Some say it’s just no joke

Even before it has aired, FX’s new comedy “Starved” has provoked complaints from eating disorder treatment and prevention groups, which say the program is inappropriately lighthearted about a disease that can be deadly, and they are planning campaigns to keep it off the air.

Lynn Grefe, chief executive officer of the Seattle-based National Eating Disorders Assn., said the program has already caused a stir in the eating disorder community, especially among parents. The organization is now mounting a letter-writing campaign asking the network not to air “Starved.”

“It’s a painful program,” said Grefe, who recently screened the pilot with a doctor who treats eating disorders and two parents of children suffering from the disease. “This isn’t funny. I’m meeting parents every day who have lost their kids.”

She said she believes the show’s “cartoonish” treatment of eating disorders could help those struggling with food issues to rationalize their behavior. “I believe it could create a cult,” she said. “People with eating disorders are not thinking clearly. It will be like, ‘Oh, good, we have our own show now.’ ”

Her concerns were echoed by Vivian Hanson Meehan, president of the Highland Park, Ill.-based National Assn. of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders.

After watching three episodes last week provided to them by FX, the group’s officials say they also plan to lobby to keep the program off the air.

“Many people have poor attitudes about victims of eating disorders and, sadly, this will make it worse,” Meehan said.

Scott Seomin, a spokesman for FX, said that although the network respects their perspectives, it remains committed to airing the program. “We feel ‘Starved’ presents eating disorders in a responsible manner, a poignant manner,” he said.

FX officials noted that “Starved” creator Eric Schaeffer wrote the series based on his own struggles with food.

“If people who have eating disorders want to make a show about themselves and their struggle and it’s honest and self-mocking, does anybody have the right to tell them they can’t?” asked FX Networks President John Landgraf.

-- Matea Gold