10 Shocking Controversial Episodes From Famous TV Shows That Were Instantly Banned

TV shows are full of shocking moments, plot twists, and really messed-up characters. However, sometimes the controversy is just too much and it makes everybody wants to forget the entire thing that ever happened. These controversial episodes are prime examples of that. They received so much backlash that in the end, the networks had to put their feet down and said “That’s it. Nobody will ever see this again.”
So let’s see what is so scandalous about these controversial episodes that made them immediately pulled from the air after just one time. Do you think they deserve their doomed fates, or people are just overreacting?

1. Hannah Montana

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In 2008, Hannah Montana released an episode called "No Sugar, Sugar." In the episode, Miley and Lilly tried to prevent their friend Oliver from eating any sugar due to his diabetes diagnosis. The entire thing was so misguided that the organization Children With Diabetes had to step in and put an end to it.
Due to the massive backlash it received, this Hannah Montana episode was quickly pulled down right after. One year later in 2009, Disney Channel reshot the episode and released it as "Uptight (Oliver's Alright)."

2. Seinfeld

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In one episode released in 1998, Seinfeld took their jokes a little bit too far and pissed off the National Puerto Rican Coalition. The episode was named "The Puerto Rican Day" and it was full of harmful stereotypes and inappropriate jokes. It painted rioting and vandalizing as part of "every day" in Puerto Rico. NBC quickly apologized and deleted the episode right after.

3. The Twilight Zone

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"The Encounter" was a lost episode of The Twilight Zone released in 1964. It told the story of a white World War II vet and a Japanese-American landscaper who got stuck in an attic with a supernaturally-charged samurai sword. Both characters died at the end, but it wasn’t the reason why the episode was pulled.
Apparently, the episode dealt with racial prejudice and institutional racism. It was too controversial at the time that it was released, so the episode got banned until 2016.

4. Family Guy

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Season 8 of Family Guy was supposed to have another finale, but this episode never made it to the broadcast. The episode's name was "Partial Terms of Endearment." In this episode, Lois became the surrogate for an old friend and her husband. However, the couple died so Lois decided to have an abortion. Fox banned it from airing and never aired it in the US.

5. Pokémon

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This 1997 episode of the beloved Pokémon series caused almost 700 children in Japan to experience seizures. The name of the episode was "Electric Soldier Porygon." There was a scene in the episode where Pikachu blew up missiles with his lightning powers, but the effects were too much. The episode even earned the Guinness World record for Causing the Most Convulsions (seizures) ever after it sent 685 viewers to the hospital.
Even after the scene was edited, it was still banned. The whole show also got banned four months later.

6. X-Files

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One of the most horrendous episodes in the X-Files series must be the 1996 "Home." Our famous duo, Mulder and Scully, was investigating the Peacocks. They discovered an inbred and incestuous family who killed many people to keep their secrets hidden. The episode was too disturbing and the network immediately pulled it. It was only aired one more time in 1999 as a Halloween special.

7. Sesame Street

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In "Episode 847" of Sesame Street, Margaret Hamilton played the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz. The purpose of the episode was to teach viewers how to overcome their fears. However, it backfired and became too scary for many children. The episode quickly disappeared from the mainstream after that.

8. Shake It Up

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The 7th episode of season 1 of Shake It Up dealt with eating disorders. The title of the episode was “Party It Up” and it followed Cece and Rocky as they pretended to be servers to crash a party. There was a character in the episode who was a model. She made a joke about having an eating disorder and it was quite controversial.
Former Disney star Demi Lovato, who left to seek treatment for her eating disorder, called the joke out. Disney quickly pulled the episode afterward.

9. Dance Moms

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Dance teacher Abby Lee Miller made a bad decision that would forever stain the reputation of Dance Moms. In one episode named "Topless Showgirls," she decided to have the girls perform a "fan dance" in costumes that made them look as if they were naked. The network immediately pulled it from the mainstream and removed it from streaming platforms a few weeks after.

10. Mister Rogers' Neighborhood

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In the case of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, it wasn’t just one episode that was banned, it was a whole five-episode arc! This arc of controversial episodes was called "Mister Rogers Talks About Conflict" and it was pretty dark. The puppet King Friday worried that a neighboring town was building a bomb to destroy Make-Believe, so he decided to build a bomb of his own with the help of his fellow residents.
The arc’s purpose was to teach children about the Cold War and the fears surrounding it. However, it was getting way too serious and political. The network pulled it right after the first airing.
These controversial episodes aren’t the only things that can make people turn off their TV in the middle of a scene. There are some pretty terrible movies that a lot of viewers just can’t finish and have to walk out before the ending. What makes these movies so hard to watch that they have to quit halfway through?