This Is Why the Parents Television Council Has (Finally?) Come After 'Scandal'

The Parents Television Council – the self-appointed watchdog group of modesty on TV, the same people that blasted Glee for promoting “public masturbation," called Gossip Girl “mind-blowingly inappropriate” (only to have that sound bite used on all of the CW's ads), and have a long history of haaaaating Family Guy – has apparently finally found Scandal.

Not sure what took them so long (it’s trending on Twitter every week), but nonetheless, the PTC is leading a campaign against Scandal’s depiction of “graphic sex.” Again, not sure what took them so long, there has been SO MUCH sex on this show.

So what finally tipped the scale for the PTC?

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Was it when Mellie was caught “on her knees with Uncle Andrew”? Or when Fitz and Olivia had angry sex in a closet after a baby’s christening?

Was it when Jake rotary dialed Olivia on the beach? Or when he later gave a speech about how much she loved “riding” him?

Was it when there was a FULL EPISODE about Eiffel Towering?

None of the above. It was just a sex scene in the show’s Oct. 30 episode between Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington), Jake (Scott Foley), and Fitz (Tony Goldwyn) – separately, not a threesome. Two sex scenes splice together, along with shots of Olivia swimming, that all ended up being a sort of wet dream nightmare situation.

The scene isn’t that explicit in nature – lots of close-ups, some moaning, of course someone is going down on Olivia, nothing we haven’t seen on Scandal before – but the PTC’s problem is it was the first scene of the episode shown right after ABC aired It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

“Shame on ABC for putting a peep show next to a playground,” PTC President Tim Winter said in a statement. “In less than 26 seconds we were taken from the Peanuts pumpkin patch to a steamy Scandal sex scene. Twenty-six seconds, boom.”

(There does seem to be a DVR jump here, with entire ads for Marvel and Scandal cut out between the end of Charlie Brown and the sex scene in question. Two ads that would be plenty of time to contemplate a channel change.)

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Tim Winter continues, “Unless parents had the remote control in their hand, thumb on the button and aimed directly at the TV screen, they didn’t have a chance. Such a transition is grossly irresponsible by the network and entirely unfair for parents. ABC owes families an apology.”

Meanwhile, Shonda Rhimes retweeted this about the ordeal:

So it’s safe to say she DGAF.

In the end, we’re sure the children of America weren’t too terribly traumatized. Now they know what happens when a woman and a man and a President love each other. Let’s just hope Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer doesn't segue into some backdoor action on How to Get Away With Murder this Christmas or the PTC might spontaneously combust.

Find out how Shonda Rhimes is giving network TV a lesson in sex ed: