Parents Television Council Blasts ‘Glee’s’ ‘First Time’ Episode

Conservative watchdog group the Parents Television Council on Tuesday blasted Fox’s Glee for its “The First Time” episode.

The group called Tuesday’s episode — which features beloved couples Rachel (Lea Michele) and Finn (Cory Monteith) as well as Blaine (Darren Criss) and Kurt (Chris Colfer) having sex for the first time — “reprehensible,” taking issue with the series’ representation of teen sex.

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“The fact that Glee intends to not only broadcast, but celebrate children having sex is reprehensible,” PTC president Tim Winter said in a statement. “Teen sex is now more prevalent on TV than adult sex and ‘Glee’ is only playing into that trend.”

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“Research proves that television is a teen sexual super peer that can, and likely will, influence a teen’s decision to become sexually active,” Winter added. “Fox knows the show inherently attracts kids; celebrating teen sex constitutes gross recklessness.”

Tuesday’s “First Time” episode isn’t the first time the group has taken issue with Glee. In March, the PTC called an episode in which Gwyneth Paltrow’s substitute teacher opened up her shirt and two members of the school’s glee club debating making a sex tape “pretty appalling.”

STORY: Parents Television Council Blasts Sex Episode of ‘Glee’ as ‘Appalling’

Winter on Tuesday noted that the PTC didn’t take issue with the gender of the characters involved again singled out Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy for comments he made during his Nip/Tuck tenure about the way in which he depicts sex on programming he creates.

“Few parents realize the creator of Glee also demonstrated his taste for the depths of depravity in creating Nip/Tuck, a program in which no taboo was too extreme to violate,” Winter said. “In fact he stated publicly that his legacy may be to make possible a rear-entry scene on broadcast television. If past behavior is any indicator, parents can expect Glee to continue down this dangerous path.”

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The PTC also took issue with last year’s Glee GQ pictorial, saying at the time that the October 2010 images “borders on pedophilia.”

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Glee‘s Cory Monteith said the hour was “really well done” and “handled a lot of sensitive topics very maturely.”

Fox declined comment.

Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit