10 TV Shows Made With INSANE Restrictions

2. No Smoking - Constantine

Constantine Matt Ryan
The CW

If there's any single characteristic that even the most casual Constantine fan will know, it's that the title character smokes like a damn chimney, and it's simply expected in any faithful adaptation.

But for 2014's TV series, NBC's content guidelines prevented the show's creators, Daniel Cerone and David S. Goyer, from showing John Constantine (Matt Ryan) smoking cigarettes.

And so, while this version of Constantine was said to be a smoker, it generally wasn't depicted on-screen, as left many Hellblazer fans frustrated in the early going. 

Though this rule was ultimately relaxed a little by NBC in later episodes, it felt like an excessive upfront constraint given that sucking on the ol' death sticks is such a core tenet of the character, and something which probably should've been considered before picking a network to air the show.

And yet, not one to be outdone, NBC imposed an even sillier restriction upon one of their most beloved shows...

 
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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.