10 Times TV Shows Got Too Real
7. The X-Files - 'Home' Episode Leads To First Parental Warning In Show's History
Back in 1996, it wasn't exactly common for television shows to carry a viewer discretion warning for graphic content. However, when The X-Files episode entitled 'Home' arrived on our screens in October of that year, it was decided that viewers needed a heads-up of sorts before agreeing to expose themselves to what was to come.
It's not hard to see why this was the first episode in the paranormal show's history to receive the warning either.
Containing everything from a deformed baby being buried alive to the discovery of a quadruple amputee breeding with her own sons for years, The X-Files did not hold back on this occasion and many actually class this episode as one of the most compelling of the entire series.
Yet, at the time of release, 'Home' was understandably deemed too extreme to repeat on network television which was also another first for The X-Files.
Audiences may have become desensitised to a lot of things over the years, with gruesome violence and jump-scares becoming something of a norm in modern TV, but 'Home' still stands out as one of the most chilling feats of storytelling ever committed to the small screen and more than justifies that viewer discretion warning all these years later.