Hat tip to Jocelyn at the Yahoo! NYC Public Relations Group:
Open mouth, insert foot… oops.
'Housewives'' Philippines comment sparks outrage
Susan’s always putting her foot in her mouth as the charmingly clumsy one on “Desperate Housewives.” But this time it’s the show’s writers who may be in trouble after Teri Hatcher’s character seemingly derided the quality of medical education in the Philippines. Susan’s gynocologist sent her into a panic when he suggested she might be starting menopause on Sunday’s season premiere, prompting her to ask for a look at his medical diplomas, “Just to make sure they aren't, like, from some med school in the Philippines?”
Since the episode aired, an online petition demanding an apology from the network has garnered more than 55,000 signatures, while others have called the network to complain. Several Filipino politicians have also chastised the network, and the story has been plastered across the nightly Filipino newscasts for days. Yesterday ABC put out a statement reading in part: “The producers of `Desperate Housewives' and ABC Studios offer our sincere apologies for any offense caused by the brief reference in the season premiere. There was no intent to disparage the integrity of any aspect of the medical community in the Philippines."