Star Trek, I Love Lucy, and The Prisoner are some of the greatest television shows of all
time.
But they also share another surprising connection: each of those classic shows has had an episode
banned.
And they aren't alone.
So what could cause a beloved series like Mister Rogers' Neighborhood to to get yanked
from the airwaves?
Here's a look at why these TV episodes were banned.
Star Trek: Patterns of Force
The original Star Trek was ambitious in its attempts at social commentary.
With the episode Patterns of Force, though, some folks in Germany thought those efforts
went too far.
That's because the episode involved an alien planet under Nazi-like rule - so Nazi-like
they even used actual Nazi uniforms and symbols.
Luckily Kirk and Spock intervene and set up a peaceful government instead, but that didn't
keep this episode from being banned in Germany for decades.
I Love Lucy: The Ricardos Visit Cuba
When Lucy, Ricky, and family traveled to Cuba in 1956, everybody in America had a big chuckle
at Lucy's hilarious fish-out-of-water hijinks.
But after Cuba became a communist regime under Fidel Castro, people stopped laughing, and
this episode was banned from reruns for "almost a decade" despite the fact that it's essentially
just one bad cigar gag after another.
Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood: Conflict
The central focus of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood was always on teaching moral lessons to children
through stories and songs.
So how do you explain the Cold War to kids?
Why, with a multi-part epic storyline where King Friday begins stockpiling bomb-making
materials because he believes Southwood is gearing up to attack Make-Believe.
The result sounds more like Team America than Mr. Rogers, with puppets engaging in espionage,
political paranoia, and teaching lessons on air raids and gas mask use.
"Last time we pretended the people of Southwood were very much like the people of the neighborhood
of Make-Believe.
They certainly weren't people who were building bombs for a war the way King Friday thought
they were."
The episodes actually continued to air in normal rotation until 1996, but haven't been
seen since, other than a few recent attempts to use them as current political commentary.
Star Trek: The Next Generation: The High Ground
This episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation featured Picard and the gang getting involved
in a civil war that was a very thinly veiled commentary on the Irish Troubles.
So thinly veiled, in fact, that the planet's fictional timeline is actually a timeline
of the Troubles, and Data even directly references the conflict.
"And it appears that terrorism is an effect way to promote political change.
Yet there are numerous examples when it was successful.
The independents of the Mexican state from Spain, the Irish unification of 2024."
That didn't go over well in the UK or the Republic of Ireland, especially since the
episode aired just a few months after an IRA bomb attack at the Royal Marines Music School
in Deal in southern England that killed 11 and wounded 22.
As a result, the episode was banned for almost two decades before finally airing in 2006.
Ironically, the episode was originally meant to be about the American Revolution.
In the book Captain's Logs, writer Melinda Snodgrass explained that she was ordered to
make the change by her bosses.
I wanted it with Picard as Cornwallis and the Romulans would have been the French, who
were in our revolution, trying to break this planet away.
Suddenly Picard realized he's one of the oppressors.
Instead, we do 'Breakfast in Belfast,' where our people decide they're going to go off
to Northern Ireland."
The Prisoner: Living in Harmony
This episode of the surreal series The Prisoner featured a novel method of trying to psychologically
break down the protagonist Number 6 by placing him within a virtual reality simulation of
an Old West community and trying to coerce him into playing the role of sheriff.
The character refuses, though, which may or may not have led to the episode being banned,
as some felt it was a commentary about conscientious objectors avoiding the Vietnam War draft.
Officially, the episode was actually banned because of the show's portrayal of mind-altering
drugs, but since many episodes dealt with drug use and still aired, sensitivity about
Vietnam seems to be a more likely explanation.
The Big Bang Theory
China is pretty ban-happy when it comes to imported shows.
They don't need much of a reason, which is good, because they didn't have much of a reason
when it comes to outright banning The Big Bang Theory entirely.
The show is actually quite popular in China, or at least, it was until the State Administration
of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television pulled the plug.
Exactly why is a matter of debate, but some feel it's because of the rise of diaosi, which
originally was a pejorative term for broke loser guys without jobs or girlfriends.
Now, though, the term has been embraced by a generation of young geeks proud of their
so-called loser status who see the characters in The Big Bang Theory as role models.
And that scares China.
Which is great, because the idea of Sheldon Cooper as a counter-cultural iconoclast threatening
to destabilize the social order of one of the biggest nations on Earth is actually more
entertaining than any plot the show could have ever come up with.
"Bazinga"
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