Can anyone think of episodes of TV Shows that were controversial in any way? :)

I don't know if controversial is the right word, but Edith's near rape on All in The Family packed an emotional punch.

There was a lot of buzz surrounding Ellen DeGenere's character coming out on her show (Ellen?).

The Diff'rent Strokes episode with the Bike Guy trying to molest Arnolds and Dudley.

I am a fan of Laverne and Shirley on the whole, but I remember several episodes I thought were controversial:

1. Episode #161, "The Playboy Show" (from the last--and Shirley-less--season: When I saw the Playboy building I immediately switched the channel! Forget the absence of Shirley!)

2. Episode #125, "I Do, I Do" (they almost marry two British rockers after eating marijuana-laced brownies--N@N or TVLand (or both!) refused to air this one)

Also, Episode #78 of The Wonder Years , "Christmas Party", was aired very sparingly because of the scene with Mr. Ermin smoking marijuana in the Arnold basement. (FWIW, there was also a scene with a scantily-dressed woman in a short dress in one of the scenes in the house in which Wayne said, "I'm outta here!" or the equivalent.)

Just about any episode of NYPD Blue....

What was that Married With Children episode that got those conservatives all up in arms? I didn't like the show myself, but I just changed the channel when it came on. Couldn't those people have just done the same thing? It bugs me when people try to censor TV.

Originally posted by James
I am a fan of Laverne and Shirley on the whole, but I remember several episodes I thought were controversial:

1. Episode #161, "The Playboy Show" (from the last--and Shirley-less--season: When I saw the Playboy building I immediately switched the channel! Forget the absence of Shirley!)

You changed the channel just because you saw the Playboy building? Talk about straight-laced...

I think that the episode of Three's Company "Days of Beer Weeds" was probably sparking a lot of controversy. The episode was about Jack, Janet, and Chrissy finding what they think is marijuana in the Ropers' garden. Not-knowing that it is marijuana, Mrs. Roper enters it in a flower arranging competition. It turns out that it isn't marijuana, and Mrs. Roper loses the competition because Mr. Roper threw a big clump of clay on it. This episodes has one of my favorites quotes of the series that goes kinda like this (it isn't accurate):

Chrissy (after they find the "marijuana"): I know what we can do [to get rid of it]! We can burn it!
Jack: Yeah, and get the whole neighborhood stoned!


I think "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" had some controversal storylines, Such as Mary getting VD from Tom who got it from Mae who got it from some man she didn't even know.

In recent years, "Three's Company" has raised controcersy at N@N with the episodes "Paradise Lost," "Going to Pot," and "The Charming Stranger." For many years, up to last year, these three episodes were NOT included in the rerun package. "Paradise Lost" was excluded because it features Larry and Mr. Furley drunk. "Going to Pot" was left out because it has many references to pot. "The Charming Stranger" wasn't shown because of a SPLIT-SECOND, accidental showing of John Ritter's........"jewel bag." All three episodes are now back in the package, with all of the "controversal" scenes still in them.

Wasn't Soap (the entire show) supposed to be controversial? I've only watched it once so I don't know.

"Three's Company" Here are 3 contreversial episodes...

"A Hundred Dollars A What" because it had something about a hundred dollar a night call girl

"Paradise Lost" because there's a scene with Mr Furley and Larry drinking and getting drunk

"The Charming Stranger" because we can see John Ritter's scrotum for like 1 second.

The Facts of Life had over ten controversial episodes, but I don't think the the whole show to be controversial, even though the name does give it away. But it did deal with a few serious issues, that would be cosidered controversial.

A lot of All in the Family episodes were contreversial

I always considered the following sitcoms to be very controversial:
-Facts of Life
-Diff'rent Strokes
-All In The Family/Archie Bunker's Place
-Jeffersons
-Sanford & Son

Sitcoms like, "Full House," "Saved By The Bell," and "Boy Meets World" touched controversial issues without making the episodes un-"airable."

Facts of Life touched on many serious topics

-Maude's abortion episode (I think it was episode 5)

-The "TV Land Controversial" episode of "The Munsters" where Eddie wants to kill a bully at school. TV Land refuses to show it, even though it's The Munsters.

-I remember seeing a special about Janet Jackson's character on "Good Times" having an abusive mom.

-Although not the exact episode was controversial, but in "I Love Lucy", they weren't aloud to say the word "pregnant." They just said "Lucy's expecting.

That's all I've got.

The Hogan Family (known as Valerie from 1986-1987) episode called Bad Timing. David decides to have sex and buys condoms. This is the first TV show to state the word condom and NBC aired a parental warning before the episode aired on 2/8/1987. The episode called The Best of Friends, the Worst of Times (12/1/90), in which David's friend Rich reveals he has AIDS and by the end of the episode has died.

Mr. Belvedere episode called, The Counselor (5/6/88) in which Wesley deals with a camp counselor who's a child molestor. The episode called, Wesley's Friend (1/31/86), in which Wesley's friend has AIDS. The episode called Kevin's Date (10/24/86) in which Kevin decides to have sex for the first time. ABC aired a parental warning on that one.

Originally posted by TVAdam
[B-I remember seeing a special about Janet Jackson's character on "Good Times" having an abusive mom.

[/B]

Her mother burnt her with an iron. That episode gives me the serious creeps to this day :(

I 100% totally agree. That episode also gives me the major creeps.

I watched Good Times growing up, don't remember actual episodes, but remember Penny (Janet Jackson's character) about to be burnt with the iron.

Channel Umptee-3 if I remember correctly was pretty cotroversial for a saturday morning cartoon show but then again it WAS Norman Lear.

Never liked the Family Ties episode (first season I believe) where a friend of Steven first fondles and later kisses the much younger Mallory. I found the episode sick, even if the intention was to be preachy. I also never liked the Christmas episode of All in the Family when Beverly LaSalle was beaten to death. Very depressing. I want sitcoms to make me laugh.

"Webster," and "Punky Brewster" dealt with various child molestation issues.

Originally posted by jimmiegirl48
Wasn't Soap (the entire show) supposed to be controversial? I've only watched it once so I don't know.

Yes! I remember missing the entire first season of Soap because it was banned in several US cities (including mine). Fortunately, the ban was lifted in time for season two.

There was an episode of Seinfeld when Kramer burned the Puerto Rican flag by accident during a parade.
The episode was pulled by NBC, who promised to never air it again. I think that's changed though. Not sure.

How could I forget. My favorite show of all-time had a controversial episode . . . sort of. "NewsRadio" had an episode in the second season called "Injury". Bill McNeal is on the air complaining about another broadcasters use of the word 'penis'. For some reason, NBC pulled this episode from the lineup and didn't air it until the end of season three. MVC aired the rerun with Bill using that word, but I noticed A&E censored the episode.

Dou0kmug7cs

There was an episode of Seinfeld when Kramer burned the Puerto Rican flag by accident during a parade.
The episode was pulled by NBC, who promised to never air it again. I think that's changed though. Not sure.

Yes you can now see the episode in reruns in syndication. They've been letting it run for several years now.

Ed.

I think most series ran controversial episodes, from time to time.

Not mentioned above, I remember a controversial episode of Eight is Enough where one of the girls (I forget which one) wanted to work in a topless grocery store (I swear I'm not making this up!), and the dad, of course, was freaking out. We could not watch that episode.

There was that horrific episode of Little House on the Prairie where Sylvia was raped by a mime. I still cannot believe that was made into an episode.

The episode of Facts of Life where Natalie lost her virginity was controversial at the time, but she was college-aged at the time.

I remember there was controversy when Kirk Cameron had Julie McCullough fired from Growing Pains, for previously appearing in Playboy.

Just about every other sitcom in the 70's and 80's had at least one controversial episode.

You are right on that Jimpickens. The less scandalous shows were the 1950's-early 1970's. To a certain point, it all depends on the viewer. To some All in the Family or Married with Children would be shocking.

In the 80's MWC was shocking because you didn't have anything like that show at the time except to a degree Night Court but in the let's be shocking for the sake of it decade of the 90's it fit in perfectly.

in 1974 or 75 "MAUDE" aired a two-part episode about Maudes decision to get an abortion when she finds out she's pregnant,

Yes you can now see the episode in reruns in syndication. They've been letting it run for several years now.

Ed.yea, I've seen it.

A bit of trivia: it was the shows last half-hour episode.

In the 80's MWC was shocking because you didn't have anything like that show at the time except to a degree Night Court but in the let's be shocking for the sake of it decade of the 90's it fit in perfectly.

Yep. I'd even say MWC was one of the main shows that led to shock TV becoming so popular in the 1990s.

Night Court could sometimes be raunchy, but even it wasn't like MWC.

in 1974 or 75 "MAUDE" aired a two-part episode about Maudes decision to get an abortion when she finds out she's pregnant,

It was actually in the first season in the fall of 1972. Abortion was legal in New York where the show took place at the time but not everywhere in the country. Roe vs Wade came about the following year in 1973.

There was a China Beach episode where Holly(Ricki Lake) becomes pregnant by a GI, she makes a decision for an abortion and goes to K.C.(Marg Helgenberger) for help despite opposition from the pro-life McMurphy(Dana Delany) and Dr. Richard(Robert Picardo).

Let's talk about the LA Riots do of A Different World.

According to the cast and crew, that was an episode NBC tried to ban and after that shuffled the show grounding leading to cancellation.

It seems like it was yesterday, but it was 12 years ago this week that I made my decision to no longer subscribe to a Pay-TV provider after seeing an age-inappropriate commercial (for an "ED Pill") aired during a children's show. omg: it amazes me how I managed to amass a huge DVD library using the money I saved by not subscribing to cable. I now watch nothing but commercial-free programming (with this being an even-numbered year it must be :devil::angryfire HELL :angryfire :devil: watching "Appointment TV" with all the negative "attack ads" infesting the programs). I like the freedom I've attained, and I look back with no regrets. I know I'm not alone, as millions have followed in my footsteps (Every month, when I go to the cable company to pay my internet bill I ALWAYS see people returning their equipment after deciding to cancel their subscriptions. The three biggest reasons for dropping? High prices, low quality programming and excessive advertising.

The school shooting on Sons Of Anarchy