Top 10 TV Shows That Had to be Censored
#10: “Pokemon" (1997-)
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“Electric Soldier Porygon” When Team Rocket is found to be stealing Poké Balls through the transfer system, it’s up to Ash, Brock and Misty to stop them. The group gets sent into a computer system where they discover Jesse and James have created a blockage to trap Poké Balls in the system. A Few Pokemon battles ensue before Team Rocket is foiled once again. Unfortunately, a sequence where Pikachu uses a thunderbolt attack to destroy incoming missiles caused several hundred viewers to experience nausea, dizziness, headaches or even seizures. This was due to a flashing pattern of red and blue light used in the animation. The show was put on hiatus for four months and the episode has not been aired since.
#9: “Tiny Toon Adventures” (1990-92)
“Elephant Issues” It shouldn’t be too surprising that an episode dealing with serious social issues would cause some controversy. In the segment, “One Beer”, Buster, Pluck and Hampton learn about the dangers of drinking alcohol. After having a beer, their speech becomes slurred and they lose their balance. The trio decides to steal a police car and they drive around town recklessly. They eventually drive off a cliff where the whole adventure is revealed to be a morality play. Even though the events were framed in a negative light, it was still too much and the episode was pulled from airing in syndication.
#8: “Seinfeld” (1989-98)
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Puerto Rican Day When returning home early from a New York Mets game, Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer get stuck in traffic caused by the annual Puerto Rican Day Parade. The group decides to split up as each of the characters do their own thing. Kramer gets into the festivities of the event and has a Puerto Rican flag draped over himself. He uses a sparkler to light a cigar and when throwing it away, it lands on the flag setting it on fire. He then stomps on it to put it out. Obviously this act didn’t sit well with many in the Puerto Rican community who would send NBC angry letters and would protest outside Rockefeller Center. The episode was pulled from syndication until 2002.
#7: “Degrassi: The Next Generation” (2001-15)
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“Accidents Will Happen” This Canadian teen drama is known for going ‘there’, but Noggin was none too pleased with where this two part story went. Manny discovers that her period is late, like really late. She’s also been experiencing sickness recently, leading her to thinking she might be pregnant. She takes a test and it confirms her worst fears. When she tells Craig the news, he’s supportive of the idea of the two of them having a family. She soon realizes she’s not ready to have a kid at this stage of her life and ultimately decides to have an abortion. Due to the topic of abortion being discussed, Noggin decided against airing the episode during the third season. It wouldn’t be aired until 2006.
#6: “The Office” (2005-13)
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Dwight Christmas The workers of Dunder Mifflin realize they forgot to plan the annual Christmas party. The party planning committee decides to go with Dwight’s idea of his family’s Pennsylvania Dutch tradition of celebrating the holiday after being convinced by Pam. When Dwight dresses up as Belsnickel, the rest of the office believes he’s making the whole thing up until Oscar looks the character up online. He also learns of Zwarte Piet, a slave assistant. A brief scene of Nate dressed as Zwarte Piet was cut from the episode by Neftlix in response to the George Floyd protests of 2020.
#5: “The Simpsons” (1989-)
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“Stark Raving Dad” Celebrity guest spots are familiar occurrences given that the show has been airing for over 30 years. However, back in the third season that was not the case. In fact when Michael Jackson was featured in the episode “Stark Raving Dad”, he’s credited under a pseudonym. Not much had been made about the episode until after the airing of the documentary, “Leaving Neverland” where Jackson’s legacy was reevaluated in the public discourse. As a result the episode was pulled from streaming service Disney+ and from DVD prints published after 2019.
#4: “Community” (2009-15)
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“Advanced Dungeons and Dragons” The study group decides to play a game of Dungeons and Dragons with Neil after the group feels bad that the wider Greendale community has been mocking Neil for his weight. They decide to not invite Pierce because they’re certain he will use the opportunity to disparage Neil. With Abed as the dungeon master, they all set forth on a journey to slay the dragon Draconis. However, if you try to watch the episode on Netflix or Hulu or you might have a hard time since it’s been removed due to Chang being dressed as a dark elf, which some view as being akin to blackface. Show creator Dan Harmon thought the removal was justified but that it’s the series’ best episode.
#3: “Family Guy” (1999-2003; 2005-)
Top 10 Times Family Guy Had to be Censored
“Partial Terms of Endearment” Controversy is nothing new for Peter Griffin and co, but this episode remains too much for Fox to air. Lois is approached by a married couple, Naomi and Dale, to act as a surrogate as they can’t conceive a child on their own. She agrees to the request and becomes pregnant by in vitro fertilization. Tragically, Naomi and Dale die in a car crash, leaving Lois to grapple with whether or not she should still carry her pregnancy to term. The episode was supposed to be part of the eighth season but Fox raised concerns due to the topic of abortion being central to the plot. The episode was released on DVD and aired on BBC Three in the UK.
#2: “Friends” (1994-2004)
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The One with the Lesbian Wedding Ross’ ex-wife Carol announces that she’ll be getting married to her partner Susan and invites Ross to their wedding. While he’s initially hostile to the whole event, he eventually comes around and joins them for the ceremony. The episode was one of the earliest portrayals of a lesbian wedding on TV and NBC feared a huge backlash. Two affiliate stations, one in Texas and one in Ohio, refused to air it. Despite this, it garnered 31.6 million viewers making it the highest rated episode that week. Even though the network was expecting tons of complaints, they only received four.
#1: “South Park” (1997-)
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Depictions of Muhammad The show had previously shown Muhammad without issue back in the season 5 episode, “Super Best Friends”. When creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker wanted to show the religious figure again in a critique of “Family Guy” in season 10, they discovered that network Comedy Central wouldn’t permit them to do so. They revisited the issue once again in “201” where Tom Cruise and others want to harness Muhammad’s powers of censorship to avoid ridicule. Again, showing the Islamic prophet was prohibited. All the episodes featuring Muhammad would later be pulled from HBO’s Max streaming service. Would you censor any TV shows? Let us know in the comments!
