Is TV's adultery, kinky sex an attack on marriage?

WATCHDOG GROUP | Activists say programs harm kids, society

Marriage gets little respect on network TV shows that instead revel in the pleasures of extramarital and kinky sex, according to a study released this week.

The study by the Parents Television Council includes a strongly worded condemnation of prime time TV, contending it ''seems to be actively seeking to undermine marriage by consistently painting it in a negative light.''

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Trina and Tom Decker portrayed by Lana Parrilla and Grant Show in a scene at the Chicago Playboy Club on "Swingtown."
(CBS)

Even more troubling, according to the watchdog group, is what it characterized as TV's recent obsession with what it termed ''outre'' or bizarre behavior, including partner-swapping and pedophilia.

As for references to pornography, sex toys and ''kinky'' behavior, those are now common on TV, the report said. Visual references to practices such as voyeurism and sadomasochistic sex outnumbered married-sex references by a ratio approaching 3-1.

The effect on young viewers is dire, the Parents Television Council contends.

Behaviors that once were seen as ''fringe, immoral or socially destructive have been given the imprimatur of acceptability by the television industry'' and children are absorbing or even imitating it, the report contends.

ABC, CBS, CW, Fox and NBC, the networks in the study, declined to comment.

James Steyer, CEO of nonprofit Common Sense Media, which helps parents sift through media offerings to decide what's right for their children, said he couldn't vouch for the Parents Television Council's research but lauded the effort.

While the council takes a very traditional view of society and pop culture, ''I respect it,'' Steyer said Tuesday.

But TV Watch, a nonpartisan coalition that counts networks among its members and argues that individuals and not government should decide what's seen, fired a volley at the council.

''The Parents Television Council won't be satisfied with television content until they convince the government to enforce their personal, selective judgments,'' said Jim Dyke, executive director of TV Watch.

AP