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Group urges CW stations not to air 'Gossip Girl'

FILE - In this image released by The CW, a controversial print advertisement for the second season of "Gossip Girl," is shown. (AP Photo/The CW, file) -- NO SALES --

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FILE - In this image released by The CW, a controversial print advertisement for the second season of "Gossip Girl," is shown. (AP Photo/The CW, file)

ENLARGE PHOTO

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By FRAZIER MOORE, The Associated Press Updated 6:31 AM Thursday, November 5, 2009

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

www.parentstv.org

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November 05, 2009 11:25 AM EST

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I don't think it's fair that people think they can dictate what the rest of us watch just because they decided to have kids.

If "change the channel" is out-dated, how about "turn off the TV" as an option.

Try parenting instead of complaining.

other foot
1:58 PM, 11/5/2009

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I love "3sums" as much as the next person. But why are middle aged folks watchin basically softcore child porn. teenagers boinking really shouldnt be anybody's cup of tea.

Intellectually_Independent
12:50 PM, 11/5/2009

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Again, this "change the channel" argument is simply outdated and dimwitted. Various media streams churn out sexually charged material quicker than folks can self-censor. Parents fight an uphill battle here, and anyone who won't admit that these types of programs have a negative social impact is frankly in denial. Perhaps one can't legislate morality, but ignoring the media's effect is quite tiresome. Maybe this just proves TV's ability to dull one's thinking as well as their moral sensibility.

Jeff
12:37 PM, 11/5/2009

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Instead, let's have children watch the nightly news and see how the president is screwing everybody.

Lance
12:32 PM, 11/5/2009

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

Then be responsible and turn the channel.
Use your V-chip that was so important to you a decade ago.

Face Palm
11:51 AM, 11/5/2009

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