Top 30 Banned TV Episodes

“Bluey” (2018-)

It may be one of the most well-known and beloved shows by kids and parents alike— but even that doesn’t make it immune from censorship. The program tackled the hardships of pregnancy in a humorous way in “Dad Baby”. In the episode, Bluey’s father Bandit tries his hand at simulating pregnancy, complete with a fake belly. The concept was silly and harmless enough, with some playful jokes about the discomforts that occur during pregnancy. However, the experiment was capped off with the fictional father figure pretending to give birth. While nothing graphic was shown, the simulated contractions seemingly proved to be too much. It never made it to Disney’s services, and was only finally released to their YouTube channel in May of 2024.

“The Ren & Stimpy Show” (1991-96)

You never know what straw will break the camel’s back. Known for its shock value and casual violence, “The Ren & Stimpy Show” was a staple of 1990s television. Despite its reputation, one episode went so far that it didn’t make it to air until Spike TV’s inception in 2003. In “Man’s Best Friend”, the titular characters are adopted by a human and vigorously trained into becoming obedient pets. There were plenty of adult references throughout, from jokes about bodily fluids to cigars being handed out as treats. There was even a sequence where Stimpy viciously beats their owner with an oar. The moment was so intense that Nickelodeon refused to play it— and even went so far as to fire the show’s creator.

“Friends” (1994-2004)

Instances like this make it clear just how much progress society has made in a relatively short time. When “Friends” was first premiering in the 1990s, marriage equality was hardly being discussed. So when the sitcom made the bold decision to depict a wedding between a lesbian couple, viewers across the nation were shocked. Despite the wholesome storyline and not showing any physical contact between the couple, two TV affiliates in Texas and Ohio refused to air it at all, inciting protests in response. Despite the local bannings, the network themselves only received a few calls complaining about it, and it was the highest rated program that week— showing that the episode overall had a primarily positive impact.

“The Boondocks” (2005-14)

One of the most well-known types of comedy is parody— but that doesn’t always mean the subject of such jokes always appreciates them. “The Boondocks” was beloved for tackling controversial topics through satire. They went after everybody— including one of the show’s executive producers in the Season 2 installment, “The Hunger Strike”. Both the president and CEO of BET were lambasted and accused of exploiting their community. The parodies were scathing, and hit so hard that it only premiered in Canada in 2008 with a disclaimer. In the United States, however, it was only available via DVD until it finally premiered on Adult Swim in 2020. While executives have never confirmed their reasons for doing so, many fans are convinced the imitation played into their decision.

“Community” (2009-14; 2015)

The debate behind this decision is still being had by fans to this day. Following protests in 2020, some streaming services responded to concerns people had regarding blackface in their programming. This resulted in several episodes from various shows being removed, including Community’s “Advanced Dungeons & Dragons”. In one scene, Chang depicted a dark elf by painting his face black— and the eventual removal sparked debate in several circles. Some fans and cast members questioned the final decision, citing the context in which the act was done and defending the joke. However, series creator Dan Harmon ended up agreeing with the contentious final decision, even if it was at the cost of what he thought was one of the series’ most iconic storylines.

“Sesame Street” (1969-)

This is probably one of the last shows you expected to see— and its inclusion is one of the most unfair. In 1976, “Sesame Street” featured Margaret Hamilton— who played the Wicked Witch of the West in “The Wizard of Oz”. It depicted the villain creating violence upon arrival, from making it rain indoors to threatening beloved characters. It even ended in a dark manner, with one of the characters sobbing in fear as the Witch reveals the episode’s sponsors. Countless parents wrote in after the fact reporting that their children were so horrified that they wanted to stop watching the show entirely. After focus testing to review the claims, the program was pulled and shelved until 2019– over forty years later.

“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” (2005-)

Sometimes, doing something late is better than doing nothing at all. Known for its unapologetic sense of humor, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” has never been afraid of crossing whatever boundaries needed to show how awful the characters are. However, even they can take it too far— and nothing exemplifies this better than “America’s Next Top Paddy’s Billboard Model Contest”. In it, Dee and Charlie attempt to promote the bar— but the former’s increasingly offensive characters make it difficult for them. While she’s called out numerous times throughout, the concept was pushed to the limit when she donned blackface to play Martina Martinez. Although their intentions to call out racism were good, it aged poorly— leading to it being removed from streaming platforms in 2020.

“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (1997-2001, 2001-03)

For many, entertainment is a way to escape their day-to-day lives. This includes not wanting to be reminded of societal ills, especially those that resulted in multiple deaths. “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” was no stranger to fantastical violence, but a reference to a real-life crime took things too far. In “Earshot”, Buffy was tasked with finding the person who wanted to attack her school. In the wake of the Columbine tragedy, the network decided the plot was simply too dark and too real, leaving them scrambling to postpone it. It ended up not being released for several months, and when it did, it eventually went on to be considered one of the series’ best.

“Beavis and Butt-Head” (1993-2011; 2022-23; 2025)

Entertainment has always been a convenient scapegoat for larger issues— especially when it’s controversial. In “Comedians”, the titular characters on “Beavis and Butt-Head” decided to attempt stand-up comedy. After bombing their set, Beavis tries juggling flaming newspapers in the empty club, resulting in the club also catching fire. A month after airing, a young boy reportedly set his trailer on fire, killing his younger sister in the process. His mother claimed he’d been inspired by the cartoon— even though it was later reported that she didn’t even have cable. Despite the lack of proof, it was still pulled, and the show was bumped to a later time-slot and even prohibited from talking about fire.

“Hawaii Five-O” (1968-80)

The title alone makes it obvious why this was doomed from the very start. Despite being a police drama, “Hawaii Five-O” was still relatively family-friendly— save for this now-banned episode. In it, the team investigated a case wherein a woman had supposedly taken her own life while trying a new yoga technique. Although there were no issues leading up to the broadcast, things soon took a horrific turn when it was reported that a viewer had apparently tried a similar method and died, resulting in a lawsuit from their family. In response, “Bored, She Hung Herself” was swiftly pulled from syndication. It has also never been included in any DVD sets or streaming services— essentially wiping it from the show’s history.

“The Powerpuff Girls” (1998-2005)
When you think of banned TV, you probably don’t think of cartoons made for little kids. Alas, one episode of “The Powerpuff Girls” was banned in the United States for religious imagery. The episode features a destroyed building, and executives at Cartoon Network believed that the exposed beams looked too much like crosses. There’s also a hippy character that they felt resembled Jesus. These inclusions had the Cartoon Network sweating, and they banned the episode from release. However, it was aired in many other countries and now appears on streaming and the DVD.


Gnomey = a play on “know me” and “gnomes”

“Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987-94)
From the late 1960s to 1998, Ireland was embroiled in The Troubles, a violent conflict over whether Northern Ireland should remain part of the UK, or unify with the Republic of Ireland. Fighting for the latter option was the IRA, a paramilitary group designated as a terrorist organization in the UK. In the 1990 “Star Trek” episode “The High Ground”, Data notes that the IRA’s terrorist activities worked and that Ireland was unified in the year 2024. Because the episode depicted a United Ireland attained through terrorism, the episode was initially banned in both the UK and Ireland.


IRA = read as acronym, eye are ay

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” (2003-09)
In 2003, a reboot of the famous turtle brand began airing on Fox. However, one episode proved too violent for the family-friendly programming block, and that episode was season four’s “Insane in the Membrane.” Scheduled for release on March 4, 2006, the episode was pulled in the US due to its graphic content. Series producer Lloyd Goldfine blames the ban on a roster change within Fox. According to him, every step of the episode’s production was approved by the network. But new personnel were “horrified”. It was cut from rotation and wasn’t aired in the US until 2015.

“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (1999-)
Produced in early 2016, this episode of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” might never see the light of day. Even though a promo was aired, the episode was pulled before it aired. It was reportedly inspired by a real case: a woman’s accusation that when she was very young, Donald Trump assaulted her at one of Jeffrey Epstein’s notorious “parties”. Trump and Epstein were friends and partied together throughout the 1990s, until falling out over real estate in 2004. While the woman’s lawsuit was withdrawn, about two dozen other women subsequently accused Trump of sexual misconduct. When Trump was elected President in November, “Unstoppable” was shelved.


Epstein = ep-steen

“Arthur” (1996-2022)
Cancer is a difficult subject for anyone to discuss, let alone children. In the “Arthur” episode “The Great MacGrady,” everyone reacts differently upon learning that Mrs. MacGrady has cancer. But it doesn’t seem to have been the subject matter that got the episode banned - it was apparently the presence of Lance Armstrong. Francine gets in touch with Armstrong, knowing that he survived cancer. He’s depicted as a heroic figure, but his reputation was tarnished in real life following the infamous doping scandal. Reruns of his episode were pulled from rotation in the US and it was removed from the iTunes store and Amazon. It was later revised to remove Armstrong.

“Mister Rogers' Neighborhood” (1968-2001)
Yep, even “Mister Rogers' Neighborhood” had some banned episodes! In November of 1983, the show aired five episodes about “Conflict”, which contain several references to war. Prince Tuesday is taught about war in school, and King Friday starts to suspect that Corney’s factory is manufacturing bomb parts. The Cold War was obviously on everybody’s mind, and a particularly brutal film called “The Day After” was aired shortly after this string of episodes. Owing to its difficult subject matter, the episodes were permanently pulled in 1996 and are still unavailable to this day.

“Married... with Children” (1987-97)
In this episode of the iconic sitcom, the Bundys travel to a motel to spice up their love life. The suggestion comes from Marcy Rhoades, who slept with her husband at the same motel. While there, the Bundys find a videotape of the Rhoades couple getting intimate. Together, the couples attempt to sue the motel for voyeurism. Before the episode aired, the censors at Fox demanded cuts, but deemed even the censored version too problematic and pulled it from release in the US. It finally aired in 2002 - five years after the show ended - but even that airing was censored.

“Cow and Chicken” (1997-99)
This surreal animated comedy show offended the censors with sexual innuendo that was a little too on the nose. In this season 2 episode, a group of female bikers known as the Buffalo Gals break into Cow and Chicken’s house. Inside, they begin to chew the carpet. One of the bikers is even called Munch Kelly. The innuendo is pretty obvious, and got the show in trouble. While it did air as scheduled on June 27, 1998, it was replaced in reruns with the episode "Orthodontic Police".

“Boy Meets World” (1993-2000)
This popular 90s show deals with all sorts of teenage problems and milestones, including the first time having sex. In the fifth season episode “Prom-ises, Prom-ises,” Cory and Topanga decide to sleep together after prom. Following its initial run on ABC, “Boy Meets World” was picked up by the Disney Channel for reruns. However, due to its sexual content, “Prom-ises, Prom-ises” was one of three episodes that the Disney Channel banned. The other two are “The Truth About Honesty”, also due to sexual content, and “If You Can't Be With the One You Love”, which involves teen drinking.


Topanga https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/2c42470f-4792-4ee1-b8d4-9ac86dd342e2

“Hannibal” (2013-15)
This psychological thriller–horror series features a lot of grotesque imagery. But it was the way the ideas behind the episode “Oeuf” intersected with recent events that proved most troubling. The episode sees a group of foster children brainwashed by a mysterious woman into killing their biological families. It was scheduled to air in April of 2013, but creator Bryan Fuller personally pulled it from the United States broadcast schedule at the last minute. He cited “the associations that came with the subject matter” and wished to be “respectful of the social climate.” It’s believed this was in light of the tragic events at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December, 2012.


Oeuf https://forvo.com/word/oeuf/#fr

“SpongeBob SquarePants” (1999-)
While ostensibly for children, “SpongeBob SquarePants” makes many mature jokes and is enjoyed by adults the world over. The third season episode “Mid-Life Crustacean” embraces this and has been repeatedly called out for it. The episode depicts a so-called “Panty Raid” which sees Patrick, SpongeBob, and Mr. Krabs raiding a woman’s house and stealing her underwear. The episode was originally supposed to air in November of 2002, but was canceled by Nickelodeon. While it was later shown on the network, future reruns have again excluded it. It’s also missing from the streaming networks Paramount+ and Prime Video.

“Family Guy” (1999-)
Seth MacFarlane’s animated sitcom is certainly no stranger to controversy, but the eighth season episode “Partial Terms of Endearment” really pushed things. In this episode, Lois becomes a surrogate mother for an old friend. However, the friend and her husband are killed in a car accident, prompting Lois and Peter to consider abortion. The episode’s difficult subject matter concerned Fox, who thought it would get them in trouble with advertisers. This prompted them to pull the episode from rotation in the US. Adult Swim also refused to air the episode, conceding to Fox’s demands. It was later made available on the season eight DVD, but it’s currently absent from Disney+.


Seth MacFarlane https://youtu.be/EueeNj98E6I?t=73

“The Twilight Zone” (1959-64)
This historic show from Rod Serling often used science fiction and metaphors to comment on real issues. Of course, not every episode dealt with otherworldly elements. “The Encounter” is a drama centered around an American World War II veteran and a Japanese-American man named Arthur. In the veteran’s attic, they have a hostile conversation stemming from their respective experiences in the war. Arthur’s father was a spy who worked construction at Pearl Harbor and betrayed the Americans. This reveal offended Japanese-American viewers, and the resulting complaints resulted in the episode being pulled from syndication. It didn’t appear on television again until 2004 - a full 40 years after its original airing.

“Tiny Toon Adventures” (1990-92)
This episode of “Tiny Toon Adventures” contains a segment called “One Beer” in which Buster, Plucky and Hamton get drunk. In their intoxicated revelry, the trio steal a police car and drive it off a cliff to their deaths. The episode then ends on a clever bit of meta-humor, with Buster commenting on the dark nature of the storyline by asking “Do we get to do a funny episode tomorrow?” Fox Kids banned the episode over its mature content. Turns out, they didn’t like the protagonists drinking, going for a joyride in a stolen police cruiser, and dying. Who'da thunk? The episode remained banned for the next 22 years, before it finally resurfaced on the Hub Network in 2013.

“The X-Files” (1993-2002; 2016-18)
Long regarded as one of the best “X-Files” episodes, “Home” is also the most controversial. It sees Mulder and Scully travel to the titular Pennsylvania town to investigate a deformed, incestuous family. The episode is a stew of horrific content, featuring a disturbing story and graphic violence, and became the first of the series to receive a TV-MA rating. Following its initial airing, the episode was banned by Fox for reruns. They also prevented the Peacock family from returning in a later episode, as was planned by writers Glen Morgan and James Wong.

“The Simpsons” (1989-)
This cartoon has found itself in hot water on several occasions. In 2002, Rio officials considered suing Fox for the episode “Blame It on Lisa” on the grounds that it presented a negative and inaccurate portrayal of the city. More recently, in 2019, the 1991 episode “Stark Raving Dad” also ran into trouble. In the episode, Homer befriends a man named Leon Kompowsky, who believes he’s Michael Jackson. Jackson voiced Leon himself. But after the series showrunners saw the documentary “Leaving Neverland”, they were so disturbed by allegations against Jackson that they pulled the episode from circulation. It’s also missing from Disney+ and modern reprints of the season three DVD.


Leon Kompowsky https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/3a4a3f29-175b-45f1-b3be-fe1658f36bd1

“Pokémon” (1997-)
“Electric Soldier Porygon” nearly destroyed “Pokémon” forever. In this episode, Ash and his friends enter a computer system and Pikachu hits the antivirus program with a Thunderbolt, resulting in a massive explosion. This explosion was depicted with strobing blue and red lights. Not a good idea. It resulted in what is known as The Pokémon Shock, which sent 685 Japanese children to hospital, with some suffering seizures and blindness. The episode currently holds the bizarre world record for “Most Photosensitive Epileptic Seizures Caused by a Television Show.” The resulting controversy caused Nintendo’s stock to plunge, and they demanded that the episode never be repeated on television. And it never has.


Porygon = porey-GAWN https://youtu.be/gOLXYAlC-R8?t=940

“Fear Factor” (2001-06; 2011-12; 2017-18)
This stunt show hosted by Joe Rogan was notable both for its danger and gross factor. Each episode featured the contestants doing something daring, whether it was dangling off a helicopter or eating the private parts of an animal. But even for “Fear Factor”, the episode “Hee Haw! Hee Haw!” was just too much. Scheduled to air in January of 2012, the episode featured contestants drinking various fluids from a donkey! NBC let them get away with a lot, but not with this. The network decided to pull the episode and it has remained unaired ever since. However, footage of the stunt has been uploaded to YouTube, so those daring enough can still check it out.

“Seinfeld” (1989-98)
For a while, this was the lost episode of “Seinfeld.” Airing on May 7, 1998, just one week before the big finale, this one sees the gang getting stuck in traffic during the Puerto Rican Day Parade. Kramer accidentally sets the Puerto Rican flag on fire and stomps on it in a panic. After he’s chased by a mob, he remarks that “it's like this every day in Puerto Rico”. The result was a flood of angry letters, and protests outside NBC headquarters. NBC apologized and the episode was removed from syndication. It was finally brought back in 2002, with the controversial flag burning scene intact.

“South Park” (1997-)
To celebrate the show’s 200th episode in 2010, writer Trey Parker decided to go all in and write a storyline about the show’s past controversies. This included Comedy Central’s refusal to depict the Islamic prophet Muhammad, after cartoons in European newspapers led to threats and attacks. After a threatening “warning” from radical organization Revolution Muslim, Comedy Central caved and censored references to Muhammad and even an anti-censorship speech in the episode “201”. This decision was met with widespread criticism. Nonetheless, both “200” and “201” were pulled from circulation and aren’t available on the official website or streaming services.




Has your favorite TV show ever had an episode pulled from circulation? Let us know in the comments below.


https://youtu.be/dqQc9HkmBbk?si=ELKO2auwO-5jjyIh&t=10