"Gossip Girl" Threesome Prompts Parents Television Council Campaign Against Show

NEW YORK — On-air promos for a sexual threesome on an upcoming episode of "Gossip Girl" have spurred the Parents Television Council to ask affiliates of the CW network to pre-empt the show.

Airing the teen tryst, which is being teased in an ad as a "3SOME," is "reckless and irresponsible," said PTC president Tim Winter in a statement Wednesday. The threesome involves three main characters in the show but they are not identified in the promos.

The PTC has urged CW affiliate stations not to air the episode, scheduled for Nov. 9.

In a letter to the affiliates, Winter asked: "Will you now be complicit in establishing a precedent and expectation that teenagers should engage in behaviors heretofore associated primarily with adult films?"

This is not the first time the PTC has complained about the sexy prep-school soap, which Winter said is "expressly targeted to impressionable teenagers."

In July 2008, the organization spoke out against a racy marketing campaign for its new season. Ads showed intimate moments between the show's characters (on a couch, in the sack or apparently skinny-dipping), accompanied by headlines like "A Nasty Piece of Work" and "Mind-Blowingly Inappropriate."

"CW has been defending graphic content on 'Gossip Girl' by asserting that they don't target teenagers," Winters said Wednesday. "Such a claim doesn't even pass the 'laugh test.'"

CW spokesman Paul McGuire said the target audience for "Gossip Girl" is 18- to 34-year-old women, with a median viewer age of 27 years old. The network had no comment on PTC's complaint, he said.

The Parents Television Council describes itself as a nonpartisan education group advocating responsible entertainment.

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On the Net:

http://www.cwtv.com

http://www.parentstv.org

(This version CORRECTS the target demographic to women 18 to 34.)

Comments

[vinny]

they should go after the sponsors...

[AlaskanWannaB]

What happened to using the imagination. Why is our society so focused on sex? Is there no other enjoyment that we can get out of life. For God sakes, go hiking, kayaking, or do something to help your fellow man. Maybe, I'm anti-sex. I just think life is so much more than S-E-X.

Must every aspect of life be shown on TV via these worthless TV shows. I don't have children and I thank God that I do not. And, for those of you who believe you can control what your kids watch, you are deluding yourselves.

And, for those of you who believe that children cannot be influenced by what they see on TV, I give you the crimes that are perpetuated on a daily basis by our children (shootings, rapes, robberies).

Yes, this stuff happened back in my day, but not to this extent.

[AlaskanWannaB]

Thank God, I do not have children. TV is turning into garbage.....

[Skyhawk]

Time for November sweeps. Now that the PTC has drawn attention more people will watch. If you want free publicity, call the PTC.

[garrettspopcorn]

g.g is still airing?...... bleh that show is garbage !!

[Poorsarah]

I have a burning question; why was this "parent council", whatever they call themselves...why was this group watching this show?

[JoeBlough]

If it offends you, don't watch it. I don't like the idea that a parents council will determine what I can watch. They should spend their time teaching people the forgotten art of being a parent.

[ibwilliamsi]

Perhaps they should consider not letting their children watch the program if it goes against their better judgment. What's that? Their children have minds of their own? I find that hard to fathom.

[MikeDu]

So the Parents Television Council was *formerly* of the opinion that Gossip Girl had been suitable for children, otherwise? This sounds like less about the show and more a grandstand gesture, PTC trying to get noticed.

[cwindy2]

OR, perhaps they didn't find it objectionable enough to raise a fuss about? Several different possibilities here, but yours seems unlikely.

[arizonabay]

US tv should adopt the "watershed" like they do in the UK. http://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/editorialguidelines/edguide/harm/televisionthewa.shtml

After 9pm you get programing that every knows is adult themed. When I mean adult. I get to see the Wire on BBC 1 unedited at 10 pm or Little Britain, Hung nudity and all and no one has a issues with it.

[MuchMadness]

The BBC should only show programs that the queen personally approves or at least does not object to. It would be interesting to see what would receive a royal imprimatur and what would only receive a nihil obstat. Either way, I think you would have to look elsewhere for the kind of stuff you mentioned. The queen would not be amused.

[MuchMadness]

Cable TV should be censored in the same way that broadcast TV was censored until the 1980's.
Ronald Reagan is to blame for the shift toward anything goes attitudes.

There have been very few good shows produced since 1980.

[JazzyJim]

I'm in!

[CherrySpring]

Hey, I might start watching this show.

[RebelSoul]

As one of the few here commenting that actually has had a threesome, let me say that I strongly disagree with this brainless decision to romanticize a threesome on a network program that targets tweens.

A threesome is pure fantasy. A night of pleasure at first, until the morning. It crushes relationships under the weight of jealousy and distrust. It's the kind of sex-act that requires all parties to be uninvolved. The same way some people wife swap, it's something that occurs no matter what, yet it is not ideal for most people.

Now I'm not going to get on my high horse, I just wish that these so-called writers would be honest in portraying a threesome. It's a fantasy that works poorly in reality. The fact that the sex act in Gossip-Girl takes place between friends, is even more unrealistic. It would lead to the exit of at least one cast member.

It's plain irresponsible behavior, derived from a single-minded focus on the ol' mighty dollar. If a TV show encouraged alcoholism or over-eating, we would turn our heads in disgust. Somehow, our sexually oppressed society gets tickled when the limits of perversity are tested on our dear friend, the idiot-box.

Reality is sensational enough to fill pages of scripts, yet Hollywood instead turns to the moronic, titillating fantasies of hormone-pumped teenagers to entertain our nation's youth.

I'm saying we all need to be smarter than this! Yeah, like that's gonna happen!

[invent the universe]

um.. how do you know anything about the other posters sex lives. silly assumption.

and just because it did not work out for you means it is crushes everyones relationships... another silly assumption.

[Paradym]

Exactly!

Last year, I bought a hammer, and when I tried to drive a nail with it I smashed my finger. I didn't really know how to use a hammer but I've seen lots of people do it on TV and it looked fun and seemed easy enough. But I really hurt my finger. We need to stop romanticizing the use of hammers on TV and in movies, protect our children from the use of hammers, because people get hurt and it never really turns out right.

[annis]

as the two other comments to your post demonstrate, it is so easy for reality and common good sense to be tossed away

thanks for the effort!

[vinny]

you made a good point...

[turbowei]

Learn to control your kids, dumb parents.

I am well into my 30s, and if I don't want my teens to watch a certain TV program, I would block it, with the power given by the DVR/cable box.

Hello, people, we are in 2009, and you have no way to control what you kids watch?? This is not 1980's.

[cwindy2]

Wee bit oversimplified. Your kids can't watch it at your house, they'll just go to their friends.

But that's beside the point...if parents don't like what is happening, they have every right to stand up for their beliefs. Being a good parent doesn't just mean being a jail keeper, it involves standing up for issues you feel are important. They feel this is important and are using group influence to try and change what is going on. Is there a more American thing to do? I think not.

[AejB]

Why shouldnt I - a grown woman- not be allow to watch something because of lazy parents? I dont agree with the 3some content of the show, but they have a right to do storylines like that ifthey want. Gossip Girl is not suppose to teach kids how to be adults,parents are.

[Arval Becker]

If you were as worried about having your children seeing this, or anything like it, shouldn't your children be so used to your morals that they would not do what you wouldn't want them to.

If you cannot trust your children to follow your morals, then why should others suffer?

[readreza]

well, not demanding everyone live by your petty puritanical template would be very american, but "parents" groups seem much more interested in controlling the world around them, and you and me, than they do in "parenting".

[AlaskanWannaB]

Girl, you're good. I agree with you....

[Disdain]

If you are under the mistaken belief that you can control everything that your teenager is exposed to. you have some serious issues and are in for a big surprise as your children get older. Short of locking them in the house and following them 24/7, they will find a way to see, watch, listen to anything they want. This is 2009 after all, the golden age of technology. As parents, the best we can do is teach them right from wrong and put a limit on what they are exposed to at home. We can only pray that they will use what we preach them to always make the right decision when we are not around. As a parent, I do object to having a show that targets pre-teen, to feature a threesome! It's irresponsible and totally inappropriate.

[TimLB]

If you think your children aren't going to be exposed the concept of group sex by more than just 'Gossip Girl', you're remarkably naive.

You may think the show is irresponsible and inappropriate. Simply turn the channel. Stop pushing your taste/beliefs onto everyone else.

It's on the CW - very few people even bother watching that channel - EVER. This sort of hubbub by the overtly religious only inspires additional viewers/interest.