Erin R. Brown's blog

From the network that brought you the failed show, "The Playboy Club," NBC is now offering more trashy television with the new primetime comedy, "Are You There, Chelsea?" based on the book by comedienne and host of "Chelsea Lately," Chelsea Handler. The sitcom, which premiered January 11, centers on the life of Chelsea Handler, a bartender who prays to Vodka, drinks heavily without regret and has a provocative and public sex life.

The previews promoting the season premiere show viewers that "Chelsea" will take them on an alcohol-infused adventure in which anything goes. One preview begins with Chelsea (Laura Prepon) getting pulled over for drunk driving, blowing into a breathalyzer and then thrown in jail. Judging by the accompanying laugh track, viewers are supposed to find the potentially fatal, law-breaking behavior funny.

Another teen “role model” down the drain – Miley Cyrus, aka, Disney’s “HannahMontana" recently admitted at her 19th birthday party that she smokes pot - a lot of pot. But instead of reporting this sad news to viewers, ABC, CBS and NBC have shrugged off the admission as if it's not at all news.

In a video released by The Daily, Cyrus took the microphone at her birthday party last week in Los Angeles and said, "You know you're a stoner when your friends make you a Bob Marley cake … You know you smoke way too much f***ing weed." This comes as no surprise to those who remember the video released last year of Cyrus smoking a bong claiming it was not weed and in fact the legal hallucinogen, salvia.

The TLC show "19 Kids and Counting" chronicles the daily activities of a loving, responsible Arkansas family of two parents and 19 children navigating their way through life with large clan. But last week, when Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar announced they are expecting their 20th child in April, the media reaction was far from joyous.

They called it a "Horror." They suggested Michelle has a "uterus like a clown car." They warned the Duggers, "Don't test fate" with their "ever-expanding herd."

Tuesday's "game-changing" episode of Glee was all the talk of the entertainment world this week as Gleeks and the media alike were eagerly anticipating the episode in which Rachel and Finn and Kurt and Blaine would finally get it on. Yes, the media were applauding the "progressive" displays of gay sex between high school boys in the "milestone" episode titled, "The First Time."

The highly anticipated episode, slated to feature sex scenes between gay characters Kurt and Blaine and also Rachel and Finn, was nothing more than a 55-minute hype about the possibility of four high school students losing their virginity. The last few minutes of the show didn't give viewers quite the flesh fest they were so eagerly awaiting. But that didn't matter to the media - they had nothing but praise for the "groundbreaking" episode that "advocated loving and responsible sex," even if showing sex between two high school boys during primetime is a bit "controversial."

The notorious gay activist and ruthless bully behind the infamous Santorum 'Google' incident has done it again - he has called out another conservative Republican candidate with a raunchy request. This time, Dan Savage has asked for Herman Cain to choose to be gay and in fact prove it by sucking his 'd**k' in front of a waiting camera crew.

Savage's proposition came as a response to Herman Cain's appearance on CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight show on Wednesday in which Cain said that being gay 'is a personal choice.'

Billed by Entertainment Weekly as an 'over-the-top thrill ride about a haunted house,' free cable network FX's new drama 'American Horror Story' is painted as the latest fun and scary show to appear on free cable. 'Covering our eyes and screaming has never been this much fun!' But with the show's numerous depictions of graphic violence, explicit and inappropriate sexual encounters, along with the verbal abuse of a special needs child, you have to wonder at some people's idea of fun. [Ad for the show can be seen here.]

Popular British reality singing competition "The X Factor" aired in the U.S. Sept. 21 to a TV audience of roughly 12 million, all tuning in to hear the raw pipes of undiscovered talent. But the studio audience, judges and Fox TV viewers got more than they bargained for, when an unassuming contestant let it all out on stage.

Much in the vein of American Idol, "The X Factor" show is a reality singing competition in which a panel of judges (including Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul from the original "American Idol" panel) determines which singer or group has "The X Factor" and can continue each week based on their live singing performances.

For more than a month now, the nation has buzzed with controversy about the first transgender “star” to appear on “Dancing With the Stars,” Chaz Bono. ABC’s “Nightline” ran a segment on Chaz Bono on September 19, also the same night as the Season 13 premiere of DWTS, highlighting the controversy and featuring commentary from MRC’s Culture and Media Institute Vice President, Dan Gainor.

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Parents: When shopping for a new book to read to your kids, be sure to avoid the recent children's book written by famously trashy, foul-mouthed celebrity blogger Perez Hilton. "The Boy with Pink Hair" is a cute, uplifting children's book and a slick piece of gay rights propaganda.

The self-declared "Queen of All Media," (more than 3.8 million Twitter followers and perezhilton.com, one of the most visited websites in the world) jumped into the spotlight in 2009, when he famously called Miss USA contestant Carrie Prejean a "dumb b***h" possessing "half a brain" for her statement that she believes marriage "should be between a man and a woman."

Now, Hilton is on a book tour, hawking his "story of a boy whose difference makes a difference." On the outset, this cute fairytale is a about a boy with pink hair who grows up with loving parents, pursues his favorite hobbies, encounters a bully, and overcomes his insecurities to save the day.

The controversy continues over Chaz Bono's participation in ABC's upcoming season of "Dancing with the Stars." The response to the transgender contestant's role in a once-family friendly show has left ABC with an ongoing PR problem.

Chaz Bono is considered a "star" for one reason: Using his status as the child of Cher and Sony Bono to make a very public display of gender identity change, including writing a book, and starring in the Emmy-nominated documentary "Becoming Chaz."

But the network is being coy about the gender identity issue, as evidenced by the confusing segment with "ABC News Consultant" and Chaz's representative Howard Bragman on ABC's "Good Morning America."

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Michele Bachmann has been all over the news lately because this week's Newsweek magazine cover features a sexist and unflattering photograph of the presidential candidate, sparking outrage and questions about bias against conservative women. But on last night's broadcast of The Joy Behar show on HLN, her guests took the attacks on Bachmann to a whole new level.

After a three-minute segment about the Newsweek controversy, in which all three guests mocked the Tea Party favorite and three term House member, Behar then focused the discussion on rapper Kanye West's recent comments comparing himself to Hitler.

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A girl-on-girl lip lock, a movie in which a bulldog masturbates, and a marijuana-smoking middle school teacher are among the nominees for the 2011 Teen Choice Awards. Yes that’s right, an awards show specifically aimed at 13-19 year olds will be featuring inappropriate content more suited for the panel of adults that chose the nominees.

This year, teens will vote for their favorites, ranging from artists with hits about S&M, to sex and drug-filled R-rated comedies, to favorite “break up” songs – one nominated song features the “f” word 16 times.

"The Beckhams are breeding! The Beckhams are breeding!" That's the latest battle cry that can be heard over in the UK with the news that David and Victoria Beckham have just welcomed a fourth child into the world. While that is happy news to most people, leave it to environmentalists, lefty politicians and media outlets to question the Beckhams' bundle of joy. It is, according to these critics, irresponsible to continue having children.

According to the Guardian (UK), environmentalists and politicians are using the newest addition to the Beckham family as a wake up call to "open a public debate about how many children people should have." The UN Population Division maintains that the world's population is expected to reach seven billion in late 2011.

Dan Savage hates bullying. Make that some bullying. Admirably, Savage hates it when gay teens get bullied. Less admirably, Savage doesn't hesitate to bully, smear and malign those who disagree with him.

Savage, a gay sex columnist, has never been shy about expressing his hatred for social conservatives. In his latest attack, appearing on HBO's "Real Time" with Bill Maher July 15, Savage wished Republicans were "all f**king dead" and admitted that he has contemplated how he'd like to "f**k the s**t out of [conservative presidential candidate] Rick Santorum."

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It’s no secret that Hollywood and its ‘values’ are contributing mightily to the moral decay of American culture, and 2011 romantic comedies have been some of the raunchiest to date. But the stars of the summer 2011 sleazy hookup film “Friends with Benefits” have involved Facebook in promoting their flick.

Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis star in “Friends with Benefits,” a movie that glorifies a casual and strictly sexual relationship among friends with no emotional strings attached. Kunis and Timberlake have taken to dramatically mocking Public Service Announcements by participating in a 60 second video asking viewers to “support a friends with benefits status option,” to appear alongside the traditional statuses of single, engaged, married, etc.