JULIA Gillard's nookie scene on the well-publicised ABC sitcom was not enough to save it from tumbling in the ratings last night.
At Home with Julia had 773,000 viewers nationally - well down on the show’s debut a fortnight ago.
Last night’s episode featured a controversial scene where actors playing Prime Minister Julia Gillard and her partner Tim Mathieson appear naked in the PM’s office while draped in the Australian flag.
The ABC had been swamped with complaints about the offending scene.
The debut episode of At Home with Julia grabbed 1.066 million viewers. Last week’s second episode dropped to 889,000.
The controversial show - which has been described as "tasteless" and "offensive" - has left the network scrambling to defend its image while it moved to gag the show's creators.
Much of the recent anger surrounds last night's now-infamous "flag" scene.
A spokeswoman said there had been 42 complaints about the scene - before it was aired.
But the network refused to pull the episode.
Ms Gillard said she had "more to do than sit around and watch ABC TV".
Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten, who is portrayed in the TV show as a dog, said: "They've got the Prime Minister in a flag. I find it personally tasteless. I don't believe in censorship.
"Just because something's an attempt at humour doesn't disqualify it from being in poor taste."
It is not the first time the public broadcaster has been accused of being offensive - in 2009 CEO Mark Scott was forced to apologise after comedy group The Chaser set a skit in a terminally ill children's ward.
The network was in damage control, declining to answer questions about the series. The ABC's Brendan Dahill said that if other people drape themselves in our flag, then "why can't it be draped over our Prime Minister as a symbol of love".
"It's a very gentle, tender scene," he said.
The show's creators, Quail TV, told the Herald Sun they were happy to talk about the show, but were banned by ABC management.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7HWrGWcp51jrrZ7xKernqqklravucSnq2ispmSutXnHqKSeZaeewal5ya6jopmjYsCmxIysmp6mlWK2r3nArqqtqpGhtqK6jJ%2Bjmp9dlnqzrdOipaCrXZu5sLyMn6arZZGXsG6%2Fx6iuaKaVrMBuv9OoqbJnlGavd4CSb2dxbWiZgnqEwXFqbWtml4V6spKabp%2BalGk%3D