10 Banned Episodes Of Beloved TV Sitcoms
6. Comedians - Beavis And Butt-Head
Perhaps one of the most recognisable mascots of the MTV era, Beavis and Butt-Head were part of the wave of culture that was all about pushing buttons, low-hanging fruit, and appealing to the disenfranchised Generation X.
With its apathy for all things right and proper (heck, one of them is called Butt-Head), the show was often in hot water, and was the target for some pretty scathing criticism - none more so than after the airing of the episode Comedians.
The story in question sees the two Texan teenagers attempting stand-up comedy, which goes about as well as expected. After the audience walks out of the comedy club, Beavis accidentally sets it on fire, and the two watch and laugh about how funny the situation is.
Unfortunately, an incident in Moraine, Ohio exactly a month after the episode aired dragged the show into its most dire controversy. Austin Messner, a 5-year-old boy, had burned his house down with his mother's cigarette lighter, killing his young sister. His mother blamed the show, and the influence it had on her son.
Despite neighbours proclaiming that the family didn’t have cable and couldn’t have seen it, MTV chose to re-edit Comedians and then eventually can it for good. In 2008, Messner confirmed that not only did the family not have cable, he had never seen the show in his life, and didn’t plan to.