As Christmas approaches, we're making a list and checking it twice - find out which network tv shows have been naughty or nice.
Hollywood has never done much to hide its liberal agenda. In the age of Trump, however, the bias has turned into in-your-face propaganda. This has had quite the effect on the Fall 2018 television season. Some shows were worse than others, and a few even spread a positive message. From attacks on I.C.E. and Trump to pro-life and pro-veterans messages, here is our 2018 Naughty and Nice List.
The Naughty List
Murphy Brown on CBS
If you think the Murphy Brown revival exists to mock the Trump administration, you’re not imagining things. In fact, creator Diane English mentioned she “was even more motivated” for the revival because of President Trump. Candice Bergen, who plays the titular role, shared she was “hoping so much for a comment" from the administration. Goodness, sounds like these people are starved for relevance and attention, even more so than for viewers, since English acknowledged they weren’t even trying to appeal to conservatives.
After a season premiere featuring Hillary Clinton, the revival continued to delve into the world of media and politics. From crashing White House briefings to heckle Sarah Huckabee Sanders, to claiming Donald Trump has “made false or misleading statements 5,247 times,” to airing on episode on Thanksgiving to bash and threaten I.C.E., to having Trump supporters beat up a reporter, this show positively screams desperate liberal bias.
Here's what CBS deemed worthy of airing on Thanksgiving.
Murphy: You cannot barge in here like this. I know you're used to dealing with people who are scared and vulnerable, but if you don't get out of this truck, I will spatchcock you.
ICE Agent 2: Oh, yeah. I read about that in Gourmet Magazine. It doesn't dry out the bird, and it cuts the cooking time in half.
ICE Agent 1: Reynolds! What did I tell you about losing focus? Look, lady, we're in the removal business. We've got our orders. Maria and Carlos Gonzales, step forward.
Miguel: I'm Carlos Gonzales.
Carlos: No, Miguelito. He is DACA. I'm Carlos Gonzales.
Maria: And I'm Maria Gonzales.
ICE Agent 2: Now we're getting somewhere.
Avery: Hey, Pat, do you have your phone? Record this.
ICE Agent 1: You'll be taken to a retention center...
Avery: It's Thanksgiving Day here in America. ICE agents, with no paperwork, have shown up to arrest an undocumented couple who have lived in this country for 20 years. They have contributed to their community, and they have no criminal record. They pay their taxes, and they are raising a son who will one day become a lawyer.
Murphy: You don't have to put handcuffs on them, for God's sakes.
Miguel: What did they do except give up everything so I could grow up in a country that we thought was the most compassionate place in the world?
ICE Agent 2: Sorry, kid. We're just following government orders.
Maria: Can we have a moment with our son?
Carlos: Miguel. Miguel. We always knew this day might come. We've put some money aside for you.
Miguel: No. No. I'm going to do something, okay? We have to do something. This can't happen.
Maria: This is why you need to finish school and become a lawyer.
Phyllis: I will see to it that … He will always have a roof over his head as long as I'm around.
Carlos: Gracias.
Maria: I love you, Miguel.
Murphy: You know what? I will be your worst nightmare! I know people! I know immigration attorneys! I know judges! They are not going anywhere!
The revival has dealt with bad reviews, low ratings, and an uncertain future. There has been nary a tweet from President Trump, much to their chagrin, I'm sure. It’s not clear if the show will return for another season, but a tweet from English claiming, “We are NOT CANCELED!!!!!” when the show has yet to be officially renewed by CBS, doesn't help.
For how bad Murphy Brown has been this season, perhaps it shouldn’t expect to be rewarded by Santa with another season.
FBI on CBS
Dick Wolf’s shows are the gifts which keep on giving. With Law & Order: Special Victims Unit seeming to have a never-ending amount of seasons (it’s currently in its 20th), Wolf thought he’d crank out a new one. His latest, FBI, starts off with one of the most cliched pilot episodes imaginable. Halfway through the premiere, it’s revealed that the terrorist mastermind behind the bomb threatening poor neighborhoods of New York City isn't the Blood, the Crypts or MS-13, but a white supremacist.
The episode is even complete with this exchange between the supremacist and Arab-American FBI Special Agent Omar Adom ‘OA’ Zidan (Zeeko Zaki).
Lawrence: Are you familiar with Godwin's law? It's the idea that the end point of any intellectual debate is one party calling the other a Nazi. I'm not a Nazi.
Bell: You prefer white nationalist?
Lawrence: I prefer Americanist.
Zidan: Except in your America, it's okay to blow up Jews, African Americans?
Lawrence: I don't believe in violence as a means to any social end.
Bell: So what do you believe in, Mr. Lawrence?
Lawrence: The Fund for National Greatness was founded to examine public policy under a single objective lens: Is it good for our country?
Bell: So you protested the opening of a synagogue, then tried to bomb it, because it was bad for America?
Lawrence: I told your colleagues last year, I don't know about the bomb. I do know New York has more synagogues than any city outside of Israel.
Zidan: And that's a problem for you?
Lawrence: They pushed out a hospice, and we don't have enough of those.
Bell: Oh, so what you're really passionate about is health care?
Lawrence: We spend billions of dollars on these people in the last year of their life. 75% of that is in the final few months. I mean, don't you see the absurdity in that?
Zidan: You must be the most boring speaker at these hate rallies.
Lawrence: It's not a joke. We should put these people in hospices, let them die the way God intended, and then spend that money--
Zidan: Let's go back to talking about bombings on synagogues and minority communities.
Lawrence: Is our conversation too difficult for you to follow, Agent Zidan? You must be terribly conflicted.
Bell: We're not here to discuss politics.
Lawrence: Or maybe you and your partner can't handle uncomfortable truths. [Chuckles] Don't you have anything to say?
Zidan: Not to you.
That’s not the only cliche the show is guilty of, however. In another episode, OA’s partner, Special Agent Maggie Bell (Missy Peregrym), repeated the lie, more than once, that 1 in 5 women are sexually assaulted. For some reason, that was what came to mind when trying to comfort a victim of sex trafficking who is worried about her sister still caught up in such a nightmare.
We’ll see if Santa will be so good to FBI as he has been to Wolf’s other series, though they’re no less chock full of liberal bias.
Which brings us to...
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on NBC
The show is not merely in its 20th season, but it's still going strong with the liberal bias. What does a school shooting in the September 27 season opener, "Man Up/Man Down" of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit have to do with sex crimes? A young man who is raped by his father responds by shooting up his school and the defense blames it on "toxic masculinity." Well, that's one way to opine on current events, with a bonus scene scoffing at "thoughts and prayers," just as liberals are prone to do.
Following the season opener, the show became even more of a liberal crusader on current events. October 4's episode, "Zero Tolerance" involves a 9-year-old caught up in sex trafficking - but wait, there's more, because the investigators get involved in the politics of how the young girl was separated from her mother at the border when they illegally came into the country.
Not only are there several instances decrying how "our government separated her from her mother," but because this is a television drama, there's even a self-righteous courtroom outburst for Olivia Benson, played by Mariska Hargitay.
Stone: Kidnapping is defined by forcibly depriving a person of her freedom by holding her against her will. It is beyond dispute the Refugee Officer Phelps did precisely that to Gabriela Sosa.
DOJ: As the government does to millions of prisoners every day.
Stone: Gabriela was not a prisoner. She's a nine-year-old child who did nothing wrong.
DOJ: Except enter this country illegally with her mother.
Judge: Do you concede that fact, Mr. Stone?
Stone: For the purpose of this argument, I would. But that doesn't give the government the right to forcibly separate her from her parents.
DOJ: Flores V. Reno says we can't keep them together.
Stone: No, it says we can't incarcerate them together. And the state of New York criminalizes transporting that child here against her will.
DOJ: These acts were done under the color of federal law.
Stone: Not law, Your Honor. But a DOJ policy directive known as Zero Tolerance.
Judge: Either way, it's clear the petitioner was acting in good faith.
Stone: That doesn't relieve him of his criminal liability for the ongoing abduction of this girl here in New York.
DOJ: I would remind Mr. Stone of the supremacy clause in article six of the Constitution. –
Olivia: Oh, my God.
DOJ: Simply stated, Your Honor, federal law trumps state law.
Olivia: Okay, Your Honor, what are we doing here? We're talking about a nine-year-old child.
Judge: You are out of order, Lieutenant Benson.
Olivia: The government ripped this little girl out of her mother's arms. Somebody, somewhere needs to stop this!
Hargitay also tweeted about the episode using #SVUWithoutBorders, unless there's any question about how politically involved the show intended to be.
The show also did their own take on a case which addressed accusations made against Justice Brett Kavanaugh. The November 8 episode, "Hell's Kitchen," even referenced the allegations by name, with prominent #MeToo prosecutor Chris Hodges (who is accused of a near identical assault to the one Christine Blasey Ford described) saying, "I don't wanna get Judge Kavanaughed here." Unlike the now Supreme Court justice, however, there is clear dialogue to show Hodges is guilty, and he is ultimately arrested. Perhaps the show should have instead focused more on the irony of his role in a movement claiming to help victims?
New Amsterdam on NBC
This new NBC show follows Dr. Max Goodwin (Ryan Eggold), the incoming medical director who is on a mission to improve the hospital where he now works. His methods aren’t the only things which could be described as drastic, however.
New Amsterdam joins the long list of shows opining on illegal immigration, as well as digging into race relations. What’s perhaps most egregious, however, is when it comes to a transitioning transgender teen, Shay, who wants to have breast removal surgery. Dr. Iggy Frome (Tyler Labine) is gay but portrayed as anti-LGBT by Shay on social media because he recommends Shay wait a year even though he supports the surgery.
Dr. Frome: Those are your epiphyseal plates. That's the stuff inside your bones that does all the growing. Now, looking at this, we can estimate more or less how much more growing you are going to do.
Shay: So how tall am I gonna be?
Dr. Frome: I'm pleased to report, tall. Not, uh, NBA tall. But, you know, top shelf tall.
Shay: #Topshelftall...
Dr. Frome: Yes, you are in very good health, Shay. All the doctors here agree that you will be a prime candidate for top surgery in about a year.
Shay: A year?
Dr. Frome: Yeah. I mean, I know you were hoping for something a little sooner, but, uh, we have to take medical into consideration. It's surgery.
Shay: Now you sound just like my parents.
Dr. Frome: Listen, you've only been on hormone blockers for about six months. We need to see how it affects your breast tissue before we can decide what surgery will be right for you.
Shay: So a cisgender doctor gets to tell me what's right for me. Okay. Got it. Got it.
Dr. Frome: All right. I hear that you're upset, but I need you to hear me when I tell you that I want you to have the surgery. I said so to your parents.
Shay: Screw this. And screw you.
As a show about medical issues, one would think New Amsterdam would know better than to push for the mutilation of children. But such is too much to ask for from liberal Hollywood.
Santa is weeping over this addition to the Naughty list.
Bonus Coal for Chuck Lorre
Even when The Big Bang Theory and its spin-off prequel series Young Sheldon manage to be funny without getting political, their creator, Chuck Lorre, often can’t help himself from taking a cheap shot at President Trump, something he has a record of.
Lorre even evoked the name of God to issue a prayer from one of his “vanity cards” following the credits for the October 25 episodes of his above-mentioned shows. As you probably guessed, the prayer called for God to intervene with the November 6 election, and although it did not refer to Trump by name, made it very clear that’s who Lorre was voicing his distaste for when he referenced "a fascist, hate-filled, fear-mongering, demagogic, truth-shattering, autocratic golf cheater."
But Lorre does not confine his religious commentary to after the credits have rolled. Both shows are centered around Sheldon Cooper, an avowed atheist who, even as a child, is often spouting anti-religious commentary, especially towards Christians, twice in this current season alone.
By not airing a Christmas-themed episode for either show, Lorre has spared viewers in a way. It’s still not enough, however, to get Lorre off of the naughty list.
The Nice List
God Friended Me on CBS
Viewers were treated to a review for CBS’s God Friended Me in time for the series premiere. Several more episodes in, the show has not disappointed.
Main character Miles Finer (Brandon Michael Hall) is an atheist with a podcast, who also happens to be the son of a reverend. One day he is sent a Facebook friend request by someone claiming to be God. The God Account, as it comes to be known, sends Miles friend requests each episode as a way for him to help people, like a suicidal man.
Miles and his friends, Cara (Violett Beane) and Rakesh (Suraj Sharma), help people while also hoping to find out just who is behind this God Account, and why they have chosen Miles.
It’s not just complete strangers Miles is helping. It’s also himself. In the December 16 episode, "17 Years," Miles hears about how involving and powerful forgiveness can be.
Miles: My father thinks I'm still holding on to my anger over losing my mom, that... If I don't let go, I'll never be able to move on. I'll never be able to remember her... Without feeling this way.
Cara: What do you think?
Miles: That even if he's right... I don't know how to let it go, or if I can.
Cara: You know what scared me the most about reconnecting with my mom? It was knowing that if I forgave her, I would have to let go of all of that anger that I carried around with me. And if I did... I might not know who I was anymore. Wouldn't know what to replace it with. And for a long time... that scared me more than holding onto it.
Miles: How'd you get through it?
Cara: You. Miles, you helped me through it. Everything we've been doing with the God Account... that replaced all of it.
Here’s hoping that God Friended Me rewards Miles, Cara, and Rakesh (and us viewers) with a late Christmas present by finally revealing who/what is behind this God Account.
Last Man Standing on Fox
For a time the Tim Allen show Last Man Standing faced an uncertain future after being cancelled by ABC, even when its ratings suggested it should be renewed. Ultimately, the show was picked up by Fox and premiered once again this fall.
The show continues to deliver on laughs and wholesome messaging alike. The show even featured a Christmas episode showing appreciation for veterans, with December 14's episode "The Gift of the Mike Guy." That the show is still on air, and not berating viewers with liberal messaging is a Christmas miracle right there.
Mike: Hey. Look, I'm glad I found you before you took off on your trip.
Ed: Yeah? What's this?
Mike: It's a chance for you to give me a nice gift, you cheap bastard. Because of the awesome job I'm doing at Outdoor Man, we're expanding. These are personnel reports from each department. We're looking for new hires.
Ed: Well, thanks for explaining the business to me. Let me return the favor by reminding you that you have a personnel department.
Mike: I know exactly the kind of people I want for these jobs.
Ed: So you came here to brag, huh? You're a piece of work, Mikey.
Mike: Listen. I want people looking for a place to apply their unique skills.
Ed: You're talking about veterans?
Mike: Mm-hmm. And I'm looking for somebody who knows their specific skill sets, so they can match them to the correct position. Ed we need you.
Ed: I'd say you're just being nice, but we both know that's... That's not your strong suit.
Mike: Listen, this isn't just Denver. I mean, this is all the stores.
We're gonna be doing a lot of new hires.Yeah.
Ed: Obviously, we'd coordinate with local vfws and the va. Also, I could reach out to the discharge offices of military bases.
Mike: Yep. Sounds like a lot of work for a guy who just started his career as a bartender.
Ed: Department of Labor has a Veterans' Employment and Training site. I'll contact them. Mm-hmm. I like the fact you still use paper, Mikey.
Mike: Well, you know me-- old-fashioned.
Ed: Yeah, me, too, pal.
Mike: No, I'd like you to make me an old-fashioned.
Ed: Yeah. Please. I've got work to do. Now, what the hell are you doing here?
Mike: Wow. I missed your sunny disposition.
Ed: Mikey, they always said you give the best gifts. They're right.
Here’s hoping this show enjoys the good, long run it deserves. Please, Santa?
A Million Little Things on ABC
A Million Little Things is far from perfect, especially the way in which it celebrates the “coming out” of a child as young as 11-years old. (A plot point NBC's This Is Us took even further with a lesbian 10-year-old girl weeks later).
While the above-mentioned plot may be ridiculous, the show doesn’t always cater to a liberal agenda, even if it faces flack from pro-choice media sources.
The October 31 episode “Unexpected” features widow Delilah (Stephanie Szostak) discovering she is not only pregnant, but pregnant by the man she was having an affair with, rather than her late husband. Delilah goes through anguish deciding what to do about the pregnancy and sets up an appointment for an abortion, but ultimately does not go through with it.
In criticizing the decision of Delilah to not have an abortion, it seems Bustle is more than just pro-choice, but pro-abortion. It just makes A Million Little Things look even better then.
Delilah: You're not saying anything.
Gary: Yeah. I just -- I don't want to say the wrong thing. Uh...Okay. Look. About -- About this or -- or anything else, I-I got your back, D, okay, until the end of time.
Nurse: Delilah Dixon?
Gary: Should -- Should I --
Delilah No.
Gary: [ Sighs ] I'll be right here. [ Sighs ]
♪♪ Pray God, you can cope
♪♪ I stand outside ♪♪
♪♪ This woman's work ♪♪
♪♪ This woman's world ♪♪
♪♪ Ooh, it's hard on the man ♪♪
♪♪ Now his part is over ♪♪
♪♪ Now starts the craft ♪♪
♪♪ Of the Father ♪♪
♪♪ I know you have a little life in you yet ♪♪
♪♪ I know you have a lot of strength left ♪♪
♪♪ I know you have a little life in you yet ♪♪
♪♪ I know you have a lot of strength left ♪♪
♪♪ I should be crying, but I just can't let it show ♪♪
♪♪ Should be hoping, but I can't stop thinking ♪♪
♪♪ Of all the things I should've said ♪♪
♪♪ But I never said ♪♪
♪♪ All the things we should've said done ♪♪
♪♪ But we never did ♪♪
♪♪ And all the things I should've given ♪♪
♪♪ But I didn't ♪♪
♪♪ Oh, oh, my darling ♪♪
♪♪ Make it go ♪♪
♪♪ Make it go away ♪♪ ♪♪ ...
Delilah ultimately chooses life for her child as viewers discover during the drive home, making the song playing in the background all the more fitting.
Here’s hoping a spot on our Nice List, because choosing life is always nice, will have A Million Little Things staying away from ridiculous plot lines involving the sexuality of 11-year-olds and move more towards these life-affirming messages.
Speechless on ABC
Speechless is a positive but realistic account of what it’s like to raise a son with cerebral palsy. The DiMeos, led by matriarch Maya (Minnie Driver), are a quirky bunch and in the December 7 episode, middle child Ray (Mason Cook) goes up against the bloated, inefficient local government in his mission to build a park. Who couldn’t love this hilarious take on battling government red tape and bureaucracy?
Female customer: Hey, excuse me, I really need to use the restroom. Do you mind just holding on to my spot in line?
Ray: Sorry, but I just feel like it violates the spirit of the line. You understand.
Dylan: I think you have a future here, Ray.
Craig: Next!
Ray: Hello, Craig. Here is my form 612 application to build a playground, and I understand you'll need to send me over to Parks, but I'm here for my 897.
Craig: You can't get an 897 for a 612 unless you fill out a 383b.
Ray: Well, I filled out a 383b just for fun!
Craig: Still a lot more forms you need to fill out.
Ray: This is what we trained for. Sir, would you mind if I played some of my psych-up music?
Craig [pointing to sign]: No amplified music allowed.
Ray: Oh. Dylan, I'm going to need you to sing the Rocky theme song.
Dylan: Da-na-na na-na-na na-na na-na
Ray: That's not the Rocky theme song.
Dylan: Sorry, pal. You're not getting this back.
Dylan singing: Da-na-na na-na-na na-na na-na. Da-na-na na-na-na na-na na-na. Da-na-na na-na-na na-na na-na. Da-na-na na-na-na na-na na-na. Da-na-na na-na-na na-na na-na. Da-na-na na-na-na na-na na-na. Ray thinks he's Rocky. Ray thinks he's Rocky. I've never seen Rocky. I don't think it's like this.
Gardener: Hey, no running.
Ray: I respect that. [Proudly stands on steps] Eh, that felt like Rocky.
Coal for the government workers standing in Ray's way, but gifts for the rest of the cast of Speechless.
So, there you have it. Are these shows listening? Will those on the Naughty List learn their lesson? Will the ones on the Nice List keep up the good work? We shall see in the New Year, so stay tuned.
