On January 31 and February 1 (and possibly on other dates) Channel One ran commercials for “3-D Ruffle” potato chips. It looked like just another junk food ad that has made Channel One despised by pediatricians and parents. But two products were being advertised not one. Along with junk food, junk TV was being promoted.
One of the stars of Fox Network’s edgy “Malcolm in the Middle” was on the commercial and students were (during classroom time!) urged to enter a “Malcolm” contest. Typical of Fox, “Malcolm” has content that would have shocked us five years ago. Malcolm’s mom, Lois, likes to go around the house topless. When a teacher comes to the house and is greeted by a topless “Lois”, this is the dialogue:
“Could you, y’know, maybe put a top on?” -Caroline “They’re just boobs, lady. You see them in the mirror every morning. And I’m sure yours are a lot nicer than mine.” -Lois
Channel One heavily promoted this program to children as young as ten.
One episode made fun of organized religion in an attempt to promote homosexuality. A minister was made to look cartoonish as he attempted (laugh-track going at full speed) to “pray the gay away.” Religion gets beat up pretty badly by the writers of Malcolm.
This is from Focus on the Family’s “Plugged In” review of Malcolm In The Middle.
…rowdy boys, however, don’t explain Mom’s habit of doing laundry topless—in front of the kids. She’s not even averse to answering the door au naturel. Dad, too, stands naked in the kitchen during breakfast while Mom shaves his body hair. Strategic placement of laundry baskets and newspapers keep audiences from seeing everything.
In one episode, Dad accidentally burns Mom’s new dress while smoking his pipe, then tries to flush it down the toilet. Upon finding the charred remains, Mom immediately blames the kids. Though innocent, the boys rally together to exasperate her. Instead of meeting her husband for their date, Mom spends the rest of the episode grilling her sons for a confession. Dad, clueless as usual, orders a bevy of vodka martinis while waiting at the restaurant.
Much of Malcolm in the Middle is rooted in real life. Anyone with siblings will get the joke. But the show goes too far. It ridicules organized religion, endorses bad behavior and ultimately reinforces TV’s modern family mantra: parents are stupid. A few cheap laughs and half-hearted moral lessons can’t justify exposure to those attitudes. “
Sorry, Focus of the Family, Channel One couldn’t care less what you think is offensive or any other conservative or religious group thinks. Channel One will promote whatever cultural rot they want to, because that is where the big money is.
Jim Metrock said, “The fat cats at Channel One like Jeff Ballabon, Morgan Wandell, Jim Morris, and Jim Ritts are raking in big bucks from Fox, Warner Brothers and other Hollywood studios. These folks don’t have to answer to anybody. It’s tough enough on parents to raise decent children in an indecent popular culture. They don’t need to fight Channel One News every step of the way. Parents need to actively fight for commercial-free classrooms, which mean ‘Channel One-free’ classrooms.”
