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    Toddler's cuss word on 'Modern Family' draws ire

    LOS ANGELES (AP) — An anti-profanity crusader on Tuesday asked ABC to pull this week's "Modern Family" episode in which a toddler appears to use a bleeped curse word.

    "Our main goal is to stop this from happening," said McKay Hatch, an 18-year-old college student who founded the No Cussing Club in 2007. "If we don't, at least ABC knows that people all over the world don't want to have a 2-year-old saying the 'F-bomb' on TV."

    "We hope they know better," said Hatch. He's asking his club's members, whom he said number 35,000 in the United States and about three-dozen other countries, to complain to ABC.

    ABC has yet to respond, he said Tuesday. The network had no comment, a spokeswoman said.

    In the episode titled "Little Bo Bleep" airing 9 p.m. EST Wednesday, 2-year-old Lily shocks parents Mitchell and Cameron (Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet) with her first expletive.

    The dads, who are preparing Lily to serve as flower girl in a wedding, now have an added parenting challenge.

    The tot is played by Aubrey Anderson-Emmons, who says the word "fudge" during taping. It will be bleeped on the air and her mouth will be obscured by pixilation, and viewers will get the impression that her character used the actual F-word.

    Steven Levitan, creator and executive producer of the sitcom with Christopher Lloyd, told the Television Critics Association last week that he's "proud and excited" about the F-word plotline that ABC was persuaded to allow.

    "We thought it was a very natural story since, as parents, we've all been through this," Levitan said to EW.com. "We are not a sexually charged show. It has a very warm tone so people accept it more. I'm sure we'll have some detractors."

    The program, which won the Emmy Award for best comedy last fall, was named best musical or comedy series at Sunday's Golden Globes ceremony.

    Hatch, who is from South Pasadena and attends Brigham Young University in Rexburg, Idaho, said he began his anti-profanity club in 2007 when he noticed how rampant cursing was at his school and how it was linked to bullying.

    "If kids are accountable for their choices, then adults should be as well," and that includes media, he said.

    TV profanity was an issue before the Supreme Court last week, which heard arguments about whether regulating curse words and nudity on broadcast stations is sensible when cable and satellite services offer channels with few restrictions. A decision is expected by late June.

    ___

    ABC is a unit of The Walt Disney Co.

     
    • G-pappy  •  St Louis, Missouri  •  3 mths ago
      Those people need to get a #$%$ life. If you don't like cussing, don't watch TV or go to movies...read the #$%$ newspaper.
    • Robert  •  Billerica, Massachusetts  •  4 mths ago
      every single day I have to sit through commercials that speak about erections lasting more then 4 hours with my 13 year old daughter... why doesn't somebody protest that?
      • The Football God 4 mths ago
        I'm in the same boat as you. I can't get an erection to last 4 hours either. It's shameful when these old farts can.
      • Stacy 4 mths ago
        Heck, I don't have children and those commercials make me feel uncomfortable!
      • nathanw 4 mths ago
        I'm with ya! I'm making my banner right now!
    • Scott  •  Wallingford, Connecticut  •  4 mths ago
      So the moral to this story is that The Kardashians, Jersey Shore and all the other disgusting reality shows are okay but this one isn't?

      Let me know when the Kardashians and Jersey Shore are protested. I will join those.
      • EarlJWaggedorn 4 mths ago
        The point is none of them are but this throw the baby out with the bathwater mentality gets us no where.
      • Shazzy 4 mths ago
        I agree! in this world people praise non-sense behaviors! may God have mercy on us all...his judgement is coming soon for all the madness!!!
      • Steph 4 mths ago
        meetings are on tuesdays. bring cookies. lmao
    • John  •  New York, New York  •  4 mths ago
      Many years ago my wife took my then 3 year old son to the movies to see Bambi. The theater was filled with adult movie buffs with only a sprinkling of children. During the scene when the hunter's gun goes off, he jumped on his chair and yelled "Oh XXXX where is Bambi's mother." The audience erupted in laughter, and my wife and I thought it a good idea to clean up our language.

      Sometimes you have to learn from what happens. No big deal, just a reminder.
      • griffgirl82 4 mths ago
        LOL!! I agree with you, John. As the mother of a 2 year old, I try to be very careful what I say, but I'm not perfect, and I can't expect everyone around me to think the way I do. So sometimes, kids hear words you don't want them to hear. And sometimes, they use those said words (usually at the most inopportune time lol) and you, as a parent, have to decide what to do about it. I'm a Christian and don't condone cursing, however, I'm not offended by the choice of these producers to air this episode. I'm interested to see how the parents in the show deal with the situation at hand. Believe me, I'd have a much bigger problem with it, if they were actually encouraging the young actress to use the real word.
      • Julie 4 mths ago
        lol
      • Tonia 4 mths ago
        That was funny John. Thank you for that.
    • CS  •  4 mths ago
      Hey what about Trojan man commercials? I think they are awful.
      • juan 4 mths ago
        and all the tampon ones too.
      • ps 4 mths ago
        Trojan man Embarrasses me;-)
      • Shelia 4 mths ago
        You got that right-Explain that to a 6 yr old-
    • kristi p  •  Copperas Cove, Texas  •  3 mths ago
      I watch this show every week and I find it a great comedy show to watch. I also seen this episode if you have kids then you will know that mostly all children will say some type of curse word some time in there toddler lives. Not only is it learned from the parents, but grandparents, aunts, uncles, and tv. The bottom line is that it is a comedy show if you can not take what is being said on tv then turn the show off or use your parental controls!! Grow up people this is not the ancient days!
    • rippie dave  •  Woburn, Massachusetts  •  4 mths ago
      little kids learn that from their parents. that may be the idea behind the episode, and its purpose. the problem is not the toddler who doesn't know better: it's the parents who should.
      • charlotte 4 mths ago
        Send this post to Cradle17, although, it to, may go over his head.
      • G 4 mths ago
        The "purpose" of this show should be to ENTERTAIN, but most shows seem to struggle with that concept...and I completely agree that its the parents who should take responsibility for what they say, do, or teach their children because we all know they are "little sponges" absorbing everything,...intended or not!
      • AmyN 4 mths ago
        I never cuss in front of my kids or otherwise, but my kids learned cuss words when they went to school and I hear them when we go to the playground. It isn't always parents who teach kids things. Give society some credit, too.
    • Janet  •  Clovis, California  •  4 mths ago
      I don't watch the show but maybe there will be a message to be learned because most all parents have to deal with this and it's all in how they handle it.
    • Michael  •  Santa Clara, California  •  4 mths ago
      I do not care for people who take it upon themselves to dictate what I can and cannot watch. If there is a program I find offensive or distasteful, I will change the station or turn off the idiot box altogether. And it is up to parents to monitor what their children are watching and not some stranger who has taking it upon himself/herself to be the moral police.
    • H.M.  •  4 mths ago
      Just about everything under the sun draws ire these days. Life's too short to be that angry over everything.
    • GuyNamedMatt02  •  4 mths ago
      Must we subject to the demands of the few? I don't think so. Don't be overly sensitive.
    • Jim  •  4 mths ago
      Constant images of men being shot, stabbed, ridiculed and humiliated on TV don't bother him...but if you go a-cussin'.....!!!!
    • Stephen  •  4 mths ago
      Let's be clear:- this is entirely about Hatch wishing to force his personal preferences and beliefs upon everyone else. His stance isn't about a moral high ground, but rather a moral victory and some publicity.

      If Hatch is offended by this episode, he can refrain from watching. But that should be the end of it. I am tired of these righteous indignants telling me what I should and shouldn't do.
    • Jessie Garon  •  Sunnyvale, California  •  4 mths ago
      Let's see:
      (1) 'Fudge', harmless.
      (2) Bleeping, a form of common censorship in the U.S.
      (3) Pixelation obscuration, yet another form of censorship.

      So, we've got a benign word that is being censored in two ways, and these people STILL get bent out of shape??

      Oh, I get it - it's the 'principle', right?
    • James  •  Everett, Washington  •  4 mths ago
      I'm so tired of all the politically correct, don't offend anyone mentality. Don't swear, don't dislike anyone, don't discipline your children, don't discuss religion, don't display the American flag, don't say Christmas, don't do or say anything at all because someone might take offense. If it bothers you that much stay at home, get rid of your tv, radio, phones, close your curtains and let me have a life.
    • Jacquelyne F  •  4 mths ago
      You know, it's very true that this happens with every parent, whether your child hears it from your mouth or someone else's. My daughter did with sh-- and I was very sad but I had only myself to blame and it made me think about how I use words.
      Ultimately, if you don't want to swear, then don't. If you don't think it's funny to watch a show that has that word as its plot line then watch Yo Gabba Gabba.
    • PPN  •  4 mths ago
      Don't you just love how Hollywood promotes compassion, intelligence, love, unity, family values, human preservation, human respect?

      And all this time I thought Hollywood was just out to destroy all that is beautiful about the human race; through predictive programming, racism, sexual exploitation, pedophilia, raunch, moral decay, doom, destruction, materialism, and of course, the Trans-humanist agenda.
    • Bianca  •  4 mths ago
      You know, I"m sorry, but every parent or person that has spent a lot of time around kids knows that the one word you don't want them to say, is the one they pick up fastest. I said #$%$ once in front of my nephew when I dropped andbroke a glass. For the next day, all he'd say was #$%$!
    • Jennifer  •  Columbus, Ohio  •  4 mths ago
      can everyone step down off their high horse for a second and realize that ANYONE who is a parent of a young child has had this happen. My guess is they are showing a comical way of dealing with it. I'm guessing the ones who don't want this show to air are the same ones who don't like it anyway because they have a gay couple with... gasp.... a child. Oh the horrors! Get over yourselves. Why don't you go complain about Toddlers and Tiaras. You know... a show that actually exploits children.
    • methodical  •  Washington, District of Columbia  •  4 mths ago
      "No cussing club." I would be embarrassed if this person was my child. I would think if I'm paying for your education, you have more important things to do than form idiotic groups to impose your views on everyone else. Again, this fool will do nothing but make sure the ratings for this show go through the roof. Good job crusader.
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