10 Banned TV Shows That Shocked The World

7. Cruel Intentions Prequel Series Was Too Sexy For Fox - Manchester Prep

In case you're wondering, yes, that is Amy Adams.

Manchester Prep was a series commissioned by Fox as a prequel TV show to the hit 1999 movie Cruel Intentions. The show was set to star a 25-year-old Amy Adams as Kathryn Merteuil and Robin Dunne as Sebastian Valmont, the roles played by Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe in the film respectively.

In late 1999, however, Fox reportedly got cold feet over the show's sexual content and halted production after just two episodes had been completed. Considering the blandly sexless nature of most of Fox's TV output - but gratuitous violence is fine! - it's pretty shocking they'd even swing for a show like this in the first place.

But that wasn't the end of the story. An enterprising Fox then decided to recoup some of their sunk costs by re-editing the completed episodes into a feature film and even shooting some sexier additional scenes. The end result was a straight-to-video Cruel Intentions prequel, confusingly entitled Cruel Intentions 2.

The film was quietly released in early 2001 and quickly scorned by critics, yet nevertheless proved successful enough to warrant the release of a third movie in 2004. Funnily enough, Amy Adams opted not to return.