Mongrels

Animal puppets are shot, tortured, and otherwise maimed on a regular basis, often landing them in the hospital with copious bandages and casts. Some of the implied violence suggests sexual crimes like rape or sodomy as well, all in a lighthearted tone that's meant to be laughed at.

If the characters weren't animal puppets, then this would be an X-rated show. In the average episode, there's mention of masturbation (sometimes it's implied that a character is in the act as well), doggie porn, "banging," and having a partner "give it to me as hard as you can." One memorable segment about lesbianism shows animals -– with breasts for the occasion -– hugging, kissing, fondling, and licking each other's breasts, followed by a sketch of a nun wearing a strap-on penis. In another, a female dog gets visibly excited when a male sniffs her anus because he "fell in love with her poop."

Just about anything flies. Multiple uses of "f--k" are bleeped, but everything else is fair game: "s--t," "ass," "bitch," "hell," "Jesus Christ," "sucks," "t-t," and "damn." Name-calling is equally harsh: "c--khead," "c--kbrain," "bastard," and "prick" are heard a lot. None of the language is threatening, and it contributes to the mature sense of humor that marks the show, but there is a lot of it.

Catnip overdoses are recurring jokes, and the dialogue promotes unsavory lifestyles like smoking, drinking, and doing drugs, though its intended adult audience will see only the humor in this content.

Parents need to know that although Mongrels is a puppet sitcom, this is not a show for kids. It carries a mature TV rating for good reason, leaning heavily on jokes rooted in sexuality (including allusions to rape and masturbation, and graphic physical contact like licking a puppeted partner's breasts) and excessive swearing ("f--k" is edited, but "s--t," "bitch," "c--khead," "ass," and plenty more of the like are audible) for humor. No subject is sacred to this show's writers, who routinely tap touchy topics like prejudice, body image, nontraditional sexual relationships, and even ethnic profiling for laughs. Adults can take the over-the-top content in stride, but it may not have such a benign effect on teens since the puppets' appearances make it easier to gloss over the severity of these issues on a real-life playing field.