Who can you make fun of anymore?

I recently realized I am a member of a special minority group.  I don’t exactly know when it happened, but I am apparently a member of the only ethnic group that can be made fun of on television.

Keith Olbermann frequently mentions that the name of a certain football franchise is the last racial slur you can say at work and not get fired.  Maybe, maybe not.  CBS has a new situation comedy whose entire premise is based on ethnic stereotypes; the show will probably get cancelled, not because of audience outrage but because, well, it isn’t very good.  The show is The McCarthys and of course I am talking about the Irish.

Years ago there was a show called Bridget Loves Bernie about a Catholic girl who married a Jewish boy, and it was considered edgy.  Television is now much more homogenized.  There are shows with inter-racial couples and gay couples without it being a plot point.  Few TV characters actively practice any organized religion. Yes, The Sopranos was nothing but a bunch of Italian stereotypes, but for some reason people accepted it as realistic (there were some protests at first, but they died down once the Emmys started piling up).  The idea of a TV show about a family of Polish origin who weren't that bright wouldn't be considered, even by Fox.  But the Irish are still fair game.

The show The McCarthy’s is about a typical Irish family, meaning they live in Boston, drink to excess, and are fanatical about sports (except for the one gay son, which makes him a different stereotype). What a nuanced, well-rounded portrayal of an ethnic group.  What next, a show about an African-American family on welfare whose children are good at sports?

I’m not aware of any organized protests against The McCarthys, but then I haven’t looked.  Usually you don’t have to.  Last week an organization made news by protesting Direct TV’s ads featuring an alternate version of Rob Lowe who couldn't go to the bathroom with someone else in the room.  The shy bladder people have a spokesman, but not the Irish?

I've a good mind to go down to me local pub, grab some shillelaghs, get some boy-os and knock some sense into the executives at CBS.  That is, if I can get anybody off their bar stools or not eating Lucky Charms.