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    Toddler's cuss word on 'Modern Family' draws ire

    In this image released by ABC, from right, Jesse Tyler Ferguson portraying Mitchell Pritchett, and Eric Stonestreet portraying Cameron Tucker are shown with Aubrey Anderson-Emmons, who plays their adopted daughter Lily in a scene from "Modern Family," airing Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012 at 9 p.m. EST on ABC. A group opposed to the use of profanity is protesting Wednesday's episode of "Modern Family," in which the character Lily is shown, but not heard, using an expletive. (AP Photo/ABC, Peter "Hopper" Stone)

    LOS ANGELES (AP) — An anti-profanity crusader on Tuesday asked ABC to pull this week's "Modern Family" episode in which a toddler appears to use a bleeped curse word.

    "Our main goal is to stop this from happening," said McKay Hatch, an 18-year-old college student who founded the No Cussing Club in 2007. "If we don't, at least ABC knows that people all over the world don't want to have a 2-year-old saying the 'F-bomb' on TV."

    "We hope they know better," said Hatch. He's asking his club's members, whom he said number 35,000 in the United States and about three-dozen other countries, to complain to ABC.

    ABC has yet to respond, he said Tuesday. The network had no comment, a spokeswoman said.

    In the episode titled "Little Bo Bleep" airing 9 p.m. EST Wednesday, 2-year-old Lily shocks parents Mitchell and Cameron (Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet) with her first expletive.

    The dads, who are preparing Lily to serve as flower girl in a wedding, now have an added parenting challenge.

    The tot is played by Aubrey Anderson-Emmons, who says the word "fudge" during taping. It will be bleeped on the air and her mouth will be obscured by pixilation, and viewers will get the impression that her character used the actual F-word.

    Steven Levitan, creator and executive producer of the sitcom with Christopher Lloyd, told the Television Critics Association last week that he's "proud and excited" about the F-word plotline that ABC was persuaded to allow.

    "We thought it was a very natural story since, as parents, we've all been through this," Levitan said to EW.com. "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."

    The program, which won the Emmy Award for best comedy last fall, was named best musical or comedy series at Sunday's Golden Globes ceremony.

    Hatch, who is from South Pasadena and attends Brigham Young University in Rexburg, Idaho, said he began his anti-profanity club in 2007 when he noticed how rampant cursing was at his school and how it was linked to bullying.

    "If kids are accountable for their choices, then adults should be as well," and that includes media, he said.

    TV profanity was an issue before the Supreme Court last week, which heard arguments about whether regulating curse words and nudity on broadcast stations is sensible when cable and satellite services offer channels with few restrictions. A decision is expected by late June.

    ___

    ABC is a unit of The Walt Disney Co.

    In this image released by ABC, from left, Jesse Tyler Ferguson portraying Mitchell Pritchett, and Eric Stonestreet portraying Cameron Tucker are shown with Aubrey Anderson-Emmons, who plays their adopted daughter Lily in a scene from "Modern Family," airing Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012 at 9 p.m. EST on ABC. A group opposed to the use of profanity is protesting Wednesday's episode of "Modern Family," in which the character Lily is shown, but not heard, using an expletive. (AP Photo/ABC, Peter "Hopper" Stone)
     
    • G-pappy  •  St Louis, Missouri  •  17 days ago
      Those people need to get a #$%$ life. If you don't like cussing, don't watch TV or go to movies...read the #$%$ newspaper.
    • Robert  •  Billerica, Massachusetts  •  1 month 8 days ago
      every single day I have to sit through commercials that speak about erections lasting more then 4 hours with my 13 year old daughter... why doesn't somebody protest that?
    • Scott  •  Wallingford, Connecticut  •  1 month 8 days ago
      So the moral to this story is that The Kardashians, Jersey Shore and all the other disgusting reality shows are okay but this one isn't?

      Let me know when the Kardashians and Jersey Shore are protested. I will join those.
    • John  •  New York, New York  •  1 month 8 days ago
      Many years ago my wife took my then 3 year old son to the movies to see Bambi. The theater was filled with adult movie buffs with only a sprinkling of children. During the scene when the hunter's gun goes off, he jumped on his chair and yelled "Oh XXXX where is Bambi's mother." The audience erupted in laughter, and my wife and I thought it a good idea to clean up our language.

      Sometimes you have to learn from what happens. No big deal, just a reminder.
    • CS  •  1 month 8 days ago
      Hey what about Trojan man commercials? I think they are awful.
    • kristi p  •  Copperas Cove, Texas  •  22 days ago
      I watch this show every week and I find it a great comedy show to watch. I also seen this episode if you have kids then you will know that mostly all children will say some type of curse word some time in there toddler lives. Not only is it learned from the parents, but grandparents, aunts, uncles, and tv. The bottom line is that it is a comedy show if you can not take what is being said on tv then turn the show off or use your parental controls!! Grow up people this is not the ancient days!
    • rippie dave  •  Woburn, Massachusetts  •  1 month 9 days ago
      little kids learn that from their parents. that may be the idea behind the episode, and its purpose. the problem is not the toddler who doesn't know better: it's the parents who should.
    • Janet  •  Clovis, California  •  1 month 8 days ago
      I don't watch the show but maybe there will be a message to be learned because most all parents have to deal with this and it's all in how they handle it.
    • Michael  •  Santa Clara, California  •  1 month 9 days ago
      I do not care for people who take it upon themselves to dictate what I can and cannot watch. If there is a program I find offensive or distasteful, I will change the station or turn off the idiot box altogether. And it is up to parents to monitor what their children are watching and not some stranger who has taking it upon himself/herself to be the moral police.
    • H.M.  •  1 month 9 days ago
      Just about everything under the sun draws ire these days. Life's too short to be that angry over everything.
    • GuyNamedMatt02  •  1 month 7 days ago
      Must we subject to the demands of the few? I don't think so. Don't be overly sensitive.
    • Jim  •  1 month 8 days ago
      Constant images of men being shot, stabbed, ridiculed and humiliated on TV don't bother him...but if you go a-cussin'.....!!!!
    • Stephen  •  1 month 7 days ago
      Let's be clear:- this is entirely about Hatch wishing to force his personal preferences and beliefs upon everyone else. His stance isn't about a moral high ground, but rather a moral victory and some publicity.

      If Hatch is offended by this episode, he can refrain from watching. But that should be the end of it. I am tired of these righteous indignants telling me what I should and shouldn't do.
    • Jessie Garon  •  Sunnyvale, California  •  1 month 8 days ago
      Let's see:
      (1) 'Fudge', harmless.
      (2) Bleeping, a form of common censorship in the U.S.
      (3) Pixelation obscuration, yet another form of censorship.

      So, we've got a benign word that is being censored in two ways, and these people STILL get bent out of shape??

      Oh, I get it - it's the 'principle', right?
    • James  •  Everett, Washington  •  1 month 7 days ago
      I'm so tired of all the politically correct, don't offend anyone mentality. Don't swear, don't dislike anyone, don't discipline your children, don't discuss religion, don't display the American flag, don't say Christmas, don't do or say anything at all because someone might take offense. If it bothers you that much stay at home, get rid of your tv, radio, phones, close your curtains and let me have a life.
    • Jacquelyne F  •  1 month 9 days ago
      You know, it's very true that this happens with every parent, whether your child hears it from your mouth or someone else's. My daughter did with sh-- and I was very sad but I had only myself to blame and it made me think about how I use words.
      Ultimately, if you don't want to swear, then don't. If you don't think it's funny to watch a show that has that word as its plot line then watch Yo Gabba Gabba.
    • PPN  •  1 month 8 days ago
      Don't you just love how Hollywood promotes compassion, intelligence, love, unity, family values, human preservation, human respect?

      And all this time I thought Hollywood was just out to destroy all that is beautiful about the human race; through predictive programming, racism, sexual exploitation, pedophilia, raunch, moral decay, doom, destruction, materialism, and of course, the Trans-humanist agenda.
    • Bianca  •  1 month 8 days ago
      You know, I"m sorry, but every parent or person that has spent a lot of time around kids knows that the one word you don't want them to say, is the one they pick up fastest. I said #$%$ once in front of my nephew when I dropped andbroke a glass. For the next day, all he'd say was #$%$!
    • Jennifer  •  Columbus, Ohio  •  1 month 8 days ago
      can everyone step down off their high horse for a second and realize that ANYONE who is a parent of a young child has had this happen. My guess is they are showing a comical way of dealing with it. I'm guessing the ones who don't want this show to air are the same ones who don't like it anyway because they have a gay couple with... gasp.... a child. Oh the horrors! Get over yourselves. Why don't you go complain about Toddlers and Tiaras. You know... a show that actually exploits children.
    • methodical  •  Washington, District of Columbia  •  1 month 8 days ago
      "No cussing club." I would be embarrassed if this person was my child. I would think if I'm paying for your education, you have more important things to do than form idiotic groups to impose your views on everyone else. Again, this fool will do nothing but make sure the ratings for this show go through the roof. Good job crusader.