15 Shockingly Inappropriate Shows That Were Canceled Before They Aired Due To Controversy

Still can't judge the Game of Thrones creators thought it was a bully thought to nutrient a amusement wherever the Confederacy won the Civil War.

TV shows get canceled each the time, but it's beauteous uncommon to person a amusement canceled earlier it adjacent airs.* Still, it has happened — usually due to the fact that there's thing realllll shady going on. Here are 15 arguable TV shows that volition ne'er spot the airy of day.

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*The objection is, of course, pilots — galore pilots are changeable each year, with lone a fewer being picked up by networks. But pilots aren't truly "canceled," and astir of the entries connected this database had much than an occurrence filmed, oregon were actively not aired due to the fact that of controversy.

1. First, I privation to commencement with 1 of the wildest examples: Frogmen, which was acceptable to prima O.J. Simpson arsenic an ex-Navy SEAL starring h2o rescue missions. Filming completed conscionable a period earlier O.J.'s ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ron Goldman were killed. This, of course, led to O.J.'s apprehension and 1 of the astir infamous execution trials of the past century.
And adjacent further than that, Simpson's costar Todd Allen had erstwhile accompanied O.J. to Ross Cutlery betwixt shooting. Ross Cutlery is the suspected source of the execution weapon, which was ne'er discovered.

2. Good Grief was a world amusement meant to travel the happenings astatine a family-run mortuary successful Texas...until "eight decaying bodies" were recovered there. The mortuary owners were charged with "corpse abuse," which is, you guessed it, treating a "human corpse successful a mode that the idiosyncratic knows would outrage tenable household sensibilities."

Lifetime evidently went up and canceled that nightmare, with VP Les Eisner saying Good Grief "has not and volition not aerial connected Lifetime."

3. Back successful 2017, erstwhile Game of Thrones was inactive successful its heyday, creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (along with Nichelle Tramble Spellman and Malcolm Spellman) made waves erstwhile they announced their adjacent project: Confederate, a play acceptable successful an alternate timeline wherever the Confederacy won the Civil War. The thought astir instantly garnered backlash, with #NoConfederate actually trending during the airing of a Game of Thrones episode.

Defending the series, Weiss called slavery "the worst happening that ever happened successful American history," and said, "It’s an disfigured and a achy history, but we each deliberation this is simply a crushed to speech astir it, not a crushed to tally from it. And this feels similar a perchance invaluable mode to speech astir it."

While the producers initially doubled down and stressed reserving judgement until the amusement was really shown (it hadn't adjacent been written), the amusement was aboriginal canceled, arsenic confirmed by HBO president Casey Bloys successful 2020.

4. In 2005, ABC tried retired a caller reality series called Welcome to the Neighborhood, wherever antithetic families competed to triumph a location successful a vicinity afloat of conservative, Christian, achromatic families. The families competing for the location were mostly from marginalized groups (though 1 was virtually conscionable a blimpish achromatic household with tattoos), and early episodes featured a fig of harmful, racist, and anti-gay comments.

In the extremity of the series, the cheery mates won, with the contestant who said successful the archetypal episode, "I would not tolerate a homosexual mates moving into this neighborhood" changing his views and adjacent reconnecting with his ain cheery son. While the extremity effect was positive, organizations specified arsenic GLAAD worried that aboriginal episodes made favoritism look acceptable, and the National Fair Housing Alliance felt the amusement mightiness interruption the Fair Housing Act, adjacent though the location is awarded and not bought/rented.

Ultimately, the amusement was canceled. "Our volition with Welcome to the Neighborhood was to amusement the transformative process that takes spot erstwhile radical are forced to face preconceived notions of what makes a bully neighbor, and we judge the bid delivers precisely that," ABC said successful a statement. "However, the information that existent alteration lone happens implicit clip made the episodic quality of this bid challenging, and fixed the sensitivity of the taxable substance successful aboriginal episodes, we person decided not to aerial the bid astatine this time."
5. The 2000s were flooded with problematic integrative surgery-based world shows similar The Swan, Bridalplasty, and Extreme Makeover. But we haven't seen thing akin successful the past decade...until The Surjury tried to measurement successful to the once-popular niche.

The British world amusement would've featured radical who privation integrative country making their case, essentially, to a assemblage of their peers — and if 75% oregon much of the assemblage approves the surgery, they get it for free. If not, they spell location with nothing. The arguable amusement had plentifulness of backlash for its premise, but it was really not canceled until soon aft the death of its host, Caroline Flack.

6. Back successful 2004, immoderate execs thought it'd beryllium amusive to make a world peculiar centered astir 2 consecutive dudes pretending they were gay. It was called, Seriously, Dude, I'm Gay, and it was set to feature 2 consecutive men trying retired "the cheery lifestyle," entering a queer societal scene, and adjacent going connected a unsighted day with a antheral — yet competing implicit who could amended person their household and friends they were gay.

GLAAD expressed interest implicit the premise and were given an beforehand transcript — they had "grave concerns" implicit the special, calling it "an workout successful systematic humiliation." Contestants seemingly compared pretending to beryllium cheery to "their worst nightmare" and being "trapped successful cheery hell." They besides were scared their mentors (called "mantors" successful the show) would interaction them inappropriately.

In response, Fox canceled the upcoming special, a determination GLAAD recovered commendable. Instead, they aired American Pie 2.

7. In 2016, NBC announced a caller sitcom with an antithetic premise — the amusement was Mail Order Family, and it would follow a caller widower who hires a Filipino message bid bride to assistance attraction for his kids. The announcement instantly led to controversy, with radical calling retired message bid brides arsenic quality trafficking and worrying astir the depiction of Asian women connected the show.

In effect to the backlash, an NBCUniversal rep released a statement, saying, "We purchased the transportation with the knowing that it would archer the creator's real-life acquisition of being raised by a beardown Filipina stepmother aft the nonaccomplishment of her ain mother. The writer and producers person taken the sensitivity to the archetypal conception to bosom and person chosen not to determination guardant with the task astatine this time.”
8. This is simply a spot of an older example, but different canceled sitcom was 1979's Mr. Dugan, which would've featured a young, idealistic Black shot player-turned-congressman. The bid was scrapped aft a fig of Black congressmen saw a screener and heavy objected to the portrayal of a Black congressman arsenic a "silly, incompetent antheral ruled by his staff." One said, "I consciousness that arsenic Black representatives, we could not spend to travel disconnected looking similar buffoons each implicit the United States."

T.A.T. Communications, which had created the show, past canceled Mr. Dugan, astatine slightest successful portion due to the fact that of this response. "Their opinions lone confirmed our concerns astir the show," they said. "We agreed with the viewers that the contented and the quality conscionable didn't play. ... We're not successful the concern of offending the Black Community." Star Cleavon Little defended the show, saying that the amusement was "a accidental to bring immoderate superior issues to the surface done the conveyance of comedy" and that helium would've brought much Black actors and writers onto the show. "I wouldn't person taken the portion if I thought it would person had a antagonistic impact," helium claimed, saying the quality could've been "the strongest Black drama quality connected television."

9. Competition amusement Our Little Genius' premise seemed elemental enough: "Genius" kids would vie successful a quiz amusement to beryllium their quality and triumph wealth for their family. The show, which was acceptable to premiere successful 2010 aft an airing of American Idol, was pulled conscionable six days earlier it was expected to aerial — aft a household came guardant to assertion their kid had received what seemed similar quiz answers successful a league earlier taping.

Executive shaper Mark Burnett (also down shows similar Survivor and Shark Tank) initially said he'd reshoot the bid after discovering "that determination was an contented with however immoderate accusation was relayed to contestants during the preproduction of Our Little Genius.” But the amusement was ne'er reshot — successful fact, it was the taxable of an FCC investigation.

Their connection was, "Due to the unfortunate events implicit the play and the seriousness of the allegations, VH1 is pulling the bid Ev and Ocho from its docket and has nary existent plans of airing it."

11. An further amusement canceled owed to its prima was The Cops — aft its prima and shaper Louis CK admitted to intersexual misconduct, TBS suspended the animated show, which would've followed 2 LA cops. Two months later, they officially canceled the 10-episode series.

12. HGTV's Flip It Forward, which was meant to travel duplicate erstwhile shot players helping crook fixer-uppers into imagination homes, was besides canceled aft formed contention – successful this case, the anti-gay, anti-choice, and anti-Muslim views of the show's hosts, David and Jason Benham.

The duplicate hosts aboriginal told CNN, "We emotion each people. I emotion homosexuals. I emotion Islam, Muslims, and my member and I would ne'er discriminate. Never person we — ne'er would we." It was seemingly "an docket that's seeking to soundlessness men oregon women of faith," not circumstantial cheery people, that acrophobic them.

13. A&E had planned a docuseries called Escaping the KKK that was canceled owed to contention lone 5 days aft it was announced. There had been a question of backlash against the series, which would travel members of KKK families who were trying to permission the Klan, and those helping them leave. A&E Executive Vice President Rob Sharenow said, “That extremity is to exposure and combat racism and hatred successful each its forms, and we admit the invaluable feedback we person received.”

Surprisingly, it was not the backlash that led to the bid being canceled, but the revelation that producers of the amusement had paid KKK members for access, which goes against their documentaries policy. A&E said they had not been alert of this, adjacent telling the Anti-Defamation League that wealth had been provided to hatred groups; present that they were, they decided not to aerial the show.

14. The Stan Lee-developed animated amusement The Governator was meant to travel a semi-fictionalized mentation of Arnold Schwarzenegger and his household — "Only aft helium leaves the governor’s office, Arnold decides to go a transgression combatant and builds a concealed high-tech crime-fighting halfway nether his location successful Brentwood.”

But successful the aftermath of the revelation that Schwarzenegger had fathered a kid with an employee, the bid was scrapped, with a rep telling TMZ, "In airy of caller events, A Squared Entertainment, POW, Stan Lee Comics, and Archie Comics person chosen to not spell guardant with the Governator project." This came aft an announcement from Schwarzenegger that he was putting his acting vocation connected hold.

15. And finally, Man vs. Beast, a world amusement featuring radical competing against animals, really did aerial successful the US. However, the planned British mentation never aired. A web spokesperson said it was simply delayed, denying that it was canceled owed to being "unfair to animals" (as detractors claimed), but the amusement ne'er ended up airing.

We don't cognize precisely what the UK mentation would've entailed, but for reference, the US mentation featured radical with dwarfism competing against an elephant successful tug of war. Yes, really.

What's the wildest world amusement you saw that really aired? Let america cognize successful the comments below!

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The aviator ne'er aired, nor was the bid picked up, successful airy of the execution charges. But the communicative doesn't extremity determination — footage from the aviator was really submitted arsenic grounds successful O.J.'s execution proceedings (though it didn't extremity up being used). The reason? O.J.'s quality showed proficiency successful weapon combat, and Simpson reportedly received subject grooming for the role.

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You tin cheque retired a behind-the-scenes diagnostic connected the amusement here.

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I will, however, enactment that the bodies didn't amusement signs of foul play.

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In effect to the backlash, enforcement shaper Ray Giuliani said, "I americium gay; I person a boyfriend; I unrecorded successful West Hollywood; I person cheery friends. The thought that I would bash thing I would see homophobic is crazy. [The contestants] walked distant learning thing astir what it feels similar to beryllium a cheery antheral successful the mediate of a consecutive world."

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"Are the 2 guys homophobic? Yes," Giuliani admitted. "But that's the mode radical think. That's however radical are. Ignorant." One contestant aboriginal said they'd learned from the show: "I deliberation the amusement showed that the stereotypes radical person aren't true. I realized that determination is nary mode to enactment gay; you are conscionable your mean self. That decidedly came retired successful the show." 

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The show's writer, Jackie Clarke (who besides worked connected Superstore), had loosely based the conception connected her ain stepmother, a message bid bride from the Philippines. After criticism, she promised the quality would beryllium a "fully realized, strong, activated character" and that a property merchandise could not adequately relay the complexity of the show.

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CBS

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Fox

Watch a trailer here.

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The amusement had already been taxable to criticism for putting truthful overmuch unit connected young contestants.

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TBS

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The Benham twins claimed HGTV were alert of their views anterior to moving guardant with the show, but that "they made a judgement call, recognizing that David and I person nary hatred successful our bosom for anyone." However, aft aged clips of the brothers' views resurfaced, they felt that for HGTV, “It was excessively overmuch for them to bear, and they had to marque a concern decision."

Newsmax / Via youtube.com

“We were saddened to perceive HGTV’s decision. With each of the grotesque things that tin beryllium seen and heard connected tv today, you would deliberation determination would beryllium country for 2 duplicate brothers who are faithful to our families, committed to biblical principles, and dedicated professionals. If our religion costs america a tv show, past truthful beryllium it," they also said successful a statement.

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