these shows seems to be “I can be cruder.â€Â We’ve long written about the raunchy Two and a Half Men filled with crude, sexual dialog between the male characters.  Now this season, we see numbers of new shows following the same trend – but these shows have leading “ladiesâ€Â spouting endless vulgarities.  Shows such as 2 Broke Girls on CBS, Whitney and the new Are You There, Chelsea? both on NBC. In the premiere episode of Are You There, Chelsea? (originally titled Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me Chelsea), this is what we find out about the lead character:  Chelsea is a lush of a sports bar waitress who can power slurp the worm out of a bottle of tequila (which lands her in jail with a DUI – where she kisses a female inmate); has an endless supply of sexual terms she uses in every conversation; and has taken a Marine to bed on Veteran's Day claiming it was patriotic. While trying to be as vulgar and offensive as possible, the show “Chelseaâ€Â of course also has to mock Christianity.  While in jail, Chelsea does what she says she always does when she’s in trouble – she prays.  However, the god she prays to is Vodka (thus the original title.) Chelsea is bailed out by her sister who she describes as her “judgy, super-Christian, sister.  When Chelsea tells her sister she prayed (to Vodka) her sister answers “Vodka is not the Lord.â€ÂÂ  Chelsea answers, “Are you sure?  They both are invisible and have a hand in unexplained pregnancies.â€Â All that in just the first two minutes of the show. Heavy drinking – including driving drunk – is played to laughs.  In fact, NBC, the producers of “Chelsea,â€Â currently have a drinking game on their website to promote the show, entitled “What’s YOUR Drink?â€ÂÂ  The game’s description states:  “Do you relax with a glass of wine? Or take your vodka with more vodka, like Chelsea? Find out which drink is a perfect fit for your personality!â€Â I won’t describe the language and scenarios of the rest of the show because it was far too explicit and crude.  One television reviewer gave the show a D+, describing the show this way:  “a 30 minute sitcom  … with numerous remarks about being drunk and approximately 79 euphemisms for the word “vagina,â€Â all of which substituted for jokes.â€Â Another reviewer stated:  “Much like the show’s lead-in, “Whitney,â€Â “Chelseaâ€Â tries real hard to shock us with crass jokes.  … the show seemed determined to establish just how edgy it could be.  …  [I]t seems … TV writers think pretty ladies plus gross out gags and phrases are a new winning formula. … But just being vulgar isn’t enough to carry a sitcom.â€Â Perhaps TV reviewers are also getting sick and tired of the crassness that passes for actual creativity on television today.  At a recent press conference regarding the raunchy sitcom 2 Broke Girls, a verbal “brawlâ€Â broke out between the show’s creator and television reporters/critics who accused the show of stooping to racial stereotypes and profane jokes.  One critic asked:  “Do you see the need to get away from making vagina and anal sex references? And the show airs, as the critic pointed out – in early primetime at 8:30 in the evening. The creator of “2 Broke Girlsâ€Â defended the vulgar so-called “humorâ€Â of the show describing it as “classy dirtyâ€Â and said “I consider them high-lowbrow. I think they’re fun and sophisticated and naughty and I think everybody likes a good naughty joke . …â€Â Another reporter asked:  “Going back to classy-dirty. Are there restrictions about things you can say? … The show’s creator claimed:  “… sex is a part of comedy writing. We seem to offend people with the use [of] words rather than nudity. … That is where television is today – TV writers and creators who think sex has to be a part of comedy writing.  And so we see shows trying to outdo each other in their race to the gutter.  “Any joke you can tell, I can tell dirtier; any word you can say, I can say raunchier.â€Â Take Action!  Click here to let the advertisers of the raunchy “Are You There, Chelsea?â€Â know that you will not support companies that empower such degrading shows. ========================================================== To support our efforts please click here or mail your gift to American Decency Association (ADA), PO Box 202, Fremont, MI 49412. American Decency Association is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

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