The ABC show became a target of the PTC in its pilot form before the network even picked it up for a full season because of its original title Good Christian Bitches. “ABC’s decision is not only an affront to women, it blatantly attacks the world’s largest faith,” the org.’s president Tim Winter said in a statement in March of 2011. The network, which picked up the show for a full season in May, eventually renamed it Good Christian Belles.
New York City councilman Peter Vallone is taking issue with the new ABC dramedy GCB, aka Good Christian Belles.
In a not-so-grammatically-correct post on his Facebook page, Vallone criticized the series — which stars Kristen Chenowith as a devoutly religious yet devious Dallas housewife — for its depiction of Christians. He updated his status after reading a New York Post article about the show entitled “The joke’s on Jesus,” wherein Chenowith argues: “If you can’t laugh at yourself, you are taking life too seriously. We’re shedding light on the humanity of Christianity and I love that. I wouldn’t do anything that made fun of my God or my religion.”
(The primetime soap originally stood for Good Christian B—hes, but ABC changed the name following a bit of outcry from some groups.)
“The point isn’t that Christians cant (sic) laugh at themselves, the point is why is it always Christians (who) hollywood is laughing at??” Vallone vented in a message “on this lenten sunday,” adding: “We won’t hold our breath until we see a show with a title like this about some other religion .. .”
STORY: ‘GCB’s’ Kristin Chenoweth: ‘Just Because You’re a Christian Doesn’t Mean You’re Perfect’
Vallone, a Democrat and father of two who represents the Queens neighborhood of Astoria, was once the subject of a New York Times story called “The Man Who Hates Grafitti” — a title he references on his New York City Council profile — for his hardline stance against graffiti artists. He has also fought for more security in schools and argued against holding the Sept. 11 terror trials in lower Manhattan.
CGB, which also co-stars Leslie Bibb and Annie Potts, premiered to modest ratings on Sunday, with a 2.2 rating among adults 18-49 and 7.6 million viewers. The debut drew a mixed response from TV critics, although THR’s Tim Goodman noted the alluring combination of the freshman series’ “Texas lifestyle, Christianity, sex, riches, envy, revenge and sass into a sprawling, larger-than-life drama.”
“For people looking for the next Housewives, GCB could be the perfect replacement. And no doubt the controversy will drive the curious to check it out. Either way, GCB probably will strike it rich,” he predicted.
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