TV Show's Storyline Puts Crock-Pot on the Defensive

If you own a Crock-Pot, don't freak out (but be warned that spoilers follow, TV lovers). Crock-Pot maintains its devices aren't likely to kill you, though some This Is Us fans aren't so sure. CNN reports the NBC show has promised the way in which a main character died would be revealed, and Tuesday's episode suggests a faulty slow cooker that triggered a house fire is responsible for Jack's demise. Assuming the fictional device came from Crock-Pot, some viewers responded with promises to kick their own Crock-Pots to the curb, prompting the company to respond, per the Washington Post.

"We're heartbroken over last night's episode too" but "we're innocent until proven guilty," it wrote to one Facebook user before issuing a longer statement, per Entertainment Weekly. Crock-Pot has "never received any consumer complaints similar to the fictional events portrayed." In fact, "the safety and design of our product renders this type of event nearly impossible," the company said. "Our hope is that the team at NBC’s This Is Us will help us in spreading factual information regarding our product’s safety." This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman sort of obliged, tweeting, "It was a 20 year old fictional crockpot with an already funky switch ... Let's not just lump all those lovely hardworking crockpots together." (More TV shows stories.)