How far is too far?
When it comes to TV, that potentially gross line is always changing.
Today, you can find just about every body part and swear word on the small screen at
any given time of the day, but there was a time when TV was a bit more conservative.
Whether or not they'd be shocking today, here are a few TV moments that took things too
far.
Graphic content
The CBS sitcom 2 Broke Girls follows the exploits of two New York waitresses as they attempt
to start their own cupcake business — but many viewers find the pair far from sweet.
Complaints sent to the FCC about the show's content included one woman urging the authorities
to review an episode that depicts a naked doll being manipulated into quote-unquote
graphic sexual acts.
Of course, how graphic a Barbie can be without actual genitals is a different question entirely.
Booby trapped
When Married… with Children premiered in 1987, Al, Peg, and the rest of the Bundys
weren't the picture-perfect family America was so used to seeing.
Al constantly called Peg a horrible housewife, mother, and cook, while Peg was there to let
her husband know just how inadequate he was as the man of the house.
But it was an episode that took place in a bra shop that was the breaking point for one
Michigan woman, Terry Rakolta.
The episode compelled her to start a letter-writing campaign encouraging a boycott of the show.
"I sent my children out of the room after five minutes of this trash.
But decided to watch and see what kind of low-class advertisers would support this kind
of program."
Rakolta's campaign became legitimate news.
A few advertisers pulled their ads, and at least one episode wasn't aired...but ultimately,
the publicity that Rakolta generated for the show is credited for helping it find its audience
and stay on the air for eleven seasons.
So, you have Terry Rakolta to thank for classy jokes like this.
"Hey Bundy!
I had steak tonight!
What are you having?"
"If I was the mailman, I'd be having your your wife!"
Raining on your parade
Never afraid to push the boundaries of good taste for a laugh, one episode of Seinfeld
"crossed the line between humor and bigotry" according to Bronx Borough President Fernando
Ferrer.
He was one of numerous viewers offended by a plotline that saw the main characters caught
up in a traffic jam caused by the Puerto Rican Day Parade and desecrating a Puerto Rican
flag, causing angry bystanders to toss their car down a stairwell.
"You know it's like this every day in Puerto Rico."
Both the comment and the flag-burning provoked outrage, with the National Puerto Rican Coalition
calling it an "unquestionable insult" to the country and demanding an apology from NBC.
The network quickly complied.
Family Guy's second ban
Once accused of antisemitism, the Family Guy episode "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein" was
temporarily banned on Fox, but eventually aired four years after it was originally produced,
and after the show had already gone to depths that were arguably far worse.
However, the network refused to relent when it came to the season 8 finale, "Partial Terms
of Endearment."
The so-called "abortion episode" was made but rejected, with both Fox and Adult Swim
exercising their right not to air it.
Instead, it was released it as a standalone DVD and on BBC 3 in the UK.
Creator Seth MacFarlane saw it as a copout aimed at placating conservative viewers, saying,
"Times really have changed.
The network is making a decision that is, unfortunately, probably based on people's
current ability to handle and dissect controversial narratives."
It wasn't the first or last time Fox would deal with censorship issues.
Everything's relative
Classic sci-fi series The X-Files also had an episode banned for inappropriate content.
"Home" was the first ever X-Files episode to begin with a viewer discretion warning
and remained the only one to carry a TV-MA rating, which it probably deserved.
The plot follows Mulder and Scully as they investigate a secluded farmhouse after an
abandoned baby is found nearby.
What they discover are three brothers, the younger two fathered by the eldest, which
makes for a very complicated and gross family tree.
"When you know your boy will do anything for his mother."
Fox removed the episode from syndication and only repeated it once as part of a 1999 Halloween
special, advertising it as "an episode so controversial, it's been banned from television
for three years."
Right on...
No Homers Club
While The Simpsons usually takes a more subtle approach to lampooning its targets than shows
like Family Guy or South Park, when Springfield's first family poked fun at Brazil, they almost
wound up causing a diplomatic incident.
The episode "Blame it on Lisa" saw the Simpsons head to Brazil and face all manners of trouble
upon arrival.
Homer is kidnapped by a cabbie, he and Bart are mugged by children, and there are rampant
monkey attacks.
"The drunkenness, the ambiguous sexuality, I've got to get out of here!"
The country's president, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, thought it "brought a distortion
of Brazilian reality" to the screen.
The Rio tourism board agreed, claiming that the $18 million it had recently spent on promoting
the city in the States was now wasted.
Meanwhile, a little over a decade later, the 2016 Olympics actually verified a few of The
Simpsons claims.
Did it for Dexter
When a show portrays a serial killer as a charismatic champion of justice with a pretty
sweet Miami life, it's bound to attract a few copycats.
In January 2014, 21-year-old Mark Howe was found guilty of murdering his mother after
she'd been slashed more than 50 times.
Howe's search history featured gems like "Dexter's kill knife," and "what does a sociopath need
to do to blend in seamlessly with society," but clearly not, "how to clear your browser
history, you dummy."
The event reignited the debate over whether the show should be taken off the air, since
it wasn't even the first murder to be blamed on Showtime's crime drama.
In 2008, aspiring Canadian filmmaker Mark Twitchell, who had been going under the name
Dexter Morgan on Facebook, lured two men to his home under the pretense of making a horror
film about a sword-wielding mass murderer.
Twitchell killed one of the men; the other managed to escape.
And we can't forget Jessica Lopez, who strangled a woman and attempted to "chop her up" like
the show's protagonist.
Starring...Hitler?
Some of Britain's greatest exports have been created at the UK's famous Pinewood Studios,
but not everything that comes out of the world-renowned studio is guaranteed to be a success.
(ridiculous TV show theme song playing)
Heil Honey I'm Home! was supposed to follow a re-imagined version of Adolf Hitler and
his partner Eva Braun as they deal with living next door to a Jewish couple.
The show, a 1990 spoof of terrible sitcoms, failed right out of the gate.
"I'm a very, very bad Hitler."
The now-defunct Galaxy channel was forced to pull the plug after the pilot episode because
of accusations of anti-Semitism.
Writer Greg Atkinson has always insisted his intentions were misunderstood, saying,
"Sometimes you can destroy bullies by laughing at them.
This isn't about denying what happened, it's about being human in the face of inhumanity."
About a decade later, comedy fans were finally ready to embrace the absurdity of a comedic
Hitler.
Uh...hooray?
Thanks for watching!
Click the Looper icon to subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Plus check out all this cool stuff we know you'll love, too!