As television evolves into strange, new places, the regulation regime that once governed every
word and inch of skin on the boob tube is letting their standards slip.
Still, standards are different all around the world.
An innocent friendship between a sponge and a starfish might seem fine on US TV, but that
goofy camaraderie was enough to limit the broadcast of Spongebob Squarepants to very
specific hours in China.
And that's just one example.
Here are a few more banned episodes from popular TV shows.
201 - South Park
The last episode of South Park's 14th season aired only once in the US in 2010, and even
then, it was heavily censored.
Their offense?
They attempted to satirically address extremist outrage over the depiction of the prophet
Mohammed.
"Gave the South Park creators a warning, by a radical Islamic group, right here in America,
right here in New York, that they will end up dead because of a cartoon."
Comedy Central wasn't willing to take the risk of airing the unedited episode, already
facing death threats from extremist groups, so it bleeped out any potentially offending
dialogue, as well as all depictions of the prophet.
Viewers were left with a whole lot of this:
"You see, I learned something today…" (multiple censors)
Comedy Central even took it a step further and censored Matt Stone and Trey Parker's
commentary on the DVD release, and omitted the episode from the DVDs that would be sold
in certain parts of the world.
It was particularly tough defeat for the guys known for pushing the envelope — but on
the bright side, they weren't murdered for blasphemy.
So... that's a plus.
Boston - Aqua Teen Hunger Force
If the words '2007 Boston Mooninite Panic' sound ridiculous, it's because, well, the
whole thing was ridiculous.
In January of 2007, promoters of the Adult Swim show Aqua Teen Hunger Force hung light-up
LED plaques in cities throughout the US in order to advertise the upcoming Aqua Teen
movie, which featured the Mooninites.
"Our vertical leap is beyond all measurement."
"So what you're saying is your culture is more advanced, because you can jump higher?"
"Yes, observe!"
While most cities were bemused, Boston went bananas and called in Homeland Security, believing
the adorable plaques to be bombs.
The whole incident ended up costing $2 million in fines and settlement fees, so when it came
time to air a parody episode a year later, Turner Broadcasting, which owns Cartoon Network
and Adult Swim refused.
"Turn on your tiny magnetic lights, that way you look more like a device."
"There we go."
While the marketing stunt ironically worked much better than they probably ever hoped
for, Boston later suffered an actual, very serious terrorist attack using an improvised
explosive.
If you're desperate to see a show that even remotely mocks anything close to either of
those incidents being showed on actual television, don't hold your breath.
Or just go on the Internet, where people's deepest secrets and shames live on forever.
Barbequor - Dial M For Monkey
Cartoon Network was known for getting away with a lot of questionable content in the
late '90s, including some of the most eerily terrifying moments in any kids' program.
"You're not perfect."
In addition to giving everyone nightmares forever, Cartoon Network also ended up being
responsible for a number of animated episodes that were banned after a single airing.
One of the most notorious examples comes from the Dexter's Laboratory spinoff segment, Dial
M for Monkey.
It's widely rumored that the episode, called "Barbequor", was banned throughout North and
South America, because of two characters in particular: Silver Spooner, who was created
as an offensively flamboyant gay stereotype…
"Let the feast begin!"
...and Krunk, who gets drunk and throws up.
Both characters were probably a bit too much to appear on one episode of a show ostensibly
for children.
Other rumors claim that the segment was banned because of Barbequor, a parody of Marvel's
Galactus, which reportedly upset the publisher.
There's more credence to that second rumor, especially because The Tick animated series
ran into similar problems.
The 1995 episode Alone Together, which features a Galactus parody named Omnipotus, was never
released on DVD for allegedly similar reasons.
And we probably can't even talk in detail about why the Cow and Chicken episode "Buffalo
Gals" was only aired once… but it's pretty much all about lesbian stereotypes.
"Oh the buffalo gals, a motorcycle-riding gang that randomly bursts into people's homes
and chews on their carpets!"
Wow.
Elephant Issues - Tiny Toon Adventures
Banned cartoons aren't always trying to slip euphemisms though the censors.
Sometimes, they're really trying to impart a positive message… just in the absolute
worst way.
"Look!
The storm knocked down that big wire.
Hey let's jump our bikes over it!"
The 1991 Tiny Toon Adventures episode titled "Elephant Issues" goes just a little overboard
by murdering half of its youthful animal stars.
But it's for a good reason, right?
...Right?
The whole episode contains two other segments about social issues — but it's the one called
"One Beer" that got the whole thing taken off the air after just one showing, since
three underage characters get drunk in public, steal a police car, drive it off a cliff...and
die.
In fairness, the episode began with a warning that it was going to be addressing "relevant
issues," but maybe the alcohol abuse segment could have dipped its toe into areas like
hangovers,or job loss before diving right into the hilarious punchline of vehicular
manslaughter.
"So, do we get to do a funny episode tomorrow?
"I hope so."
Mister Skinnylegs - Peppa Pig
It's hard to believe, but the toddler show Peppa Pig is no stranger to controversy, either.
The cartoon character has been accused by News Corp madman Piers Akerman of being a
Marxist-Leninist and feminist extremist.
The show was also ridiculously accused of causing autism in children when many news
outlets republished a satirical article from a made-up University.
However, there's one example of poor Peppa being banned from television that's actually
kind of justifiable.
The 2012 episode "Mr. Skinnylegs" features the porcine family befriending a spider, with
the implication that arachnids are our friends and nothing to be afraid of.
It's a harmless enough message for kids in the UK, and even most of the US, but a potentially
deadly message to send to children in Australia, which is home to some of the most venomous
spiders in the world.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation restricted airing of the episode on its networks... but
still accidentally published it online due to a "technical error."
Viewers quickly complained and had the episode removed, rightly terrified of Australian toddlers
trying to make friends with deadly funnel-web or redback spiders.
Electric Soldier Porygon - Pokémon
Only ever airing once in Japan in 1997, Pokémon's "Electric Soldier Porygon" is probably the
best known banned cartoon, since it actually caused a medical crisis, reportedly sending
over 600 kids to the hospital.
After a scene that featured a flashing, strobe-like effect with multicolored lights, kids started
experiencing vision problems, headaches, and nausea, with some actually having to be treated
for seizures.
The incident got worldwide media attention, because it's not every day a TV show shocks
people into a physical health emergency.
Nintendo's stock shares dropped five percent, press conferences were held, and new animation
guidelines were even made with medical professionals.
The cubist electro-duck pokemon Porygon was dropped from all future episodes, and the
original episode was never aired outside of Japan.
Giving kids seizures kind of makes all of the Pokemon episodes banned because of guns,
subtle racism, and huge inflatable breasts pale in comparison.
Of course, if you think that all these cartoons were banned for ridiculous reasons, just wait
til you hear about the banned shows featuring actual people.
22 Episodes in Mississippi - Sesame Street
Muppet and Sesame Street creator Jim Henson was born in Mississippi, and the town of Leland,
Mississippi has a totally sweet public plaque declaring themselves the birthplace of universally-loved
frog-nerd Kermit.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
"okay!"
Needless to say, there's some definite hometown pride for Henson.
But in 1970, the state of Mississippi actually banned Sesame Street from public television
for a whopping 22 days, for probably one of the worst reasons possible.
A lobbyist group — spearheaded by the bored former Mayor of Jackson, Allen Cavett Thompson,
who apparently hated all things beautiful — decided that public funds shouldn't be
used to create a show with such "a highly integrated cast of children."
In plain English, the show was taken off the air in one state because of old fashioned
racism, and it wasn't against blue-skinned Muppets.
After a member of the commission leaked the story to The New York Times, nationwide outrage
ensued and the ban was lifted.
It ain't easy being green.
Earshot - Buffy the Vampire Slayer
After gaining the power to hear people's thoughts, Buffy thinks she overhears a student planning
a mass murder.
"This time tomorrow, I'll kill you all."
Joke's on her: the student is just planning to commit suicide, and it's actually the lunch
lady who's going to commit mass murder in a school.
While that's a pretty grim storyline even for a horror/comedy show, the Buffy episode
"Earshot" probably would've made the air if it wasn't scheduled for the week after the
Columbine High School massacre in 1999.
The network pulled the episode before it aired… and waited a tactful five months before showing
it, because that was probably enough time for anyone traumatized by the real life tragedy
to handle seeing a character holding a rifle in the school's clocktower.
As far as episode bans go, this one may have been unnecessarily soft.
Home - The X-Files
Fun fact: the 1996 X-Files episode "Home" was the first network TV episode to ever earn
the now-ubiquitous TV-MA rating, so it's probably not surprising that the episode rarely aired
on Fox, and only ever did so with a special warning.
Not so fun fact: it's because the entire episode was about a deranged backwoods family who
liked making babies with each other, killing people, and killing their own babies.
The gruesome violence and weird sexual themes of "Home" were, unsurprisingly for X-Files
fans, reviewed very favorably.
But being slapped with a mature rating from censors was enough to scare the network from
ever running "Home" again, though it did eventually reappear in syndication.
It's now considered a cult classic, and some would argue the best episode in the history
of the series, even though it has nothing to do with aliens, conspiracies, or anything
remotely supernatural.
Turns out people would rather watch inbred monsters murder a bunch of people than discover
if the truth is really out there.
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