The latest example is NBC's The New Normal, a show that centers on a gay couple with a child that premieres on September 11 (you can watch the pilot here). Created by Ryan Murphy and Ali Adler ("Glee," "Chuck"), the basic storyline goes like this:
These days, families come in all forms - single dads, double moms, sperm donors, egg donors, one-night-stand donors... It's 2012 and anything goes. Bryan (Andrew Rannells, "Girls," "The Book of Mormon") and David (Justin Bartha, "The Hangover") are a Los Angeles couple, and they have it all. Well, almost. With successful careers and a committed, loving partnership, there is one thing that this couple is missing: a baby. And just when they think the stars will never align, enter Goldie (Georgia King, "One Day"), an extraordinary young woman with a checkered past. A Midwestern waitress and single mother looking to escape her dead-end life and small-minded grandmother (Emmy and Tony Award-winner Ellen Barkin), Goldie decides to change everything and move to L.A. with her precocious eight-year-old daughter. Desperate and broke - but also fertile - Goldie quickly becomes the guys' surrogate and quite possibly the girl of their dreams. Surrogate mother, surrogate family.
In July, the organization One Million Moms threatened to go after any sponsor associated with the show (the organization's latest target is Urban Outfitters):
NBC is using public airwaves to continue to subject families to the decay of morals and values, and the sanctity of marriage in attempting to redefine marriage. These things are harmful to our society, and this program is damaging to our culture. OMM is prepared to contact any and all sponsors of this program if it is aired. It is proven this strategy works! It was not too long ago that NBC announced "The Playboy Club" was canceled after only three episodes because of lack of advertisers! Millions of Americans strongly believe that marriage should be between one man and one woman. NBC's "The New Normal" is attempting to desensitize America and our children. It is the opposite of how families are designed and created. You cannot recreate the biological wheel.
And now Entertainment Weekly reports that some stations will not carry the show, noting "The same Mormon-owned Utah station that refused to carry NBC’s The Playboy Club last season is now giving a thumbs down to the net’s new comedy The New Normal."
So much of this sounds like the problems on the right last year with MTV's Skins and the left earlier this year with ABC's Work It. Let's just admit that now everyone will like every new show. Heck, I find MTV's Jersey Shore insulting to everyone living in New Jersey, every young person, and Italian-Americans, but I did not call for it to be removed from the airwaves. No, I simply recommended against watching such dumb shows. Can't we all just get along?
Update: So far I am not impressed with the The New Normal. The first few episodes were not all that original, the stories were loaded with stereotypes, and Ellen Barkin's character, the mom, was offensive every time she opened her mouth. Crude and wounding statements maybe worked years ago with hits such as All in the Family, but today's writers do not seem to understand how to use these characters against themselves. Political Animals had the same problem. What is it about these older actresses named Ellen?
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