NEW YORK CITY – HBO will use the season seven premiere of Game of Throne to introduce a new rating system that will warn viewers if the episode they are about to watch should or definitely should not be watched with their mothers.
“From the groundbreaking violence and sex in Game of Throne to the groundbreaking violence and sex in Westworld, HBO is synonymous with groundbreaking sexy violence and violent sex,” says Hallie Paul, HBO’s senior VP in charge of Media Relations. “But we’ve recently realized that not everyone wants to watch horrific acts of brutality or graphic intercourse with the woman who gave birth to them.”
In addition to the standard ratings such as PG and 18+, viewers will now see new MOM-SAFE (MS), 55- (for those under the age of 55 only), or FOR-THE-LOVE-OF-GOD-DO-NOT-WATCH-THIS-WITH-YOUR-MOTHER (FTLOGDNWTWYM) ratings shown before the opening credits of all HBO shows.
“Our previous rating system helped parents decide which shows were safe for their children to watch,” Paul explains. “But as Millennial adults continue to watch TV with their parents because only Baby Boomers can afford premium cable, we concluded that some kind of warning system was desperately needed.”
Most viewers say that this has been a long time coming.
“This will be a massive help in deciding which shows are appropriate for my mother,” says HBO viewer Dexter Grey, 29. “One time we accidentally watched an episode of True Blood and couldn’t look at each other for four months afterward.”
In addition to the rating system, HBO is also rolling out a HBO SAFE subscription service that, for a monthly fee, gives viewers the option of watching specially edited versions of FTLOGDNWTWYM episodes where all risky content has been replaced with scenes from Sesame Street.
