Would you watch a sitcom with your kids at 8:30 PM that had the title "$#*! My Dad Says?"
The folks at CBS think you will.
In fact, they're so confident the vulgar reference won't offend viewers that the star -- and hence, the dad in the vulgar title!!! -- is none other than "Star Trek's" William Shatner.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the Parents Television Council is threatening to challenge broadcast licenses over this issue (video of preview also follows with commentary):
At its upfront presentation in New York on Wednesday, CBS announced "$#*!" My Dad Says," a new comedy based on the popular Twitter feed "Shit My Dad Says." The show will air at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday nights this fall. The comedy stars William Shatner in the title role as a curmudgeon who dispenses politically incorrect opinions and advice to his son.
Tim Winter, president of the Los Angeles-based PTC, said he was aware that CBS was developing a series based on the Twitter sensation, but "we couldn't imagine that a network would actually name a program either with an expletive or with the expletive ostensibly bleeped out."
"We're talking here not about a Twitter feed, we're talking about broadcast television that requires a license to use the airwaves," Winter said. "There are an infinite number of alternatives that CBS could have chosen but its desire to shock and offend is crystal clear in this decision."
Winter is threatening an "unrelenting campaign" against the show's advertisers and to issue challenges against the license of any affiliate that airs the show before 10 p.m.
CBS will promote the show verbally with the word "bleep" instead of the profanity in ads -- as in, "Bleep My Dad Says."
Is this clearly over the line for a prime time broadcast sitcom airing at 8:30 PM? If so, what's next?
