10 Biggest TV Controversies Of 2023
The TV headlines on everyone's lips this past year.
2023 has been a terrific year for quality TV, with the likes of The Last of Us, Succession, Barry, Silo, The Bear, and The Fall of the House of Usher again proving the rich depth that the medium's more expansive canvas offers. But like any year, 2023 hasn't been without its controversies, as some of the most popular and perhaps beloved TV shows of the year have found themselves in the line of fire, whether deserved or not.
With social media being both a platform for marginalised voices to be heard and folks to scream their most inane, nuance-devoid takes into the digital abyss, many have evidently used it to complain about TV shows.
And so, we come to the biggest, most attention-grabbing TV controversies of the past 12 months, ranging from debatably frivolous "issues" which got blown totally out of proportion, to genuinely concerning matters which absolutely merited attention from those involved.
From dubious casting choices to troubled, even "cursed" productions, and all the trouble surrounding a certain new smash hit game show, these 10 TV series were all positively mired in controversy throughout the year...
10. Homer Will Keep Strangling Bart - The Simpsons
For better or worse, depending on your perspective, one of the defining characteristics of Homer Simpson's relationship with his son Bart is his tendency to wring the boy's neck when he annoys Homer, complete with an utterance of "Why you little!"
During the recent season 35(!) episode "McMansion & Wife," Homer mentions that he no longer strangles Bart due to changing social norms, prompting fans to note that The Simpsons had seemingly retired the act of father throttling son.
Some quarters praised this as a meaningful evolution of Homer's character, while others decried it as a reactionary deletion of one of the show's most willfully absurd gags.
Either way, it was subsequently pointed out that Homer actually hasn't strangled Bart on-screen since the season 31 episode "The Winter of Our Monetized Content," seemingly confirming that The Simpsons had indeed put the long-running joke to bed.
But Simpsons producers promptly responded by releasing an image of Homer strangling Bart with the caption, "Why you little clickbait!," seeming to suggest that they haven't taken quite such a hard stance on the issue.