Howdy. I just wanted to say please look after yourself in this very difficult time.
We may all be apart, but we're in this together.
Howdy!
You know, there are a pocket full of Simpsons episodes that weren't always well received around the world.
Sometimes the episodes were heavily censored or outright banned in some countries.
So let's chat about something kind of obscure and fun.
Let's check out the 6 censored or *banned* Simpsons episodes.
Also, I'm certainly not saying I agree with these being banned or censored.
I mainly want to explore how, or why they were censored.
But I'll try and give a bit of my personal opinion as we go through.
And thank you to Raycon for sponsoring this video.
Later on, I'll talk about the nice experience I had with them.
But for now, onto thee countdown.
For number 6...
For its heavy drug use.
Marge: Homer! You're doing drugs!
Strider: I remember when "Weekend at Burnsie's" first hit Australia.
They immediately flagged it as "Adults Only" and I had to stay up super late to see it.
The UK took one step further and refused to air this episode at all.
For.. Several years.
The reason? It was seen by some as "Glorifying drug use."
Homer: ...lets daddy see and hear magical things you will NEVER experience!
As you might remember, crows end up attacking Homer, causing him excrutiating pain as they peck at his eyes.
Among... Other parts...
Homer: That. Is not a worm!
Strider: (*Cringes*) So he's prescribed Medicinal Mari-juh-wanna
Yeah, I realize I'm pronouncing it wrong. I just think that's a more fun way to say it.
Like "Sham-pag-nay"!
Or "O-nie-ons"
Homer: But isn't Marijuana or "dope" illegal?
Doctor: Only for those who enjoy it.
Medical use of marijuana is legal in this state.
Strider: Anyway, Homer seems to form an addiction to the marijuana and his family starts to worry about him.
Though, ironically, he actually becomes a star at work since he's now stoned enough to laugh at Mr. Burns'
since he's now stoned enough to laugh at Mr. Burns' horrendous jokes.
Unfortunately, FOX backpedaled pretty quickly on this episode.
Since they were worried about the idea of glorifying drugs to younger viewers.
As a result, there was a censorship of much of Homer's drug use.
And they cut down on the severity of his addiction.
But it still remains one of the only Simpsons episodes to receive a 14+ rating.
Even now, I never actually saw this episode on TV again throughout *years* of Simpsons reruns.
It wasn't even until I hunted it down on DVD that I even got a second chance to see it.
The ending particularly is really funny, and it's even one of my favorite Season 13 episodes.
But... It's much harder to find on TV.
And for number 5...
For the Banksy couch gag.
While an episode about Lisa getting good at baseball through statistics didn't really stick with me that much...
It had perhaps the most brutal, confronting, chilling couch gag I've ever seen in the entire series.
In case you'd like a refresher, we're confronted by a massive Korean sweatshop.
Here, we see a stagging amount of Korean people working endlessly under vile conditions.
All to churn out Simpsons episodes and merchandise.
We see dramatic signs of slave labor, and even the bones of dead workers.
In fact, it's so jaded and dark that the only humorous moment is when it turns out
that the only humorous moment is when it turns out a unicorn sticks holes in the DVD's.
When FOX first saw this, they censored certain parts of this version for being even more miserable than
of this version for being even more miserable than its final version was.
As a result, it seems like we never got to see the Guest Artist Banksy's full vision.
But even among this exaggerated take, how great is it that we get to see all these creative,
how great is it that we get to see all these creative, thoughtful guest artists helping to bring life to the old
thoughtful guest artists helping to bring life to the old Simpsons chouch gag?
Personally, I don't think experiences always have to be happy to be worthwhile.
And I certainly remember this couch gag vividly even many years later.
And for number 4...
And the representation of homosexuality.
I always really enjoy this episode when I happen to find it.
Not just for the comedy, but for the graceful message of the acceptance of others.
It was actually one of my first introductions as a kid to the concept of people having different
to the concept of people having different sexual orientations.
And it did get me thinking of how different people can have different tastes.
On the very rare chance you've forgotten this episode somehow, Homer is paranoid that Bart might be gay.
And since Homer doesn't understand the LBGT community much more than a child...
I actually learned *with* Homer when I first saw the episode as a kid.
John: Homer, what have you got against gays?
Homer: You know! It...
It's not...
USUAL!
Sadly, back in the 90's, the censors were.. "uncomfortable" with this episode.
They were generating literal pages of complaints from almost every line the character spoke.
The censors didn't even want to use the word "gay!"
Let alone discussing it.
In fact, the network concluded with the notes...
"The topic and substance of this episode are *unacceptable* for broadcast!"
Marge: Oh, Homer, please! You're embarassing yourself.
Homer: They're embarrassing America!
They turned the navy into a floating joke!
Strider: Fortunately, the FOX president was changed around that time, and they were a little more lenient.
Otherwise, we probably wouldn't have seen this episode at all.
Homer: But any way you choose to live your life is okay with me.
Lisa: He thinks you're gay.
Anf for number 3...
And its depiction of gun use.
Shop owner: Woah! Careful there Annie Oakley.
Homer: I don't have to be careful, I got a gun.
Strider: This was a memorable episode alright!
And at times, it can be pretty uncmfortable.
The challenge of gun control has often been a touchy, controversial topic in society.
So when Homer does get a gun and completely abuses the weapon...
The censors were more than a little jumpy.
Homer: Potentially dangerous!?
Shop owner: Relax, that just limits you to three handguns or less.
Homer: Woo-hoo!
Strider: There were two portions in particular that caused a lot of controversy.
One is where Homer straight-up points a gun at Marge's face.
Homer: Okay. Open your eyes!~~~
Strider: Or when Bart aims the gun at Milhouse while playing.
And.... Well.. Yeah.....
Both as a kid and even now, I personally found it pretty ugly seeing Homer pointing a gun at his wife.
A coule of critics even stated that they thought that this was the point of no return for Homer.
And I've got to admit, it felt creepy to me after that, that Marge would stay with someone that ever
that Marge would stay with someone that ever pointed a gun to her head!
Marge: Of all the terrible things you've ever done in your life, this is the worst!
The most despicable!
In the USA, rebroadcasts frequently censor out these two gunplay scenes.
And in some UK outlets, they didn't air the episode at all.
And even when they did finally air it, they also cut certain parts of the episode.
Even the NRA wasn't happy with the Simpsons team!
Sending them multiple complaints saying they were being portrayed poorly in the episode.
They aparently thought it lampooned gun culture.
But to be fair, the NRA do take away Homer's liscence.
They ever save the day in the end, so I felt both sides got a reasonable amount of stage light.
And that was the production team's intetnion.
They were very intentionally not trying to present a pro or anti-gun gun slant.
But rather trying to portray both sides as equally as possible.
And let the viewer decide.
Whether or not they succeeded either way, well, that's a hard call to make.
Homer: See you in Hell, dinner plate.
Strider: And for number two...
And its depiction of Rio, Brazil.
You might remember this one as the episode where Homer is kidnapped + held at ransom by criminals in Rio
Kidnapper #2: I've sent the ransom note.
If you family wants to see you alive again, they would be wise to pay.
Strider: And as you might have guessed, Rio wasn't very happy.
Particularly the tourist board of Rio.
In fact, they were so mouth foamingly furious they even threatened to sue the show.
And the Brazillian government was backing them on this.
In their words, they were sueing the show for "damaging the international image of the city."
A media frenzy began in Rio after it was released.
Critics were by both the cliches, and some of the stereotyes not even related to Brazil.
Like, why did some Brazillians have Spanish accents?
Maid: I was just distracting you while my children robbed you.
Man: You can't rotect her forever!
You stupid lady.
And apparently, songs like the Macarena weren't even local or relevant in Brazil.
Luckily, the 1st Ammendment of the United States protects parodies.
So the Simpsons team's lawyers managed to encouraged the Rio tourism board to back off.
But I can certainly get where they're coming from.
I mean, Rio was painted as a place of crime, filth, slums, rat infestations, and a whole lot of sexual references.
As a result, James L. Brooks issued a full apology to Rio.
I guess the Rio tourism board had dropped off by then, as they dropped their lawsuit completely.
But it's still a very rarely aired episode due to this controversy.
And before we get to number one, let's go through some quick Honourable Mentions.
Homer: Look what those rotten kids did to my car!
This episode was shelved for some time due to, well, severely bad timing.
And due to the incredibly tragic events at the time.
Without going into detail, there were some horrible Washington sniper attacks going on in 2002.
Basically, during Wiggums' police enforced curfue, Moe announces that...
"That sniper at the all star was a blessing in disguise."
While Wiggum announces that any child found outside after dark will be shot.
Understandably, these lines were seen as pretty twisted after the sniper attacks.
So the episode was postponed for some time.
Though Japan was, in general, pretty upset over this episode, and how its country was depicted.
To not only the point that they'd not air it, but they wouldn't even include it in the Japanese DVD's.
While obviously, they didn't like much of the episode's stereotyping of Japan...
The scene they disliked most was where they get seizures from the Japanese cartoon.
If you saw my video last this one will probably be pretty dang predictable.
At first, it's a pretty substandard 22nd Season plot.
Marge reconnects with some of her friends who are now moms, but this means Bart has to spend some time with
moms, but this means Bart has to spend some time with some kids he doesn't like!
And as usual, he's bitter and whines to Marge the whole way.
Frankly, without the controversial scene, there's like, nothing I remember about this episode!
And the uh...
Controversial part?
Well, once Marge decides to leave her new fellow mom friends at the end of the episode...
They all begin to make out.
FOX apparently removed this scene from all further airings.
Interestingly, the scene where Bart aquires and blows up fireworks also got cut.
But only in the UK release.
Homer: Guess I'll put these tools away...
Strider: I don't necessarily know if you'd remember this part...
Because it's such a small side-scene at the start of the episode.
In a very tiny segment at the start, McBain does some weak stand-up material and slanders homosexuals.
McBain: That is some outfit Skoey, it makes you look like a homosexual!
Strider: Germany... Didn't take too kindly to this, and for many years, Germany didn't air one of the greatest
many years, Germany didn't air one of the greatest episodes of all time.
I'm surprised they didn't just start the episode 10-20 seconds later.
Bart: This is horrible!
Lisa: The FOX network has sunk to a new low.
This may be the most rarely shown episode in all of the Simpsons.
And, in my opinion, understandably so.
Basically, Barney dumps Homer's car at the World Trade Center on a drunken joyride.
And after the devastating events of 9/11, the episode was completely banned from airing on American TV.
Even many years later, when the episode occasionally did air...
It'd been edited at multiple parts.
Mainly with cuts of any showing of the towers.
But the biggest edit was an argument between two guys in tower 1 and tower 2.
Tower 2 guy: Sorry about that guy. They stick all the jerks in Tower 1!
Strider: Anyway, onto number 1...
Lisa: Can we come back next year, dad?
Homer: We'll see...
Apparently, for too much graphic violence.
This is considered by some the most dark Treehouse of Horror episode.
Rivaled only by Treehouse of Horror V, with characters constantly dying brutally.
Normally, we can assume something'd turn into shock and push the boundaries of gore in Treehouse of Horror.
But this one was really designed to be harsh.
Maybe because it was the 600th episode they though "Hey, why not go for broke?"
One of the episode's most morbid offenders was probably the "BFF R.I.P." story.
Which sees Lisa's imaginary friend viciously murdering a string of children.
Many of which are done on screen.
Rachel: I'm going to kill everyone you love.
And they'll blame you! Because nobody else can see me!
Strider: And uh...
Yet another Snowball is killed, which Homer properly trashes.
Even Milhouse wasn't killed directly on screen in Treehouse of Horror V!
Here, he's outright suffocated in front of us.
And the other big offender is probably the final segment.
Which sees Bart eviscerating, stabbing, burning, amputating, and twisting the heads off of every
amputating, and twisting the heads off of every Springfield resident he can get his hands on.
Like, barely anyone is spared.
And he later stands up, and we get to see the eviscerated, splattered carcasses of every Springfield
eviscerated, splattered carcasses of every Springfield resident they could conjure up!
Bart: Well violence never solved anything.
Except this.
Strider: In some countries, this episode was banned for a while.
But later, it fortunately did find the airing after 8:45 PM, when they thought less younger viewers
after 8:45 PM, when they thought less younger viewers would be watching.
So all the international viewers could still enjoy the 600th episode celebration.
For the.. Gloriously unapologetic gorefest that it was.
And as I mentioned, thank you to Raycon for sponsoring this video.
Raycon provides innovative Headphone designs at a price that doesn't break the bank.
Inspired by underdogs and big dreams, they're aiming to create the next wave in wireless audio technology.
But I've actually been switching through different Bluetooth earbuds at the gym for, like, 5 years now.
And I can definitely agree the sound is crystal clear on the Raycons.
I even found myself hearing little instrument details I hadn't heard before.
I've tried a few different brands that have fallen out during workouts, but, these actually fit properly.
And they're comfy.
So far I've been using the Everyday E25 earbuds.
And it's easily paired with my phone's Bluetooth and has a nice bass thump to it.
Which can get up to six hours of playtime.
A nice extra detail is the compact carrying case can charge the earbuds up to 4 times in a single charge.
So it's handy for travelling too.
You can go to buyraycon.com/PhantomStrider to get 15% off your order.
Raycon earbuds start at about half the price of other premium wireless earbud brands
of other premium wireless earbud brands and I personally think they sound just as crisp.
Anyway...
Homer: Thanks for your patience!
Strider: If you have any thoughts on the controversy behind these episodes yourself...
Feel free to leave your own thoughts in the comments below.
And as always, thanks for watching!
And I'll see you next time!
[Subtitled by (someone who has never watched and episode of The Simpsons) Jadrek Myers. Commissioned by Phantom Strider]
[Fun fact: The seizure scene was a blatant reference to the Pokemon episode "Electric Soldier Porygon." Though the number of actual seizures were very low, & most incidents reported just headaches. The episode still helped further Epilepsy study in a great leap forward.]