The Simpsons: 8 Episodes We Never Got To See

The Simpsons aired its first season back in 1989, and since then has become one of pop culture's most iconic and beloved TV shows, recently tying up its 32nd season and airing over 700 episodes of content.

Despite this insane statistic, though, there are several major episodes that fans never got a chance to see. Whether they were written through or simply pitched and never pursued, these long lost adventures were cancelled or left alone for a myriad of reasons, including legal issues, poor timing and behind-the-scenes tension.

Of course, making a TV show - even one as long-running and popular as The Simpsons - is far from an easy task, and it's never guaranteed that every idea will have its time to shine, but as is the case with the majority of these unproduced episodes, you can't help but wonder about what could have been.

From sequels to controversial classics, episodes mocking Scientology, potentially dramatic instalments that would have shed some light on the town's issues with racism, and an infamous, possibly mythological episode about death, here are 8 episodes of The Simpsons we never got to see.

The Simpsons has been no stranger to controversy over the years, having poked fun at everything from organised religion to Hollywood, and government officials to billionaires, but this could-have-been Golden Age episode was apparently a step too far for the showrunners to go ahead with.

Originally meant to air during the show's eighth season, "Lisa the Scientopteran" was written by frequent show writer George Meyer, and would have found Lisa joining a movement strikingly similar to Scientology.

Despite some of the much more taboo topics The Simpsons have tackled over the years, Meyer's script was never picked up for production, left behind because of "legal ramifications" and the fact that "at least a couple of the staff/cast would've felt personally attacked by the episode."

Given the fact that Bart voice actress Nancy Cartwright is a Scientologist, it was probably a good move to leave the episode behind. We all saw what happened with Isaac Hayes on South Park, after all.