Sex, blood and raunch -- this is Nickelodeon?
Common Sense Media, a parental review site gives it an "iffy at best" rating for young kids.
Their review notes:
Parents need to know that, even though Nickelodeon is touting this animated series as "a new twist on the classic family sitcom that tweens and their parents can both enjoy," it's pretty iffy viewing for kids. For one thing, it's a little cheeky when it comes to sexual references (a scene shows a character watching porn while he's babysitting an infant, for example -- although no sensitive body parts are shown). For another, characters occasionally use words like "bastard" and "whore," and there's also some blood-inducing cartoonish violence.
Nick at Nite's lineup of old sitcoms used to start at 9 p.m. But this August, the network announced it was "blurring the lines" between kid-oriented Nickelodeon and the more teen-skewed (actually 18-49 according their press materials) Nick at Nite because teens and tweens like to watch TV as a family. Nickelodeon's earlier bedtime isn't sitting will parents of SpongeBob fans caught off guard. The message board at Nick.com are full of complaints.
I get into a lot of debates with my colleagues in the media who are understandably nervous about any kind of censorship (especially the ones who don't have kids). But most parents I know have no problem with any kind of content on TV shows and movies -- they just want to see some fence lines. They don't want to outlaw HBO or the Playboy Channel, but please do tell parents clearly what to expect so their 6 year old won't hear cartoon characters joking about make-up sex or prostitutes at 8 on a Monday night while he's winding down for bed.
Photo: Glenn Martin, DDS, (Nickelodeon)
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It's that way on all channels, unfortunately. The old Family Hour the networks use to honor is dead. Flash Forward (one of my fave new shows) comes on at 8 p.m. and it's definitely NOT for kids. We have a DVR and record it to watch after our son is in bed, but not everyone has that technology. The only network my 3-year-old watches is Nick Jr. and sometimes Disney in the daytime when they have the kiddie shows on. But I also know that Nick Jr. and Nick are owned by Viacom, which also owns the raunchy MTV. It's all a setup for their older, racier programming.
Posted by: Lisa Buie, Times mom | November 10, 2009 at 02:15 PM
Remember when Nick shows used to feature people being slimed all the time? That's how I felt with this show. The Simpsons is not a show for kids & never has been. It's not on a network that's supposed to be for kids. If Nick is going to show a program this raunchy, it should move it back to later at night -- or else I'm going to arrange to dump some slime on THEM. Cable's pretty expensive anyway & maybe we can live without Nick At All.
Posted by: Dump some slime on 'em! | November 06, 2009 at 08:40 PM
I've long loved the Simpsons, but it is not for kids, and neither is this new Nickelodeon show. There needs to be more space between Spongebob (which is clearly a kids show) and more adult programming.
Posted by: zenny | November 06, 2009 at 07:53 PM
You think that's bad? My 12 year old was watching that Ninja Warrior program on G4 before going to school the other day. She turned off the tv, went to school and turned it back on around 2:30 p.m. Since no else had watched the tv, G4 automatically comes on. What's on? A commercial for some event called Sexpo Australia, where everything goes!
Posted by: David | November 06, 2009 at 03:07 PM
I'll bet the ones that complain the most are the ones that use the TV as their babysitter..here's an idea: spend some time with your kids
Posted by: marcos | November 06, 2009 at 02:51 PM
Please!
Much ado about nothing. This is a benign animated show along the lines of the "Simpsons." It is no more or less racy than that show, this is considered an American icon. When the Simpsons started, there were all these cries that Homer beats his kids, and drank too much, and Fox was going to ruin the American family with such fare. Now, it's as controversial as as a birthday cake. And it runs 10 times a week, as early as 5 pm. "Glenn Martin" doesn't do a 1/10th of what "The Simpsons" does.
Look at Nick at Nite's other shows: The Nanny, Malcolm in the Middle, and Chris Rock. All are much more racy than this show. But there's no glamour in protesting re-runs, so these people don't say boo about it.
There are so many more important things to focus on.
Posted by: Common Sense | November 06, 2009 at 12:32 PM