Parents Freaking Out About Scandal Sex Scene Airing After Cartoon Are Only Making It Worse

The Parents Television Council is upset again (shocker!), this time because ABC allowed for an episode of Scandal with a very sexy opening to run immediately after the Peanuts Halloween special. Here’s what viewers gathered around their flat-screens with their littles saw:

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PTC President Tim Winter issued a rage-y statement, saying:

“Shame on ABC for putting a peep show next to a playground. In less than 26 seconds we were taken from the Peanuts pumpkin patch to a steamy Scandal sex scene. Twenty-six seconds, boom. Unless parents had the remote control in their hand, thumb on the button and aimed directly at the TV screen, they didn’t have a chance. Such a transition is grossly irresponsible by the network and entirely unfair for parents. ABC owes families an apology.”

Look, I am on of the most liberal people out there, and even I can get how it’s a leeeeeetle awkward to go from Lucy stomping down a hallway to a horny dream where Olivia Pope‘s in the middle of some sort of magical Finn and Jake sandwich. (Side note: HOW HOT WAS DAT DREAM?!) However, it’s probably way more weird for the parents watching than it is for the kids. My advice to those angry folks would be this: The way you handle seeing sex scenes on TV is going to impress upon your kids WAYYYYYY more than the actual sex scene itself. Calmly turn the TV off and send them off to bed. If they have questions, answer them matter-of-factly with actual information. Going into a rage spiral only calls more attention to the scene, and turns it into way more of a big deal than it needs to be. So they saw some beautiful lady huffing in a darkened room as a couple of dudes nibbled on her legs. So what? Your kids will survive it unscathed and will probably forget all about it, remembering only how worked up you got it. It’s the parents who need to check themselves and do a little reflection on why a quick sex scene causes them to have a meltdown.

Meanwhile, Scandal creator Shonda Rhimes has not commented on the drama, but did retween one Gladiator on Twitter, who wrote: “The leap from Charlie Brown to the first scene of #Scandal #CloseYourEyesKiddies.”

I’d guess Shonda doesn’t give a shit about the constructed controversy because she lives in a tower made of cold hard cash, whipping up complex female characters while momming the crap out of her kids like A BOSS. While the PTC sits around waiting for ABC to apologize, Shonda just made a gajillion more dollars. Because giving the silent treatment to whiners while sitting on a pile of dough is the definition of “It’s handled.”