Before Gossip Girl’s second season premiered, the CW ran an ad campaign quoting criticism from the New York Post, the Boston Herald, and the San Diego Union-Tribune. The ads said things like “EVERY PARENT’S NIGHTMARE” over a sexy picture of Blake Lively, and “MIND-BLOWINGLY INAPPROPRIATE” over a sexy picture of other sexy teenagers. It was a great ad campaign because teens hate parents telling them what to do, and teens love being/watching other teens (fake teens) be “sexy” and inappropriate. That’s just teens being teens! Ahead of the premiere of Dads, FOX attempted the same sort of campaign– pitting negative quotes from critics — “…offensive” “…reprehensible” “…morally wrong” — against reactions from “real” viewers. (One responds,”Reprehensible? This is FOX, baby!”) (Haha, what?) Why this ad campaign — and Dads as a series — ah-doesn’t work so well is because, like Gossip Girl, it is what the critics say it is. Except the critics aren’t saying that it is “2 Sexy 4 Teens OMFG ur parents will b so mad,” they are saying it is racist, misogynist, offensive, lazy, not funny, and MIND-BLOWINGLY DATED! (And, following the thread further, this means they are advertising to those who think what the critics are panning is actually something they would be interested in.) (BUT ENOUGH ABOUT THE AD.) Although I do think it was much tamer (read: less racist) than the original pilot planned to be, Dads was still super full of awful garbage! What is more offensive than the straight-forward garbage (Seth Green telling his girlfriend-whom-he-won’t-allow-to-call-him-“boyfriend,” “Well, whatever you are, you’re terrible at it!”; Brenda Song dressed up in a Sailor Moon outfit; talk of tiny penises; Indian food breath; Seth’s Asian schoolgirl giggle; Latin maid; ETC.) is the sly garbage, the racist Shit Their Dads Say laughed at by the audience and faux-chided by the younger, presumably less racist (but still racist!) characters. As if getting away with truly offensive, early ’90s unfunny, material (for whatever reason you would want to) is as easy as throwing in an exaggerated eye-roll. BOOOO. Dislike, wish there were a dislike button. Did you watch it? I’m sorry if you did! Let’s never do it again!