The Parents Television Council has taken a look at the 20 shows with the highest Nielsen ratings for the 12-17 demographic and rated them in terms of appropriateness for that age group. And the winner is ABC’s “Extreme Makeover.” Fox’s “Family Guy” brings up the rear. Using a traffic-light motif to loosely group the programs, six received a green light (Fox 3, ABC 2, NBC 1); eight were under cautionary yellow (Fox 3, NBC 2, CBS 2, ABC 1) and six drew a red light (Fox 5, NBC 1). Click the headline for the full list.
RBR/TVBR observation: We are frequently critical of PTC, but not in this instance. The organization has taken the time to review hours of programming and make recommendations to interested parents. In our case, knowing PTC like we do, we will add what we consider to be an appropriate number of grains of salt when using the list to help guide our own children’s television viewing.
PTC Green Light
1. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
ABC/8:00 p.m. ET Sundays
2. Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?
Fox/8:00 p.m. ET Fridays
3. Don’t Forget the Lyrics
Fox/9:00 p.m. ET Fridays
4. Deal or No Deal
NBC/8:00 p.m. ET Wednesdays and Fridays
5. NBC Sunday Night Football
NBC/8:00 p.m. ET Sundays
6. American Idol
Fox/Returning Spring ‘09
PTC Yellow Light
7. Dancing with the Stars
ABC/8:00 p.m. ET Mondays, 9:00 p.m. ET Tuesdays
8. So You Think You Can Dance
Fox/Returning Spring ‘09
9. America’s Got Talent
NBC/Returning Summer ’09
10. Amazing Race
CBS/8:00 p.m. ET Sundays
11. Survivor
CBS/8:00 p.m. ET Thursdays
12. King of the Hill
Fox/8:30 p.m. ET Sundays
13. The Simpsons
Fox/8:00 p.m. ET Sundays
14. American Gladiator
NBC/Returning Summer ’09
PTC Red Light
15. Hell’s Kitchen
Fox/Returning Spring ’09
16. House
Fox/8:00 p.m. ET Tuesdays
17. Heroes
NBC/9:00 p.m. ET Mondays
18. Moment of Truth
Fox/Returning Spring ’09
19. American Dad
Fox/9:30 p.m. ET Sundays
20. Family Guy
Fox/9:00 p.m. ET Sundays
Source: Parents Television Council
