Good Christian Bitching: The Paradox Of Conservative TV

ABC caused some anger last week when they announced they're considering a show titled GCB, which stands for Good Christian Bitches. The show is based on a book and sounds like a hybrid of Saved! and Desperate Housewives. Darren Star, producer of Sex and the City, is on board for the project.

The Parent's Television Council has accused ABC of tarnishing the Disney brand. They make the point that there's a double standard at work here: A show about Jewish or Muslim bitches wouldn't be considered. Plus, the world "bitch" is demeaning. All of that may be true, but ABC is no stranger to flirting with paradoxes, and doing so successfully.

The network's shows cater to conservative Americans (sometimes known as Christians). Last year,  ABC News published a list of shows Republicans like, vs. those that Democrats enjoy. ABC shows fell mostly on the red side, and "conservative values" had very little to do with it. PTC is outraged at GCB because it sounds misogynist, but can you think of a show more demeaning to women than The Bachelor? Conservatives like that show, and it's part of the Disney Corporation. Another favorite among conservatives: Desperate Housewives, a show about women backstabbing and sometimes murdering each other in the suburbs, which also airs on ABC.  (As a side note, Republicans also liked Two and a Half Men.)

Perhaps the PTC should ask why conservatives enjoy this programing rather than assuming ABC holds all the blame. When it comes down to it, ABC is a corporation like any other. They study their consumers and create content that they anticipate will be watched. The only problem with GCB seems to be that that its title is too explicit.

A surprising find among conservative favorites is Modern Family, which is also an ABC show. The show is embracing of gay values, immigrant rights, and attempts to challenge the traditional definition of a family, but it's also remarkably wholesome. And it knows its audience. You'll never hear gay dads Cameron and Mitchell make fun of conservatives. The Bachelor is laughable, but not on purpose. And the problem with GCB seems to be that it openly pokes fun. At least in its title.

ABC has been "tarnishing" Disney for a while now thanks to their conservative audience, but GCB's openly Christian-mocking angle may be too much even for those who enjoy watching Jesus-loving girls compete for a Bachelor in a hot tub. If TV history repeats itself, GCB won't last too long. The Book of Daniel, a 2006 NBC show about a pill-popping clergyman was critically acclaimed but short-lived.

Another show on the horizon from Showtime, The Borgias, has Jeremy Irons as Pope Alexander VI, one of the most controversial Popes of the Renaissance era whose Italianized surname, Borgias, became a symbol of the debasing of the papacy which is said to have occurred during that time. The Borgias is sure to anger Catholics as its aiming to appeal to those who enjoyed The Sopranos and The Tudors, mostly liberal audiences. Catholic persecution of this show will also be headache-inducing, but at least their case will be stronger than that of PTC vs ABC.