You think TV shows can be offensive, outlandish, and graphic at times?
Just imagine the things you don’t see. That’s right — a lot of popular TV shows have banned episodes hidden deep in their archives.
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From racist undertones to child murder to real-life events affecting shows, here are 10+ banned television episodes.
*Friends – “The One with the Lesbian Wedding”
Here’s the backstory: Ross’s ex-wife Carol got married to Susan, making it the first lesbian wedding on TV.
Unfortunately, this also made it the first banned lesbian wedding on TV, as the storyline was banned from NBC affiliates in Ohio and Texas.
*Boy Meets World* – “Prom-ises Prom-ises”
Since sexuality was quite taboo in ’90s teen TV shows, one particular heated episode got banned .
In it, Cory and Topanga discuss sex by listing the pros and cons of sex. Add in those uncomfortable hotel scenes and it had got pulled from the air.
*X-Files* – “Home “
There are just some storylines that are never going to fly. In this show’s case, it involved an incest family and a baby murder.
The episode became the first of the series to receive a “Viewer Discretion Advised” before it was taken off of the air.
*Sesame Street* – episode 847
Want to scare children? Have Margaret Hamilton aka The Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz reprise her role on a children’s show.
This led to floods of letters from parents complaining about the traumatization of the children.
*Family Guy*- “Partial Terms of Endearment”
The show’s dark humor took a turn when main characters Lois and Peter have to decide whether to keep carrying the baby for their deceased friends.
Since the controversial subject matter of abortion was so concerning, Fox decided to pull the episode .
*Hawaii Five-O* – Bored, She Hung Herself”
Chances are, you’ve never seen (or even heard) of this lost episode of the popular series.
A viewer was left dead after attempting the same noose “Yoga” trick in the show. This caused CBS to be sued and the episode to be left deep in the archive.
*Buffy the Vampire Slayer* – “Earshot”
The real-life Columbine Shooting caused the network to pull this episode. It simply hit too close to home since it was about a school shooting.
The episode did end up returning in September of that year, though.
*Star Trek* – “Patterns of Force”
The episode that saw The Third Reich recreated on an alien world left fans uncomfortable. The characters even dressed in Nazi attire.
Given the sensitive nature of the war, it took 43 years before the episode finally decided to air.
*Arthur* – “Room to Ride
It’s hard to think of Arthur having episodes banned, but it happened.
This episode, featuring Lance Armstrong, was banned after the athlete was stripped of his Tour de France victories following controversial doping allegations.
*Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood* – “Conflict”
This show had an entire storyline banned . It saw Mister Rogers explaining the Cold War to kids.
But since the show was eerily hinting at an upcoming nuclear war, it was quickly banned.
*The Amanda Show* – “The Lucklesses”
The Amanda Show took Nickelodeon by storm, quickly gaining a massive audience.
But things weren’t so funny when an episode saw an asteroid destroying a family house. Given the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, it just wasn’t appropriate.
*South Park* – “201”
This edgy show remains supreme when it comes to crossing the lines of controversy.
But things went too far over the line with this episode, which featured a scene of Buddha doing drugs.
*The Twilight Zone* – “The Encounter”
This episode didn’t age well in a progressive era.
George Takei guest-starred as a Japanese-American man whose father was part of the Pearl Harbor attacks. Since Takei’s character was called things like “dirty little Jap,” the episode was pulled.
*Hannibal* – “Oeuf”
This is another episode with bad timing. It aired 10 days after the Boston Marathon bombing and just months after the Sandy Hook shooting.
It was pulled by creator Bryan Fuller, as the subject of children murdering children didn’t sit well.
*Peppa Pig* – “Spiders Can’t Hurt You”
Since most kids are terrified of spiders, the writers thought that it would be a good idea to have the family befriend a spider.
But since there are deadly spiders in Australia, the country decided to ban the episode .
*Fear Factor*
The show has always been known for its outlandish stunts.
But after contestants were asked to drink donkey semen, the episode was pulled . But that’s not all. The series as a whole came to a screeching halt due to it!
*Tiny Toon Adventure* – “Elephant Issues”
How did this idea of Buster, Plucky, and Hamton getting drunk and stealing a police car make it by the drawing board?
We’re not sure, but this episode was banned in the U.S. It has since reaired in Canada
*Law and Order: SVU* – “Unstoppable”
Law and Order: SVU had quite the controversial take as they developed a storyline involving a parallel to Trump and his presidential campaign.
“I don’t even think it’s worth showing,” Ice-T, who plays Odafin Tutola, told Vanity Fair . “It wasn’t one of our best shows.
*Seinfeld* – “The Puerto Rican Day”
The show about nothing turned into the show that offends when one particular episode, “The Puerto Rican Day” saw Cramer set fire to the Puerto Rican flag.
Naturally, this got the National Puerto Rican Coalition quite upset.
