After receiving complaints from a national Polish-American organization for airing an offensive comment made by a character on its sitcom Back to You, FOX apologized and vowed never to broadcast the clip again.

Last month, the network aired an episode of Back to You entitled “Something's Up There,” which contained a historically inaccurate Polish slur.  It involved Marsh (Fred Willard), the dim-witted reporter, trying to convince Gary (Ty Burrell) to go bowling after work by saying: "Bowling is in your Polish blood, like kielbasa and collaborating with the Nazis."

In the past, Marsh has made fun of African-American, Hispanics, gays, Jews and others but has sparked much controversy with his most recent Polish comment.  This fired up Polish-American groups and Polish officials who demanded a sit-down with FOX owner Rupert Murdoch in order for Back to You to stop referring to the character as Polish.

"What we found so troubling is the attribution of a Polish identity to a character portrayed as someone less than competent," wrote group chairman Frank Milewski in a letter to Murdoch.  "We believe any ethnic group would be offended by having FOX portray it in such a derogatory manner."

FOX later expressed its regret while explaining that that the comments in question were just part depicting the character's ignorance.

"In no way was this dialogue meant to insinuate any connection between the Polish people and the Nazi movement," FOX said in a statement.  "The line was delivered by a character known for being ignorant, clueless and for saying outlandish things.  Allowing the line to remain in the show, however, demonstrated poor judgment, and we apologize to anyone who was offended."

Back to You also stars Kelsey Grammer, Patricia Heaton, Ayda Field, Josh Gad, and Laura Marano.  At present, the show is on hiatus but is scheduled to return on Wednesday, March 12, 2008 on FOX.


-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: FOX
(Image courtesy of FOX)