A TV watchdog group in the US denounced MTV for excessive raunchiness last week in a new report called ‘The Ten Best and Worst Shows on Cable Television of the 2001/2002 Season’.
Publishers the Parents Television Council included five MTV shows in its Top 10 Worst - ‘The Osbournes’, ‘Undressed’, ‘Celebrity Deathmatch’, ‘The Andy Dick Show’ and ‘The Real World’. The magnificently named L Brent Bozell III, founder and president of the PTC, says that MTV's plethora of salacious programming targeted at teen viewers can no longer be ignored.
"One of the things we're looking at is making a much bigger deal about MTV," he told reporters. "Parents don't watch MTV, and I suspect they don't know what's on it." MTV declined comment on the PTC report until it could be reviewed, though media commentators in the US didn’t feel that the PTC’s report would have any effect on advertising or ratings – except, perhaps, to create more interest for the network amongst teenage viewers.
John Solberg, a spokesperson for US network FX whose show ‘The Shield’ was also in the top 10, simply said: ”'The Shield' is one of the most critically acclaimed series in all of television," he said. "It received three Emmy nominations. The record speaks for itself." The family Osbourne would probably agree.