Parents Group Slams 'American Horror Story,' 'Scream Queens'

It's often said that TV writer Ryan Murphy aims to shock. And if that's the case, he's succeeded with his latest two shows, "American Horror Story: Hotel" on FX and "Scream Queens" on Fox. The Parents Television Council, a conservative watchdog group, recently blasted both shows and called for advertisers to boycott them for their offensive content.

In an email to supporters, Tim Winter, the president of the PTC, called "American Horror Story" "the most vile and shocking content I've ever seen on TV. Ever."

"Most Americans have no idea this is primetime fare on advertiser-supported basic cable," Winters continued. "And everyone is paying for it as part of their program bundle."

The PTC also excoriated "Scream Queens" in a full review, writing that "this mean-spirited, sexualized, gory horror show is unsafe for children of any age."

"[The show's] content is so constant, so graphic, and so horrific that is is nearly impossible to know where to begin describing it," the review continued.

The PTC called out McDonald's, in particular, for running commercials during the first four episodes of "Scream Queens" and Subway for supporting "American Horror Story."

Murphy recently appeared on the cover of The Hollywood Reporter cradling one of his two children, and spoke in the great profile within about how being a parent had changed him. "I feel like I grew up in such a big way in the past couple of years, in a way that I never thought I would," Murphy said. So it's possible that this kind of criticism could sting now in a way it wouldn't have several years ago.

One the other hand, the PTC certainly wasn't the audience Murphy had in mind when he developed either show: Both really are as explicit and gory as TV shows come these days.

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