The website Cafemom.com has put together a list of the 20 Most Controversial TV Episodes. They don’t seem to be in any particular order, so we’ll just toss out some of our favorites:
“The Mindy Project”, “I Slipped” (2014): Broadcast TV’s first backdoor love scene. It wasn’t just controversial for the type of sex depicted, but because Mindy’s boyfriend tried to go for it without asking first.
“The X-Files”, “Home” (1996): The discovery of a dead, deformed baby leads to the discovery of three deformed brothers who are breeding with their deformed, quadruple-amputee mother. It was the first TV episode to get a TV-MA rating, and was only broadcast once on Fox.
“Ellen”, “The Puppy Episode” (1997): Coming out doesn’t seem like a big deal now, but it caused HUGE controversy back then. Sponsors left, ABC received a bomb threat, and the show was canceled the following season.
“Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood”, “Conflict” (1983): Mr. Rogers took on Cold War nuclear hysteria in a week-long story about an ARMS RACE that broke out when King Friday thought Corny the Beaver was secretly building an arsenal. It turned out he was just building a bridge to unite their two cities.
“Tiny Toon Adventures”, “One Beer” (1991): So in this children’s cartoon, the three main characters get drunk, steal a police car, then drive off a cliff to their deaths. It was supposed to be educational, but come on. It only aired once before it was yanked, but you can get it on DVD.
“Dallas”, “Return to Camelot” (1986): So they killed off PATRICK DUFFY’s character, Bobby Ewing, in Season 8, then spent Season 9 dealing with his death. But they wanted to bring him back for Season 10, so they made it all a DREAM.
“Maude”, “Maude’s Dilemma” (1972): 47-year-old Maude finds out she’s pregnant, and ultimately decides to have an abortion. And this was even before the Roe v. Wade decision.
A 2010 episode of “Family Guy” where Lois gets an abortion also made the list.
“Seinfeld”, “The Puerto Rican Day” (1998): The gang gets stuck in traffic during New York’s Puerto Rican Day Parade. Meanwhile, Kramer accidentally sets a Puerto Rican flag on fire and tries to put it out by stomping on it. It was pulled after its first airing, but it’s available on DVD.
“The Fosters”, “Now Hear This” (2015): This episode featured what’s believed to be the youngest same-sex kiss in history, between characters Jude and Connor, who were 13. The show airs on ABC Family.
