OTTAWA – A viewer advisory that aired during an animated sitcom should have warned viewers about a violent scene, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) has ruled.
The CBSC reviewed an episode of The Family Guy that aired on Global TV on July 23, 2011 at 5:00 pm. The viewer complained that the program contained language and other material that was inappropriate for that hour because children could be watching. While Global acknowledged that this program “tends to push the envelope”, it had provided viewer advisories and rated the episode 14+.
The CBSC’s National Conventional Television Panel examined the complaint under various provisions of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Code of Ethics, Equitable Portrayal Code, and Violence Code. It concluded that the coarse language, sexual innuendo and jokes relating to identifiable groups were all sufficiently mild so they did not violate any codes.
The episode also, however, included one scene that was a spoof of Bugs Bunny cartoons, in which Bugs Bunny was shot by Elmer Fudd at close range and then died in a bloody and prolonged manner. The Panel concluded that the viewer advisory that Global put on the program should have warned about the violence in this scene.
