Jamie McCarthy/WireImage.comAn "act of desperation for a flailing network"?
So says the Parents Television Council about NBC's inevitably controversial hiring of Howard Stern as a judge on America's Got Talent, which, so far, is doing exactly what it was meant to do—create major buzz.
"#howard stern is officially a new judge on AGT!!! Confirmed! So stoked—welcome to the NBC family!" The Voice host Carson Daly tweeted today, one of thousands of positively charged posts about the network's big move.
But the PTC, which opposed the very idea of Stern becoming a prime-time regular, had no qualms about sticking it to NBC ASAP.
"In an act of desperation for a flailing network, NBC has hired Howard Stern—a performer who is synonymous with shock, profanity and obscenity—as a judge on a prime-time talent competition," PTC president Tim Winter said in a statement obtained by E! News.
"Not coincidentally, in just over three weeks the network will be standing before the United States Supreme Court arguing for the right to use the F-word at any time of the day, even in front of children."
NBC had no comment on the backlash. (E! and America's Got Talent are both members of the NBCUniversal family.)
If memory serves, Stern was pretty good about steering clear of profanity before he was on satellite radio, where practically anything not illegal does indeed go, but...we doubt that argument will matter to Stern's most adamant opponents.
To one concerned viewer who tweeted, "@HowardStern on AGT seriously? I don't think I will be watching with him on the show," judge Howie Mandel replied simply, "I think u will."
The funnyman followed that with, "Trying to make arrangements for new season. You know I hate hotels. Can my family and myself stay at your place?good bonding@HowardStern."
But what do you think? Great move? Bizarre move? And, more importantly, will you watch?!