Watchdog group Parents Television Council is fighting ABC after it transitioned from the annual Halloween special "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" to a torrid sex scene on the hit television show "Scandal" last Thursday, reports People magazine.

As Charlie Brown and friends faded to black that night, "Scandal's" Olivia (Kerry Washington) was shown dreaming about red-hot sex with Jake (Scott Foley) and Fitz (Tony Goldwyn). The passionate scene was set to "Summer Breeze" and included glimpses of bare skin.

"Shame on ABC for putting a peep show next to a playground," Parents Television Council president Tim Winter told People magazine. "In less than 26 seconds we were taken from the Peanuts pumpkin patch to a steamy 'Scandal' sex scene. Twenty-six seconds, boom. Unless parents had the remote control in their hand, thumb on the button and aimed directly at the TV screen, they didn't have a chance. Such a transition is grossly irresponsible by the network and entirely unfair for parents. ABC owes families an apology."

On Monday, the Parents Television Council sent a scathing statement to ABC condemning the abrupt shift in kid-centric programming to the explicit adult scene, reports the Washington Post, saying that many families gather to watch the beloved Halloween-inspired cartoon every year and certainly were not prepared to quickly change the channel.

ABC has not commented on the scandal.

"Scandal" creator Shonda Rhimes acknowledged the inappropriate lead-in on Twitter that night, retweeting a commenter who joked, "The leap from Charlie Brown to the first scene of #Scandal #CloseYourEyesKiddies."

Peanuts Worldwide LLC was ecstatic to be on ABC's most popular night of programming, tweeting to Rhimes that night, "Thank you for letting us be part of #TGIT! Does that make us Gladiators? We hope so!"

The animated Halloween-themed Peanuts special, "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," was created by late cartoonist Charles M. Schulz. It first aired October 27, 1966, and has become a Halloween cartoon classic aired every year in October.

"Scandal" is a political drama television series that debuted on ABC April 5, 2012.

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