TV1 Blog

5 Controversial TV Shows that were pulled off the air

It's taken over a year to hit our screens but on November 2nd we'll finally be able to see the controversial drama Killing Time.  The series tells the story of real-life criminal lawyer Andrew Fraser who represented some of Australia's most noteworthy and notorious defendants like businessman Alan Bond and footballer Jimmy Krakouer.  The series was ready to screen last year but had to be pulled due to proceedings in the Supreme Court of Victoria.  Which places Killing Time in some rather noteworthy and notorious company of its own.  Here's a quick rundown of five of some of the most "controversial" TV programs that have been pulled off air for one reason or another.

Underbelly

Many consider Underbelly to be one of Australia's best crime dramas ever but viewers in Victoria (the home of Underbelly) had to wait for over three years to see the full series (legally) on their screens.   The problem for Victorians was that the scheduled screening of the first series of Underbelly, which focussed on Melbourne's gangland wars, coincided with a real-life gangland murder trial in Melbourne.  And the courts said "not on our watch".  They were concerned that the accused in the trial wouldn't get a fair trial if jury members watched Vince Colosimo and co run riot across Melbourne. So while the rest of country could sit back and watch the fascinating gangland drama way back in February 2008, it was not until May of this year that Nine was allowed to air it in Victoria.

Blue Murder

I was actually studying law in Sydney when the ABC planned to screen this series about corrupt cops and career criminals on the ABC in 1995, so I was eagerly awaiting this series hoping it could provide some context to my criminal law studies.  But the series got into the same trouble that Underbelly would later get into.  The Supreme Court (of NSW this time) got nervous about its potential impact on jurors in the trial of one of the career crims portrayed in the series, Neddy Smith.  So they effectively banned it in NSW.  For 6 years!  By then, the rest of Australia had seen it not once, but twice.  Given the critical reception – like Underbelly, Blue Murder is considered one of the finest programs ever made in Australia – it's not surprising that there are plenty of tales of pirate videotapes doing the rounds across Sydney over that period.

Seinfeld

Get out!  Seinfeld?!  Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer had a knack for offending everyone equally, but they never went that far did they?  Well, according to some, they did.  "The Puerto Rico Day" episode from their final season (it was the last episode before the two-part finale) was banned from syndication in the US for years.  And apparently some stations still refuse to air it.  So what did the gang do that got everyone so fired up?  Well, if you remember, in that episode Jerry & co get stuck in a traffic jam caused by the annual Puerto Rico Day parade in New York City.  George, Elaine and Kramer get out of the car and, as usual, hilarity ensues.  However, where the episode gets kinda iffy is when Kramer accidentally burns a Puerto Rican flag.  And this sort of thing doesn't play well in the United States.  A lot of viewers were (rightly or wrongly) offended when it first ran in 1998, so the episode was been taken out of rotation.  The episode has been run numerous times in Australia, including on TV1 with little controversy so far (well, none actually, as far I'm aware, but that may now change now that I've brought everyone's attention to it ...).

South Park

Quelle surprise!  You'd be forgiven for thinking that Matt Stone and Trey Parker's whole aim with South Park is to get each banned somewhere by someone, so it's not surprising that it has run into trouble on numerous occasions. One of the most infamous incidents was when they were banned from showing the prophet Muhammad in the tenth season episode "Cartoon Wars Part II" and again in their fourteenth season episodes "200" and "201", where they mock the "Cartoon Wars Part II" ban.  The episodes were written in response to the controversies in 2005 and 2007 when cartoons depicting Muhammad ran in European newspapers resulting in riots and threats.  Comedy Central in the US thought it wiser to censor the episodes given the risks (and despite Stone and Parker's pleas to air the episodes uncut).  Interestingly, the South Park guys had actually already aired an image of Muhammad in a fifth season episode, "Super Best Friends".  Muhammad also appeared uncensored briefly in the opening sequence of the show since that episode, including (incredibly) in "Cartoon Wars Part II"!  Episodes "201" initially received a censored airing in the US too, but it has not had any repeat showings in the US. 

The X-Files

The X-Files could get creepy and downright scary in its heyday.  So much so that one episode in its fourth season, "Home", was even banned by Fox in the US because its content was of a graphic nature.  I'd tell you all about it but ... its content is of a graphic nature.  Which will make some of you want to go straight out rent or buy the series.  Which is one of those things about banning shows like these.  It makes us want to see them even more.