ABC Criticized for Airing 'Scandal' Sex Scene After Charlie Brown Special

"Shame on ABC for putting a peep show next to a playground," said the Parents Television Council president

Not all viewers considered it a treat to see a steamy scene air after a family-friendly Halloween special.

The Parents Television Council has criticized ABC for its Oct. 30 programming choices, when the network followed up its annual broadcast of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown with an episode of Scandal that opened with a sex scene.

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"Shame on ABC for putting a peep show next to a playground," said PTC president Tim Winter in a statement. "In less than 26 seconds, we were taken from the Peanuts pumpkin patch to a steamy Scandal sex scene. Twenty-six seconds, boom."

Winter dubbed the transition "grossly irresponsible" and called on ABC to apologize. The clip that the PTC put out with the comment, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter, was actually edited. Though the two telecasts did air back-to-back, the transition was not as abrupt and there were promos in between.

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Still, the segue was not lost on those involved with Scandal. Creator Shonda Rhimes retweeted a message from a viewer that read: "The leap from Charlie Brown to the first scene of #Scandal #CloseYourEyesKiddies."

This is not the first time that the PTC has taken umbrage with the popular Kerry Washington drama series. In January 2013, the conservative watchdog group criticized ABC for not giving a TV-MA rating to a Scandal episode that contained a violent torture scene, according to AdWeek.

Nov. 4, 12:46 p.m. Updated with additional information about the transition between the Charlie Brown special and Scandal that aired on ABC.

Email: Ryan.Gajewski@pgmedia.org

Twitter: @_RyanGajewski