Family shows of yesteryear like “The Andy Griffith Show”, “The Dick Van Dyke Show”, “Leave it to Beaver,” “I Love Lucy,” “The Beverly Hillbillies” and other similar productions all had something in common: wholesomeness.
It was their ability to entertain a family of all ages, promoting thought and teaching a lesson all without the use of crude, crass language or vulgar gestures. What happened? Why do the families of today have to be bombarded by all kinds of boorish attempts at entertainment when watching today’s versions of TV shows?
Thankfully, although Hollywood might wish it were not so, families are demanding a return of family-friendly shows through their viewing habits. Recent high-profile programming changes prove it.
The Parents Television Council (PTC), an organization committed to keeping the TV airwaves as wholesome as possible, is celebrating the removal of the show “The Mick.” Deadline Hollywood reported that Fox isn’t going to renew “The Mick” for its third season as a result of the show’s dip in ratings.
“The Mick” has been criticized by the PTC for some time for its jokes pertaining to child sex and other graphic content.
“Every TV network should view the commercial failure of ‘The Mick’ as an important learning opportunity,” PTC President Tim Winter said. “Hollywood cannot applaud and embrace the #MeToo era while simultaneously asking its audience to be amused and entertained by the same repulsive behavior that spawned the movement to begin with. Even worse, ‘The Mick’ was using its child actors to deliver much of the most sexualized program content.”
It isn’t just the PTC that had a problem with “The Mick.” It has been criticized by many other organizations as well, including the One Million Moms group. They took issue not only with the graphic content, but also the fact that said content involved children.
“The content of this is unbelievable program included kids getting slapped in the face repeatedly, underage drinking, foul language, heavy alcohol consumption, and drug use,” One Million Moms Director Monica Cole said.
While “The Mick” was widely criticized by various organizations, “Last Man Standing” is a show that many people have applauded. It was canceled by ABC though even while enjoying immense rating success. Some thought it might have something to do with the fact that the show’s star and part creator Tim Allan is a known conservative, and has modeled his show to reflect his values. This has resulted in a family-friendly show with only minor cussing if at all, and a good moral compass. Of course, Hollywood would want to see it removed. Thankfully, after an outcry from fans, Fox Television Group decided to bring the show back.
“We’ve wanted to put the show back together since its final taping a year ago, and Tim never gave up hope either,” Fox Television Group chairmen Gary Newman and Dana Walden said in a statement. “Thanks to its millions of devoted viewers and the impressible Tim Allen, we haven’t seen the last of LAST MAN STANDING.”
Tim Allen was happy with the news as could be expected, taking to Twitter to express his gratitude.
“Thanks to all you guys for the support,” he said. “We are back!”
The support he mentions is of course in reference to the outrage many fans of the show expressed after it was canceled for seemingly no reason at all. It certainly had nothing to do with ratings as it was still extremely popular.
The cancellation of “The Mick” and renewing of “The Last Man Standing” are a side-by-side example of what American families really want in entertainment. They want to be able to sit down with their little ones and enjoy a show together without fear of them repeating a phrase they heard. They don’t want to blush if their 13-year-old is in the room because of something that shows up on screen, and they don’t want to explain mature issues to kids too young to understand them as a result of what they see.
In other words, America wants wholesome shows to succeed and that is thankfully happening at least in this comparison.
~ 1776 Christian
