Family Guy is hardly family programming. So says the Parent Television Council’s Barbara Warburton who goes further and declares “Shows like these are leading toward the destruction of morality… nothing seems sacred anymore.” Her comments are particularly interesting because her son (actor Patrick Warburton) voices paralyzed cop Joe Swanson, one of the characters on the animated comedy.  She essentially says her son (known for his roles on such TV series as Seinfeld, The Tick and, currently, Rules of Engagement) is too good for the show.
IMHO: Mrs. Warburton is right. Leaving aside the question of whether Family Guy (as has been alleged) is anti-Christian, it’s just plain-old mean and, to me at least, isn’t funny.  I gave up on watching it years ago.

Flag of My Father celebrates faith and patriotism. The movie, about an Army nurse’s struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder, stars William Devane, John Schneider and GiGi Erneta who, writing for Big Hollywood, describes the it as being about “faith, forgiveness, healing and family.” The film debuts tomorrow (Friday) at the GI Film Festival in Washington, D.C. After that it may get a small release and will be released on DVD.

Here’s the trailer:

CBS Pilots. Continuing the rundown of the pilots currently under consideration for next season, here’s a look at what’s up at the Eye Network.  CBS is set announce its fall schedule next Wednesday.

Dramas
The Doctor
Christine Lahti as a doctor who reconnects with her adult children by joining the family medical practice.

Hail Mary
Minnie Driver as Mary Beth Baker, a suburban single mom who teams up with a street-wise hustler to solve crimes.

Person of Interest
From J.J. Abrams (Lost) comes a crime drama about  a former CIA agent, thought dead, who teams up with a mysterious billionaire to prevent violent crimes in New York City before they happen. Michael Emerson(Lost) and Jim Caviezel (who played Jesus in The Passion of The Christ) star.

Ringer
Sarah Michelle Gellar as a fugitive from the mob who assumes the identity of her identical sister — who she soon realizes also has a bounty on her life.  Talk about rotten luck.

Rookies
Six young cops learn the ropes on the streets of NYC.

The Rememberer
A female NYPD cop has the ability to remember everything.

Untitled Susannah Grant Project
Written by Grant, the pilot concerns an ultra-competitive surgeon whose late wife begins appearing to him with lessons from the afterlife. (This could be the Touched By an Angel for this generation.)

Comedies
The Assistants (Multi-cam)
Four assistants work for a celebrity couple.

Herd Mentality (Multi-cam)
What happens behind the scenes at a sports radio show.

Home Game (Multi-cam)
A former NFL star reconnects with his family.

Homegrown (Multi-cam)
Gerald McRaney in a comedy about a traditional blue collar guy sharing a house with his wife,  their unmarried grown daughter, her 12-year-old son and his own recently widowed mother.

How to be a Gentleman (Multi-cam)
Based on the book of the same name, it’s about a traditional, uptight columnist who learns lessons in life from his rough-around-the-edges former high school classmate.

Two Broke Girls (Multi-cam)
The comic adventures of two young roommates in New York City.

Untitled Peter Knight  Project (Multi-cam)
Written by Knight, it follows the misadventures of the young staff of a high-powered venture capital firm.

Untitled Rob Schneider Project (Multi-cam)
Rob Schneider as a guy who marries into a large Mexican family.

Vince Uncensored (Multi-cam)
Michael Chiklis, in what can’t be a good sign for ABC’s No Ordinary Family, stars a Vince who, after a life-changing experience, decides to take a more honest approach to life. (This can either be very good or very bad depending on how the writers define “honest.”)

BTW, speaking of Michael Chiklis, here he is in his pre-Shield days in the opening sequence of one of my favorite cop shows ever. The Commish combined intelligence, action and warmth in a way that you don’t see too often these days. It was a great show.

Encourage one another and build each other up – 1 Thessalonians 5:11