Episode no. Season 1
Episode 7 Written by Steven Levitan | Directed by James Burrows Production code BTY-107 | |
Original air date November 14, 2007 (2007-11-14) ← Previous
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"Cradle to Grave" | ||
"Something's Up There" is the seventh episode of the first season of the situation comedy Back to You. It aired on November 14, 2007. This episode is also known for its controversial content.
Contents
Plot
It's Gracie's birthday and everything goes wrong.
Chuck insists on buying Gracie's birthday cake, and Montana offers to give Gracie and her friends makeovers. Meanwhile, it's Gary's anniversary, but the seemingly simple task of getting home is made nearly impossible by the WURG team.
Also, the WURG team all end up in Kelly's house cornering a fierce raccoon in Kelly's living room.
As a result of this, the raccoon inadvertently sets Kelly's sofa alight.
Controversies
On November 14, 2007, Fox aired this episode which contained a controversial Polish slur. The slur involved Marsh trying to convince the show's lone Polish character, Gary, to go bowling after work by saying: "Come on, it's in your blood, like Kielbasa and collaborating with the Nazis." This Anti-Polonist comment offended many Polish people by disparaging the three million Poles who suffered in concentration camps and died at the hands of German Nazis. Many feel it ignores the millions of Poles who fought the Nazis for six years during World War II.
Fox later apologized on November 20, 2007. They vowed never to air the line of dialog again in repeats and/or syndicated broadcasts. Fox stated that, "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."
Furthermore, some critics and many viewers noticed that a large part of the plot was taken from a popular story from the radio program This American Life.