An episode of Fox drama The Following was...

An episode of Fox drama The Following was incorrectly rated as appropriate for children, said the Parents Television Council in a news release Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1gYvyek). The episode included a scene of “a young woman having her throat brutally and graphically slit open,” but had a TV-14 rating instead of “a more appropriate TV-MA (Mature Audience Only) rating,” PTC said. “This is just the latest -- but perhaps the most brazen -- example of a wholly fraudulent TV content ratings system that serves no one but the networks’ own financial interest,” said PTC President Tim Winter in the release. The Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board should reform the ratings system, PTC said. “If the TV content ratings system is to be of any value to those whom it is intended to serve -- parents -- then the ratings must be accurate, consistent, transparent and publicly accountable."