There are many sex scenes Shonda Rhimes’ productions and it was rather unfortunate that last Thursday’s episode of Scandal opened with one. That’s because the show aired right after It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.
Of course, that means that the Parents Television Council must complain. The infamous watchdog group blasted the network for airing the adult show right after the beloved children’s special. Indeed, within 26 seconds of Charlie Brown ending, Kerry Washington was already in bed. ABC only aired a short teaser between Charlie and Scandal, so parents didn’t have time to change the channel.
“Shame on ABC for putting a peep show next to a playground. In less than 26 seconds we were taken from the Peanuts pumpkin patch to a steamy Scandal sex scene. Twenty-six seconds, boom,” PTC president Tim Winter said in a statement. “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.”
As The Hollywood Reporter points out, Rhimes herself didn’t agree with ABC’s handling of the situation. She retweeted a fan who told her, “The leap from Charlie Brown to the first scene of #Scandal #CloseYourEyesKiddies."
You can see how quickly the network shifted from Charlie Brown to Scandal in the video below that PTC posted: