Top 20 Most Controversial TV Episodes 

Which controversy do you think was the most overblown? Let us know in the comments below! For more content like this, click here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_jqn0Ugn2bs.html Don't forget to play our Live Trivia (www.watchmojo.com/play) games at 3pm EST for a chance to win cash! The faster you answer, the more points you get!

People complain about how shows aren't realistic... and then when they portray realism people complain about it... And that's why we can't have nice things.

the 13 reasons why censorship is still kind of weird to me. I get why it's done, don't get me wrong, but removing that suicide scene and leaving several far more graphic scenes of sexual assault including a guy getting a broomstick forced into him after being severely beaten is fine?

Diversity Day is, hands down, one of the best episodes. The fact that we have become so sensitive that Comedy Central pulled it down is just laughably stupid.

I’ll never understand why the ‘Diversity Day’ episode of The Office US is considered controversial or to have “aged badly”. The entire point is to satirise ignorance and expose why lazy stereotypes are ridiculous and wrong. And it does so hilariously. If it had been an episode in the UK original you can bet your arse Ricky Gervais would have been a _helluva_ lot more savage.

The Boondocks: Return of the King and the R Kelly episode. Both episodes are as relevant today as they were when they first aired.

Poussey's death still hurts.

Controversial was not the right word for this list. More like “questionable” or “most talked about”.

Carol of O Conner and Sammy Davis Jr. We're good friends in real life and Carol managed to not only get Sammy to be on the show, but get CBS to allow it

You missed 'All In the Family's' episode dealing with the se&ual assault of Edith. It was back in the 70's and the show was always sparking debate and outrage because of the casual and sometimes graphic humour dealing with race, gender, se&uality and crime. As prudish as the censors were back then, the show would never be allowed to air today, in the era of everyone being upset because they were offended for every reason under the sun.

Married with Children - The Lost Episode evidently this episode was considered too raunchy so it only aired once. Now you can only see the episode in The DVD's.

"The Lost Sister" was like an attempted spin off of Kali's gang, but it didn't work, because they just weren't compelling characters. The worst part about it was that it came right in the middle of an exciting cliffhanger with the characters we actually cared about back in Hawkins.

Love how the background music keeps changing with every entry

I noticed that comedy central pulled ‘Diversity Day’ The Office out of rotation. The Iron Throne was the worst series finale of an overall well written and produced series. GOT truly messed up

The season 6 episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer "Seeing Red" involved both the murder of Tara (a lesbian character who was part of the first gay kiss on television) and an attempted sexual assault of Buffy by a former lover. Both were considered huge betrayals by fans, misogynistic acts done to further other characters' arcs. The consequences of the attempted rape were dealt with well into the following season, but Tara's death is often cited as one of the early examples of the "bury your gays" trope.

The ironic thing about The Offic e episode is that the Michael Scott character was never intentionally offensive; he just had a knack for accidently stepping in it. Sammy Davis Jr. on All in the Family marked the start of Archie Bunker changing as a person. I'm glad that it was a process that happened over the run of the show instead of being like someone flipping a switch and Archie suddenly being different. I didn't actually watch the Ellen episode. There was so much hype before the episode that I knew what the big reveal was going to be days before it happened. Here's a pattern I've noticed: Kill a white male character = some fans will be upset because it's their favorite character, but generally no big deal. Kill a character who belongs to a certain group (women, racial minorities, LGBT) and the writer's/producer get accused of hating all members of that group.

So nothing bad can happen to a gay/trans person or its controversial unless we praise them a treat them as if they are superior to normal people

Casanova Cat (1951) "Tom and Jerry" 🐾

Seeing _It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia_ on here isn’t much of a surprise.

I'm surprised you didn't put the episode called "The Bicycle Man" from the show "Diff'rent Strokes". That episode is about a p3d0 messing with kids, and it's very uncomfortable to watch.

The Walking Dead season 7 premier shouldn't have been much of a shock to anyone. Glenn died exactly as he did in the comics. I was a tad bit surprised at Abraham's death but for people to throw a hissy fit at Glenn's death was just daft.

Idk with degrassi i saw an episode about a main character harming herself and that’s how i learned to do i started doing it. That episode always hits me and i blame it for teaching me to harm myself at the young age of 10

That Outlander episode was definitely a rough watch, but I think it was brilliantly done. There's very few SA scenes involving male victims. Just made Black Jack's death even more satisfying when it finally happened and at Jamie's hands.

Genuinely, can someone please explain why Lucille Ball’s character being pregnant was controversial?? I realise it was the 50s and television was a lot more uptight but I am wracking by brains and cannot for the life of me work out why that would be controversial! If her character were unmarried or something I could see why folk might have been bothered back then, but wasn’t she a married woman? I don’t get it! 🤷‍♀️

Personally I think removing the suicide wasn’t the right choice. I think the broom should of been removed that stick with u long after . It over poor Tyler

Moral of the story, don't kill off lesbians in a series. I was surprised to learn that Captain Kirk locked lips with another man.

The controversy over "Home" was not overblown. An example: many years ago, my crew and I were sent to prune some trees away from power lines at a dead end road. The grandmother and grandson were clearly having an intimate relationship. I was glad to get out of there! As was my crew. Stuff happens.

It's (The Office) a sit-com for Christ's sake! Too many people have little to no sense of humor, and get easily offended over nothing.

Every single episode of Drawn Together

Home is maybe the best episode of The X-Files. It was very serious, very sad, and just brilliant in a low key way.

although viewership went down way more after ‘the day will come when you won’t be’, i feel like carl’s death was way more controversial.

Several of these episodes were "controversial" because the episode killed off a character of a particular minority, black or gay or trans. Why should that matter? If you like a character and their death upsets you, that's fine. The actor and the writers did a great job. It shouldn't be controversial because the character is a minority.

The suicide scene in "13 Reasons Why" should not have been edited. Showing it as originally filmed highlighted its awfulness which was the point.

The Gang Turns Black is still available on streaming. The banned episodes are the ones that feature Lethal weapon 5 & 6 and Martina Martinez.

I’m surprised that Twilight Zone’s The Encounter was listed! It was banned for decades

The DIFF'RENT STROKES........THE PEDO EPISODE pt.1 2 & 3

Does it seem like their channel has more ads than other channels. Was making breakfast while I watched and felt like I was stopping a lot to skip ads

What about fresh Prince, episode when Prince and his cousin got pull over and put into jail

Really appreciate that you didn’t show any spoiler imagery for Home, that’s great for anyone here who wants to brave it for themselves! 😂 Thought I’d mention that the Six Feet Under episode “That’s My Dog” caused such an uproar that it could be on this list. I knew people who couldn’t finish it and HBO received so much hate for it. It’s amazing. I love when creators take risks in artful, moving ways.

Informative video thanks

I wouldn't call S2 E7 of Stranger Things an unnecessary waste of time. I agree it can come across as a weird backdoor pilot, but it has Eleven learn a lesson about just because a person works for someone evil doesn't mean they're evil themselves, with many of them even having families they need to support.

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I look at this list a little bit differently…I think it shows how far we have come as a society, through the eyes of TV. Think about it… Beginning with I Love Lucy, where we weren’t allowed to say “pregnant” on TV, to an interracial couple on Star Trek (sort of), to a kiss between two men on All in the Family (again, sort of), the deaths of beloved characters on various series, allll the way up to a depiction of suicide on 13 Reasons Why. As a society, we must continue to grow and be accepting of everyone’s differences and lifestyles. We also must know that things like race relations, sexuality, violence and brutality are ever evolving, and some of these programs show WHAT happens to people, and how to properly deal with the issues in an appropriate manner. Just let people be who they are 🤷🏻‍♀️

So if a character is gay or trans then killing them off is controversial??? Don’t they want to be treated like equals

5:35 the Gang turns Black didn't even have blackface it was literal black actors used when they saw each other in the mirror, should still be up too.

Number 5 legit made me give up on television entirely. It was that bad.

Earshot/Graduation Day Part 2: Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Both Episodes delayed airing for months due to the Columbine HS Massacre in 1999.

The final episodes of Final space in season 3 Is the biggest BS there is. And that was already a series full of Despair

Arrow season 4 episode "eleven fifty-nine".

I find "Diversity Day" to be hilarious, "Chapter Seven" to just be a fun episode, "The Day Will Come When You Won't Be" to be beautiful and delicious, "To Ransom a Man's Soul" to be a perfect reminder of how Outlander doesn't shy away from even some of the best and worst moments in history and in humanity, and "Abyssinia, Henry" to be a sweet but tragic episode that didn't shy away from the horrors of war. I also think "The Iron Throne" was the perfect final episode for Game of Thrones.

It's sometimes the task of fiction to bring something controversial, uncomfortable, unsettling, or IGNORED into the foreground. The focus is, it's fiction. But of course, truth is stranger than fiction. If drama or comedy shied away from all topics that might be deemed controversial by some, that would make for some boring entertainment. Even back in the late 90s, the controversy over the "Ellen coming out as gay" episode always baffled me -- what's the big deal?! Less than a year later, "Will & Grace" would debut, featuring multiple gay characters in main roles. And then a random memory came to me -- the movie "The Kite Runner" (and the book upon which it is based) features the rape of a young boy... talk about heavy subject matter, and yet that is rarely broached in subjects about controversy in entertainment. So, what's the difference?? Society is, unfortunately, plagued with many inequities and difficult issues. These sometimes need to be depicted in TV and film. The characters in these stories are flawed, just like all of us are. They will do things that meet the disapproval of some. Bringing controversial subject matter to the forefront is almost essential, even if it's uncomfortable to consider or perhaps violent to see. Don't overanalyze these things, and don't turn away from them either.

The crazy thing about TWD is Glenn getting his head smashed is cannon

Others: The Simpsons: The Principal and the Pauper Arthur's Big Hit Family Guy: Life of Brian The Big Bang Theory: The Matrimonial Momentum

Loved that All In The Family episode! Like all kids after Pokémon, Jackie Chan Adventures, Flint The Time Detective, I watched I Love Lucy and All In The Family.

Very surprised Advanced Dungeons and Dragons from Community didn't make the list. That one gets talked about a lot.

This should just be 20 episodes of Southpark lol

I was a dedicated TWD viewer, but couldn't watch ever again after the Negan scene.

Shit that's why they don't have the puerto rican day festival in rochester,ny anymore😂😂😂

We talked about prime time shows but what about kids live action shows? I found out about episode 187 on Sesame Street. It’s one where Margaret Hamilton, who played the wicked witch of the west Guest starred. I watched it. I didn’t think it was scary or anything. But back when it first aired…it was controversial and parents demanded it be pulled…

I saw I'll See You in Court , on TV . 😊

Isn't the controversy behind Diversity Day supposed to be the point of it?

How was a potential spin off of stranger things scandalous?

Glad Phoebe is back.

Surprised Wentworth wasn’t here. Some horrible violent rape scenes!

People are so soft

13 reasons why show should have been 1 season not 4 seasons because there are not any more books to the book and the whole scene with Hannah doing what she did at the end of episode 13 they changed that completely from the book

I love it’s always sunny!

How is Heil, Honey, I'm Home not on this list?

The episode of Mom is very offensive,it's not very funny,second is Two And A Half Men is considered to be offensive,honorable mention Married With Children,too challenging and very offensive.

If it upsets you that much, just don't watch it. Can't we all just agree to do that so we can all be adults again?

Why does no one talk about Maude Alcholism or Suicide episodes they are just as important

The Walking Dead didn't Die. it came back strong with The Ones Who Live!

"Nobody is going to root for a cast of characters who stand for discrimination, eugenics, and racism." with 5 out of 8 episodes having zero plot and zero character development -Inhumans review How did MCU went from Homecoming and GOTG2 to Inhumans in 2017?

I think some of them are controversial because they are bad. I can’t believe The Office is on this list, but I knew Game of Thrones will make it because of the final season. I already revealed what I think about The Lost Sister episode of Stranger Things 😤.

So much lgbt bull.

Just because critics simply didn’t _like_ the episode Chapter Seven doesn’t mean that it was controversial.

It's FUCKING OBVIOUS that the Puerto Rican Seinfeld is #1!

If you made this list for just being a bad episode.... Damn.

A bad backdoor pilot was “controversial"?? Lmao

Click bc saw Martin Luther King Jr on thumbnail

TOP 10 Ugliest Roboys

Man, I love The Office

Why are some of these on the list just cause a gay character dies? I think I only saw one where it was just because it could have been done better but it just seems silly to me to have them on the list just because of that.

Man most of this stuff should not be controversial it should just be like okay cool I respect your decision, much love all regardless

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I am surprised the racist star trek next generation episode wasn't even mentioned much less not one of the top five on the list...

*sighs* Based on the original graphic novel series ‘The Walking Dead.’ The character Glenn Rhee (played by Steven Yeun) officially killed off… 😢

To Ransom A Man's Soul would be hailed as brave and showcasing reality via fiction if the victim had been a woman. Being the victim of SA is an accepted and overused source of trauma for female characters because society accepts women as perpetual victims of male violence. If male characters have SA in their background history, it will have happened when they were kids. Fact is, male survivors of SA were more than likely victimized by another man. And whenever a victim is brought to "climax", which happens to both female and male victims, it brings immense shame and stigma to the point where they might not ever report the crime. I don't think it was gratuitous at all, it was heartbreaking and showed the violence and shame perfectly.

In my opinion, walking dead was better as a comic

I stopped watching outlander after that

Kind of missing the point with some of these shows huh?

MODERN audiences don't like any All in the Family episode. 80s and 90s audiences did. But not Gen Z'ers.

PEOPLE ARE SOFT

#20 This episode was hilarious. I laugh alot #19 I wouldn't say it was "Controversial". It was just 1 bad episode. #18 This was a funny episode #17 I howl with laughter at this episode #16 DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE is the message #15 I love this show #14 I don't see the problem here. #13 I don't see a problem here. It's a prison show and they're criminals #12 I like this episode #11 More like a slap in the face to viewers rather than "controversial" #10 The show went downhill after this episode #9 Oh you mean the show about teen suicide led to a spike in teens trying the same? SHOCKER. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes #8 God forbid we couldn't say the word PREGNANT on TV #7 Oh get over yourselves #6 great episode #5 The biggest "fuck you" to the audience i've ever seen #4 She shouldn't have had the baby killed #3 a landmark moment in TV #2 One of the scariest episodes ever. Lesson is don't do inbreeding #1 This was a hilarious episode.

Stranger things is just dog shit from the start

There’s no such thing as “too much” on tv

What's so funny about the Walking Dead episode is that it was frame-for-frame exactly like the comic book. Personally, I thought it played perfectly in Negan's redemption story. Forgiveness can be meaningless if you don't see how much you hate a person.

Lmfao. If you thought Danny's story was going to have a happy ending, and she wasn't going nuts... you hadn't been paying attention. Cry about it harder why don't you. Lmfao😅😅😅😅😅😅

Hello good afternoon 😮😮😮😮

Worst teen shows: 1. Skins 2. Glee 3. Sex ed 4. 13 reasons why 5. Euphoria 6. Riverdale