ABC Airs ‘Modern Family’ Episode With Toddler Saying ‘Fu**’…Do You Care?
- Posted on January 19, 2012 at 4:41pm by
Madeleine Morgenstern
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ABC
ABC’s “Modern Family” created a stir last week after it was revealed that an upcoming plot line would feature the show’s toddler dropping the f-bomb.
The much-hyped episode in question aired Wednesday, following statements of condemnation from the conservative Parents Television Council and a group called the No Cussing Club. McKay Hatch, the 18-year-old founder of the No Cussing Club, went as far as asking ABC to pull the episode.
But the 30-minute episode — aptly titled “Little Bo Bleep” — aired as planned, with 2-year-old Lily uttering the profane word several times to her parents’, played by a gay couple on the show, horror — including during a wedding ceremony.
“It is certainly in poor taste,” Melissa Henson, director of communications for the Parents Research Council, told Fox News. “The more we see and hear this kind of language on television, the more acceptable and common it will become in the real world.”
But executive producer Steve Levitan, who teased the episode during a television panel discussion earlier in the month, said he thought the storyline was a natural one for the show, which took home a win for best TV comedy at Sunday’s Golden Globes. Still, he said it took some effort to bring the network on board.
“We had to really convince ABC,” Levitan told Entertainment Weekly. “We thought it was a very natural story since, as parents, we’ve all been through this. ABC will tell you “Modern Family” gets away with a lot, because I think it’s all about context. 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.”
Still, prior to the show’s airing, the outrage reached such a pitch that Levitan took to Twitter to try to quell some of the rancor.
“For the record, when shooting, the actress who plays Lily never actually dropped the F-Bomb. After, who knows? he gets cranky when tired,” Levitan tweeted.
Eric Stonestreet, who plays Lily’s father, similarly took to the micro-blogging site as well: “Lily didn’t ACTUALLY say FU*K. She said fudge. How bout see the episode, THEN form an opinion. For fudge sake people. Chill the f–k out.”
When episode aired Wednesday, the actual word was bleeped and the toddler’s mouth was blurred out, causing some entertainment sites to question what the big deal was.
“Maybe it was all of the advance publicity about this episode, but I would say this plotline was more amusing than funny….I pretty much knew where it was headed, so it didn’t elicit the usual surprised laughter that accompanies many “Modern Family” episodes,” Henry Hanks wrote on CNN’s Marquee Blog.
The Hollywood Reporter collected a number of Twitter responses that shared similar views.
“Lily drops what will appear to be the F Bomb on Modern Family tonight lol ppl r in an uproar.. Its all a part of childhood #chillout,” user Ms_Fortress wrote.
Click here to see a clip from the episode.
What‘s your take on the show’s plot line? Weigh in on our poll below:
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Comments (175)
phillipwgirard
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 5:35pm31% of blaze readers find it’s OK for kids to cuss like this, SURPRISINGLY DISGUSTING!!!
Report Post »Smokey_Bojangles
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 6:08pmThe kid Said “Fudge” and that was the word Bleeped.The best way to Combat this is to boycott the sponsors.If Folks are actually watching the show and getting offended? They are IDIOTS!
Report Post »bankerpapaw
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 5:31pmShame on the parents. Fame before family.
Report Post »FlowerBell
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 5:26pmIt comes from Hollywood. The land of debauched vulgarians who on award night pretend to have class.
Report Post »gortex
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 5:24pmSo it’s all right to drop f bomb on tv but there concerned if the actress said it?
Report Post »Joey8
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 5:19pmThe options in most of the polls on The Blaze are pretty lame.
Report Post »“What’s your take on gay marriage?”
“A. I hate gay people”
“B. I am gay”
“C. I don’t care about life”
The Third Archon
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 5:33pmLolz–I love the polls; they prove that the answer is in the asking ;)
How about
Report Post »“D–I recognize the intrinsic value of humans to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and believe these rights, and necessary rights which entail, ought not be curtailed, by any power, unless a sufficiently compelling and reasonable interest which outweighs the damage caused by the curtailment, intimately tied and necessitating the curtailment (i.e. no alternative which can gain the good, without curtailing the rights of some group) exists.”
lillymckim
Posted on January 20, 2012 at 9:15amWhats wrong with this little girls parents?
Report Post »dthomps6
Posted on January 20, 2012 at 11:25amGays can already get married. They always have been able to get married. How is there always a stupid argument about this? Oh! The argument is over whether you have a piece of paper from the Imperial Federal Government saying you are married. Besides, why do men and women give a crap if they have a piece of paper from the government? Why can’t we ban all government involvement? A marriage is between a two people and God. That’s it.
Report Post »Misty Williams
Posted on January 20, 2012 at 12:41pmWait wait wait…. This is a show that promotes the normalization of same-sex couples/marriage, and same sex couples raising children as though that was the natural way for child rearing to occur, and our primary concern is that a two year old says a naughty word? Possibly we’re focused on the wrong thing here?
Report Post »Nations
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 5:19pmIn my youth, I attended Church until I almost went nuts thinking about too many echelons of discernment in regards to living here on this Earth. I became an entity occupying a form as a means of motivation in a physical state of existence. There is a base of doing things right and we all should strive for that goodness. We must step back, and reclaim our sanity here as a nation. Let’s all work together to overcome our crass nature.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 5:48pmYou first.
Report Post »Baddoggy
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 5:58pmI assure you…If I hit my thumb with a hammer I will be very crass…as well as most men in the universe.
I watched the show once. It did not amuse me at all. Its just pushing agendas as most television shows from the left do…Shock value sells. Its called the dumbing down of America. thank you leftie commie t@rds.
Report Post »BetterDays
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 6:02pm@Nations
If I understood what you said, and I was an engish major at UoM, I’d be able to agree or not based upon information.
ON topic:
Why should most who post here care one bit, they can easily vote for progressives and those with moral turpitude as it stands now. Because everyone knows ousting Obama trumps everything under the sun, even righteousness.
If our founders could see us now they’d likely think, “why did we bother.”.
Report Post »aragona
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 6:50pmI agree that children drop the F bomb and parents then have to instruct their children in the fact that the F bomb is an adult word and they are not to use it. Doesn’t mean I want to see it on prime time TV.
Report Post »ijava44
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 7:55pmWhat’s “Modern family”?
Report Post »deeberj
Posted on January 20, 2012 at 2:09pmAgree with Aragona. Yes, children hear bad words and repeat them. I don‘t think it’s entertaining enough to put it on a TV show. And no, I’ve never seen that show nor do I wish to. Dumbing down. I’m not going to participate with that agenda.
Report Post »LeadNotFollow
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 5:17pmModern Family sucks. Does anyone watch that piece of politically correct crap?
Report Post »Rational Man
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 5:33pmI’m so out of the pop culture loop that I was thinking “Modern Family” was that crappy cartoon show when I read the headline.
Report Post »So to answer your question,….No, I don’t watch the show.
aggiebrewer
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 6:27pmi think it is funny. I dont let my children watch it. But I am sure many will attack me for my opinion on this.
Report Post »Locked
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 6:31pm“Does anyone watch that piece of politically correct crap?”
Odd statement to make; usually toddlers lobbing F-bombs aren’t considered politically correct.
To answer your question, a quick search online finds the first season had 9.39 million viewers, and the second had 11.89 million. Also:
” During the 2010–2011 season, Modern Family was the highest rated scripted show in the 18-49 demographic, and the third highest rated overall sitcom behind CBS’s The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men. The season also ranked first among DVR viewers. The third season premiere became ABC’s top-rated season premiere in six years.” -from wikipedia for a quick view.
So apparently it’s one of the most popular shows in its genre among the under-50 crowd.
Report Post »Rational Man
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 6:47pm@Locked
Am I suppossed to be impressed or depressed by your statistics?
Because depression is what I’m getting from that…………………….
Or am I supposed to be one of the sheeple that watch it just because it’s “popular”?
Report Post »My life goals are not too big, but they are higher than being a brain numbed couch potatoe watching stuff that covertly and subtlely mold my thinking into something unhealthy and damaging to my soul.
SgtB
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 10:02pmYes, some people do watch it. It is a pretty damn funny show. What isn’t to like about Al Bundy marrying a latin supermodel and helping raise her pudgy little boy with the zany antics of a socal family in an upscale neighborhood? And the two straight guys playing the gay guys do a pretty good over the top impression of gay stereotypes. So the thing is freaking funny from every angle. If you don’t like it, then don’t watch it.
Report Post »Git-R-Done
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 10:19pmNo, I don’t watch that show. It tries to pretend how alternative families can raise healthy and happy children when statistics show the opposite.
Report Post »GeorgieJo
Posted on January 20, 2012 at 12:13amI have never HEARD nor SEEN this show and won’t.
Report Post »ABC—–the network I NEVER watch.
MCzwz
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 5:16pmFigures! OK with the liberals for a child to curse and swear using the worst terms possible. Not OK for a man to invite his wife to participate in “livening up” their marriage.
Wow the contraductions in these liberal brains sure does explain their evil loony-tunes behavior.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 5:49pmYou‘ve got two homos raising a kid and having it glorified as normal and I’m supposed to be upset about the F-bomb?
Report Post »singleparent
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 6:01pm100% correct gonzo..
Report Post »PubliusPencilman
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 6:01pm“glorified as normal”
Ha–this contradiction in terms just sums up how stupid your objections are.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 6:09pmPubliusPencilman, Is it true that you’re the original Indian from The Village People?
Report Post »boundforglory
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 6:46pmCant talk about God, Jesus or have a bible in school but they will let a toddler drop the f word on TV and thats ok! WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS COUNTRY?
Report Post »SgtB
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 10:05pmThe issue of children picking up curse words and then spouting them off at inopportune times is not a liberal idea or problem. On the other hand, telling your wife that you want to whore around is a Newt Gingrich problem. Oh, and being a hypocrite by impeaching a public official for the same misconduct that you as a public official are concurrently guilty of is another Newt problem. You MUST be a neocon.
Report Post »Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 5:14pmABC aka Disney is CRAP!!!
Report Post »Their so-called ABC-Family channel has shows called Pretty Little Liars, and other some-such crappy shows, is the epitome of how talent-less Hollywood is now.
Skan
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 5:55pmAgreed. Liberals thinks it’s OK for little ones to use curse words, but not to pray. I’m sick of the whole lot of them
Report Post »BetterDays
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 6:23pmAs a Christian
Report Post »I find both the liberals and the NeoCons to be opposite sides of the same coin, and I reject the entire coin.
GoodStuff
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 5:14pmPeople still watch sitcoms?
It’s 2012 people, get a life.
Read a book, go for a walk.
Report Post »aggiebrewer
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 6:33pmWhat if I want to watch TV? or GBTV? Do I have a choice? Can I determine my entertainment or edification method? Or are you now in charge of what “a life” is?
Report Post »BetterDays
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 7:18pmBut don’t read while walking, you might break your kindle.
Report Post »GoodStuff
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 5:09pmPeople still watch ABC?
Report Post »The_Jerk
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 5:32pmImagine that, the Walt Disney Company and ABC. Who’s the President and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company? Say it ain’t so, Robert A. Iger, yet another cultural changing Jew.
http://corporate.disney.go.com/corporate/bios/robert_iger.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-stein19-2008dec19,0,4676183.column
Far too common to be coincidental.
Report Post »hud
Posted on January 20, 2012 at 4:59pmNot much.
Report Post »ROMANS 10-9
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 5:05pmOne Man + One Woman = Holy Marriage
One Man + One Man might as well be One Man + One Donkey….
It offends me as a Christian American
for Marriage to be portrayed
as anything other than
as God defined it to be…
One Man + One Woman.
XyXX = 1
Report Post »Baddoggy
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 6:00pmThe sad part is we have to make stupid laws like DOMA to define marriage. If the Government was out of the marrigae business and let the Churches handle it there would be ZERO problemo..
Report Post »StripedSaint
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 11:48pmRomans 10-9 + keyboard = bigot.
Report Post »copatriots
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 5:04pmWhy anyone watches sitcoms at all is beyond my comprehension. Why do you watch that crap and support the very people who are hellbent to bring the morals of this country down while mocking and laughing at you all the while?
Report Post »Rational Man
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 5:49pmTrue! It’s pretty hard to keep ones self pure when watching filth all the time. And even if the show itself isn’t too bad, if it features rabid progressive actors, it just ruins it for me. I can’t forget who they are in real life and enjoy the character they are playing.
Report Post »The Tyler Perry shows aren’t too bad as far as citcoms go. That Mr. Brown guy is pretty darn funny. I think. The Tyler Perry movies I’ve seen on TV are good too!
ROMANS 10-9
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 5:03pmXYXX
Report Post »Gods Plan!
your sensei
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 5:22pmXXX
Report Post »God’s gift
BetterDays
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 7:23pmENCINOM, sardine in the service if lucifer,
Report Post »PWCameron
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 5:03pmKids say bad words at wierd times. Sometimes it makes me laugh. Lighten up, we have bigger fish to fry.
Report Post »kaydeebeau
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 5:45pmWhere are the kids learning the bad words from in the first place? Why aren’t parents using better language themselves around the kids? Brings to mind “little pitchers have big ears” or the little Bible School song “be careful little ears what your hear…little eyes what you see….”
Report Post »N-TIME-WATCHER
Posted on January 20, 2012 at 12:01amPWCAMERON-Your dead wrong! This is how it starts…..TRASH, NO PURE GARBAGE!
Report Post »ROMANS 10-9
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 5:02pmXyXX=1
Report Post »justangry
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 5:02pmThat’s awesome… “Something else I’ll explain in the comments” I don’t really care what they say, I just can’t turn the channel as long as Sophia Vergera is in it.
Report Post »aggiebrewer
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 6:36pmI tend to agree. Sophia Vergera is stunning as is the lady that plays Claire.
Report Post »ROMANS 10-9
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 5:02pm…
One Man + One Woman = Holy Marriage
One Man + One Man might as well be One Man + One Donkey….
oooor One Cat marries One Parakeet….
Or 50 parakeets.
It offends me as a Christian American for Marriage to be portrayed anything other than as God defined it as One Man + One Woman.
XyXX = 1
Report Post »RightThinking1
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 4:56pmI am unaware of this EVER happening in my extended family, period. Perhaps my socialization, and that of our family was different then most…, or at least some, but vulgarities and coarseness are/were looked down upon. Hollywood, of course, embraces such, but I regret that the shallowness of entertainers has become the measure of popular culture.
Report Post »NeverSurrender
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 5:36pmCan you please explain what is vulgar about any word?????? They are simple letters of the alphabet put together in a certain order to form a specific sound. I bet if we tried hard enough we could turn tree into a vulgar word in 10-15 years!!!!
Report Post »Rational Man
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 5:55pm@NeverSurrender
A fair example of moral relativism. One of, if not the biggest, problem in America today.
Report Post »RightThinking1
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 6:27pm@Neversurrender:
Report Post »Do I understand that you are disturbed by the use of the word ‘vulgar’, but not the f-bomb? Interesting. At any rate, a common (hee,hee, a double entendre there) definition in the instant context would be- “depicting or referring to sexual matters in a way that is unacceptable in polite society”.
You see, that is the problem here, we are no longer a polite society. It may well be that I am fighting a rear-guard action, but I will not surrender, and certainly not the to moral swamp that is Hollywood.
The_Jerk
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 4:55pmImagine that, Steve Levitan, another cultural changing, base, and degrading Jew; not too unlike Maher.
http://www.jewishjournal.com/hollywoodjew/item/2010_emmy_nominations_better_title_20100708/www.jewishjournal.com/television/article/steve_levitans_home_life_is_fodder_for_modern_family_20100413/
How many examples do fools require before the light goes on?
Report Post »http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-stein19-2008dec19,0,4676183.column
angroehl
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 4:55pmLittle kids pick up curse words all the time. I think it was a pretty mellow story line compared to most others out there.
Report Post »daguanno1972
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 4:53pmI do not watch anything on ABC but it still should not have aired. I barely watch any network television due to how slanted they have becoming very liberal in all programming.
Report Post »TRONINTHEMORNING
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 4:53pmI find that show pretty darn funny; I saw it last night. That was the boring story line–the funny part of that episode was the city council debate content. And the suicidal dog story.
Report Post »jungle J
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 4:52pmonly the sane will understand why this and momosexuals are a problem for humanity.
Report Post »democritusoilder267
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 4:48pmAs a man who is born and raised in the U.S. this is common in my country. I have seen many children who pick up curse words and always use them. Heck majority of our programming has cursing on the show. It’s the morality of our country.
Report Post »The_Jerk
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 4:56pmYes it does:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-stein19-2008dec19,0,4676183.column
http://www.jewishjournal.com/hollywoodjew/item/2010_emmy_nominations_better_title_20100708/www.jewishjournal.com/television/article/steve_levitans_home_life_is_fodder_for_modern_family_20100413/
Report Post »