Parents Television Council Gloats Over ‘Real O’Neals,’ ‘Scream Queens’ Cancellations

“Tuesday nights just got a bit safer for children and families watching television,” president Tim Winter says

The Parents Television Council took a bit of a victory lap on Tuesday over the cancellations of ABC’s “The Real O’Neals” and Fox’s “Scream Queens.” Oh yeah, and the PTC also used the moment to ask Fox to reconsider its renewal of Kaitlin Olson comedy “The Mick.”

Tuesday nights just got a bit safer for children and families watching television,” organization president Tim Winter said in a media release. “ABC and Fox have canceled primetime programs that were routinely filled with sex, violence, and profanity, yet were marketed by the networks as appropriate for children. We call on the networks to replace these explicit programs with high-quality, family-friendly fare.”

In an email to TheWrap, the PTC’s public relations rep said Winter’s group is “most glad” to see those two shows go away.

In March 2016, the PTC conducted an analysis of the first three episodes of “The Real O’Neals” and found what considered sexual dialogue or bleeped profanities once every 43 seconds on average. The series was rated TV-PG; it aired at 8:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. Central.

“We hope that Fox will reconsider its decision to renew ‘The Mick,’ while also reconsidering its decision to cancel a positive program like ‘Pitch,’ which refreshingly offers a positive and inspiring female lead character,” the PTC concluded Tuesday’s note. “Surely the networks can program their schedules in order to entertain broad audiences without relying on ‘lowest common denominator’ content.”

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