Last week's 30 Rock featured a highly offensive, thoroughly stupid plotline (lifted, coincidentally, straight from The Simpsons) that any parent would be loathe to let their children watch: a guy getting his hand stuck inside a vending machine.
Oh, also, there was a faux reality show named after the most annoying consequence of the popularity of American Pie (besides, of course, American Pie 2, American Wedding, American Pie Presents: Band Camp, Etc.–Ugh, eight years later and we're still feeling the backsplash of that thunderous turd of a movie.): MILF Island, a title that the New York Times found "jarring" in its "coy reference to a vulgarity."
Thursday's episodes of "30 Rock" and "The Office," each included coy references to a vulgarity: in one case it was bleeped out; in the other it was winked at in an acronym [MILF Island]. While not unprecedented, the occurrences in the back-to-back prime-time shows were jarring. They also raise questions about the placement of "30 Rock" as an anchor of what an NBC executive, Ben Silverman, has designated the "family hour."
This article presupposes three things: 1. That kids who are watching 30 Rock would be scandalized by hearing the term "MILF," 2. That anyone cares, and 3. That the term "MILF" isn't both tame and completely socially acceptable. There are a lot of things that "MILF" is—irritating, ubiquitous, tiresome—but "jarring in its vulgarity" isn't one of them.
It's on onesies (despite the allusion to incest), and mugs, and probably greeting cards. Saying "MILF" is no more risqué than saying, "OMFG," or "bootylicious," or "Keep Christ in Christmas." It's part of the general lexicon now, so let's all stop pretending that it's somehow edgy. When Liz Lemon said "poo," in that episode, it sounded dirtier than "MILF," if only because it's not used as much.
Still, whether or not her show is appropriate for "family hour," NBC has only the highest of hopes for Tina Fey. They believe that one day, if she's lucky, she could be the next Jason Lee:
Ms. Fey, who has recently appeared on the covers of magazines as diverse as Parade and Vanity Fair, is starring in the coming film "Baby Mama." Mr. Silverman said that role could give her the wide appeal that Jason Lee, the star of NBC's "My Name Is Earl," received after starring in "Alvin and the Chipmunks," which earned a Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award.
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Usage of the term "MILF"? That's questionably family-friendly.
http://www.avclub.com/content/node/70705/">Shit-eating jokes for kids? Fast-track to family-friendly, Nickelodeon-approved superstardom.
