The outright banning of a television program is nearly unheard-of in American history, but there’s more than a few individual episodes that have landed themselves that dubious honor. Though the MPAA rating system is intended to guide audiences and provide warnings for potentially triggering topics, some networks have decided to bypass this entirely and simply ban controversial episodes (at least until the heat dies down).
Here’s 10 instances of that exact occurrence. As a side note, I won’t be commenting on whether or not removing these episodes from circulation was the ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ move — that’s for you to decide.
1. Married With Children — Season 3, Episode 10, “I’ll See You In Court”
Married With Children was once considered cutting edge — the kind of filth you’d have to wait for your parents to go to sleep to watch. At least, that was the opinion of one Terry Rakolta, a Michigan woman who had taken offense to an episode of the sitcom entitled “Her Cups Runneth Over”.
In that episode, hapless sitcom dad Al Bundy (Ed O’Neill, who would later find sitcom fame again) goes to a lingerie shop to buy a new bra for his wife, Peggy (Katey Sagal). While the jokes in the episode are pretty tame by 2023’s standards, Rakolta led a boycott against the show. Ironically enough, that ended up working in Married With Children’s favor, skyrocketing the show’s popularity and putting the Fox Network on the map. The show would run for eight more years.
Rakolta’s boycott did result in one episode — “I’ll See You In Court” — being pulled from circulation, however. Though the episode was filmed in 1989, it didn’t end up being aired on TV until 2002, when the world was finally ready to see that kind of raunchy filth. The plot of the episode? Al and Peggy end up in court against a skeevy motel that’s recorded their amorous encounter.
2. Pokémon — Episode 18, “Beauty and the Beach”
This one was a legend on the playground. It makes you wonder if MewThree really is real (or was that just my brother messing with me?) Anyway, this episode was banned because of Team Rocket. Specifically, because of James.
We all know James loves a good disguise — he keeps a flaming Moltres in his closet, of course — and in this episode, Jessie and James decide to join a beauty contest being held in Acapulco (early seasons of Pokémon were a bit looser with the real world references). James, ever comfortable in his gender expression, enters as a woman, and his disguise is complete with a pair of inflatable breasts.
You can imagine how this would’ve gone down had it aired on television in the ‘90s. Hell, you can imagine how it would go down now. The episode actually did air on 4kids back in 2000, but it was heavily edited down.
3. Pokémon — Episode 38, “Electric Soldier Porygon”
“Electric Soldier Porygon” was another legend on the playground. Unlike Mew and the truck by the St. Anne, however, this one was real, and it resulted in some serious changes to television productions internationally.
See, “Electric Soldier Porygon” features a sequence in which Pikachu electrocutes a missile, causing it to explode in a shower of bright, flashing lights. 685 children ended up rushed to the hospital due to photosensitive seizures. Safety regulations regarding flashing lights on TV were quickly tightened in the aftermath of the incident, and “Electric Soldier Porygon” was officially banned from circulation. Meanwhile, Porygon and its evolutionary family were banned from the anime entirely, and the program went on hiatus for some time.
4. The X-Files — Season 4, Episode 2, “Home”
The X-Files was a groundbreaking program. In hindsight, the series serves as one of the first truly modern sci-fi/horror series out there. So many of the conventions and standards we take for granted nowadays were novel back then; serialized storylines, background lore, character development — the series is just foundational to what the genre is today.
But it was one of the series’ standard monster-of-the-week episodes that gets the honor of being the only banned episode. “Home” was considered to be too disturbing for television; its plot surrounds the Peacock family, a warren of incestuous mutants. Game of Thrones was still 15 years away, and the themes of incest and infanticide were too much for viewers to swallow.
The episode was only aired once before being pulled from circulation for three years, scoring a TV-MA rating upon its rebroadcast.
5. Tiny Toon Adventures — Season 2, Episode 3, Segment 3, “One Beer”
“One Beer” is a parody of over-the-top after-school specials that aim to teach children how to behave morally. These modern-day Aesops are pretty dramatic in their presentation, and “One Beer” doesn’t disappoint. In “One Beer”, Buster Bunny, Plucky Duck, and Hamton J. Pig decide to take a sip of alcohol — it’s just one beer, after all.
That decision leads the trio into a life of crime, culminating in a car chase in which Buster, Plucky, and Hamton crash their vehicle. There are no survivors.
The episode was ultimately pulled because it was a little too intense for most kids — a warning aired in front of the episode’s premiere. It also might’ve been a little too on-the-nose with its criticisms of standards & practices.
6. Sesame Street, Episode 847
Getting an emotional response from your audience is exactly what being a great actor is all about. Margaret Hamilton, known for her iconic role as the Wicked Witch of the West, has a grand legacy — but it’s one that most kids aren’t going to be able to grasp too well.
When Hamilton appeared on Sesame Street back in 1976, she was in-character as the Wicked Witch. Unfortunately, Hamilton’s performance was just too scary for some kids, and angry parents sent in letters complaining about the episode. Since then, the episode has not been rebroadcast and was essentially considered lost media until just recently resurfacing online.
7. SpongeBob SquarePants — Season 3, Episode 15, “Mid-Life Crustacean”
“Mid-Life Crustacean” is a classic SpongeBob SquarePants episode, and I’m certain you’ve at least seen one scene on the internet. Yes, this is the episode where SpongeBob infamously takes Mr. Krabs and Patrick out on a panty raid.
But while it’s a harmless scenario in SpongeBob, the real world has become much more aware of sex crimes and harassment, and, while it doesn’t seem that the network actually received many complaints about the episode, Nickelodeon apparently pulled the episode as a precaution. Reports have recently circulated that the episode is available on Paramount Plus, so long as it’s accessed through Prime Video. So, while it’s a little out of the way, and it’s unlikely that it’ll air on TV again, it is legally available once more.
8. The Simpsons — Season 9, Episode 1, “The City of New York vs Homer Simpson”
‘The Simpsons are headed to X’ is a pretty common plot line in The Simpsons, and the yellow family has practically traveled the world over. It’s inevitable that they would have ended up in New York City at some point.
“The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson” is an innocuous enough episode by itself, but the episode features heavy references to (and jokes about) the World Trade Center. Four years after the episode premiered, the 9/11 terrorist attacks resulted in this episode being pulled out of circulation.
While you’re able to see the episode today, it’s an edited version that removes several references to the Twin Towers. The Simpsons would later donate a cel from the episode to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.
9. Seinfeld — Season 9, Episode 20, “The Puerto Rican Day”
“The Puerto Rican Day” is one of Seinfeld‘s misfires. The plot of the episode — the last ‘ordinary’ episode in the series — follows the quartet as they’re stuck in traffic due to the annual Puerto Rican Day Parade. Ever the misanthropes, the four make trouble trying to get out of the jam.
Stereotypical jokes are made at Puerto Rico’s expense in the episode, and one sequence even features Kramer (Michael Richards) inadvertently setting fire to the Puerto Rican flag before stomping on it to try to put it out. Puerto Rican activists were outraged by this, and the episode was pulled from circulation for a few years.
10. South Park — Season 14, Episodes 5-6, “200” & “201”
South Park is no stranger to controversy. Its creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, are known to some as provocateurs, trolls to others. Their intent with the series has always been to offend any and everyone.
That desire to provoke has landed the two of them in hot water before. The response to “200” & “201” is one of those times. While “200” & “201” are about the celebrities that South Park has previously made fun of banding together to attack the town, the central controversy was actually around Stone and Parker’s depiction of the prophet Muhammad.
The Islamic prophet is not to be depicted in any form according to some sects of the religion, and the second half of the episode heavily featured him. The creators received death threats for the episode, and Comedy Central responded by censoring the episode. To this date, not even this censored version has ever been posted through one of Comedy Central’s official channels.