The unexpected reasons these popular TV shows were banned from our screens.

It’s no secret that when it comes to certain television shows, there are lovers, and there are haters.

Are you more of a Friends fan than a Seinfeld? Hate The Big Bang Theory but love How I Met Your Mother? Prefer to binge on Southpark rather than The Simpsons?

It’s all good…differences of opinion are more than welcome here. You do you, viewers.

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In most cases, the drama surrounding certain shows can be boiled down to just that: the fact that different people have different tastes.

Rosie Waterland and Laura Brodnik speak with Jo Abi about The Big Bang Theory during The Binge and things get a bit heated.

But other times, things go one step further and shows – and even specific episodes of shows – prompt calls from angry viewers for them to be banned from our screens.

Yes. Banned. Vanished. Gone from the show’s history, never to be seen again.

Here are some memorable TV moments that many wanted off our TV sets for good for a whole lot of reasons you probably never, ever considered.

Peppa Pig – Mister Skinnylegs

What could possibly be wrong about a show based on the lives of a family of pigs and their animal friends? (Besides those bizarre reports that the show could cause autism in children).

In this particular episode, Peppa befriends a spider. Which, is kind of cute, except when you consider the fact that befriending a spider in Australia is not such a good idea.

Our sunburnt country is home to the two most venomous spiders in the world, so encouraging children to pick up and play with their eight-legged friends was not considered a great idea, and the episode was banned from being shown in Australia.

Pokemon - Electric Solider Porygon

Albeit aimed at a slightly older audience, Pokemon is considered a particularly child-friendly show. Except when one episode caused a medical crisis in Japan, sending over 600 children to the hospital.

How? Apparently the episode featured a lot of flashing, strobe-like effects, that caused viewers at home vision problems, headaches, nausea.

Some even suffering from seizures while watching.

Probably a good idea to keep this ep off the TV, then...

Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Earshot

Sometimes, timing dictates when a particular episode of a show should be shown. In Buffy's case, an episode where she overhears a student planning a mass murder was scheduled to air just a week after the Columbine High School Massacre.

The episode did eventually make it to air, as part of the show's next season, five months after the tragedy.

Sailor Moon

For some shows, it's not just certain episodes that never get to see the light of day, but also entire storylines.

When hit anime series Sailor Moon made it's way to the Western world, a whole aspect of certain characters' personalities was kept out of the show: Sailors Neptune and Uranus were actually lovers.

Some countries edited out scenes that hinted at the romance, or re-wrote certain scenes to make them seen related rather than romantically involved.

The Price Is Right - Every episode that featured a fur coat

Just because an episode of a show doesn't cause a stir at the time, doesn't mean they can't be cancelled retrospectively.

That's exactly what happened with game show The Price Is Right, which stopped showing re-runs in which contestants were given fur coats as a prize in a stance against animal cruelty.

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