TV Episodes Banned after Backlash: "Home" - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

JamesG · 11-13-2025, 12:15 AM

The X-Files: Home

The famously banned episode of "The X-Files" wasn't taken off air because of any social or political controversy, but for a far simpler reason: it was too darn scary.

In October 1996, Fox aired an episode called "Home".

Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) travel to a rural town where a grotesquely inbred family known as the Peacocks is wreaking havoc on the locals.

In the episode's shocking opening scene, the monstrous Peacocks deliver a deformed baby and subsequently bury it in a would-be baseball field. Local law enforcement brings Mulder and Scully in after discovering the dead baby.

The episode was so disturbing that Fox banned it from re-airing for three years.

Co-writer James Wong received feedback from the executives after they saw the episode. "I remember getting a call from a producer. He goes, 'You guys are sick!'"

Wong told The New York Times. Wong's writing partner, Glen Morgan, revealed that when he and Wong were working on creator Chris Carter's new show, "Millennium", they intended to do a follow-up episode about the Peacocks.

Fox nixed the idea, telling Wong and Morgan, "Those characters never appear on television again."

Though executives were clearly horrified by the episode, its contentious nature served as a marketing boon in later years. When "Home" finally aired again in October 1999, the TV Guide ad read: "Only on Halloween ... would we dare air an episode so controversial."

When it aired the second time around, it became the first and last "X-Files" episode to carry a TV-MA rating.

https://www.tvline.com/2024168/tv-ep...fter-backlash/

11-13-2025, 12:15 AM	#1
JamesG Freakshow Moderator Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 01, 2008 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 57,011	TV Episodes Banned after Backlash: "Home" The X-Files: Home The famously banned episode of "The X-Files" wasn't taken off air because of any social or political controversy, but for a far simpler reason: it was too darn scary. In October 1996, Fox aired an episode called "Home". Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) travel to a rural town where a grotesquely inbred family known as the Peacocks is wreaking havoc on the locals. In the episode's shocking opening scene, the monstrous Peacocks deliver a deformed baby and subsequently bury it in a would-be baseball field. Local law enforcement brings Mulder and Scully in after discovering the dead baby. The episode was so disturbing that Fox banned it from re-airing for three years. Co-writer James Wong received feedback from the executives after they saw the episode. "I remember getting a call from a producer. He goes, 'You guys are sick!'" Wong told The New York Times. Wong's writing partner, Glen Morgan, revealed that when he and Wong were working on creator Chris Carter's new show, "Millennium", they intended to do a follow-up episode about the Peacocks. Fox nixed the idea, telling Wong and Morgan, "Those characters never appear on television again." Though executives were clearly horrified by the episode, its contentious nature served as a marketing boon in later years. When "Home" finally aired again in October 1999, the TV Guide ad read: "Only on Halloween ... would we dare air an episode so controversial." When it aired the second time around, it became the first and last "X-Files" episode to carry a TV-MA rating. https://www.tvline.com/2024168/tv-ep...fter-backlash/ Attached Images