5 Controversial Banned TV Episodes

“When You Wish Upon A Weinstein”

In light of the recent storms that have killed hundreds throughout the South, Fox has decided not to air its hurricane-themed cross over episodes of “Family Guy,” “American Dad” and “The “Cleveland Show.” Granted, these shows were conceived months in advance, and the writers were obviously not intending to make light of the current situation. Even so, Fox felt running the episodes now would be in poor taste. However, to the network’s credit, the episodes will air next season, weather permitting.

Through out the years, there have been numerous episodes of popular shows that, for one reason or another, have been yanked from the air. Here are five examples.

The Puerto Rican Day – “Seinfeld” (May 7, 1998)

This last regular episode of “Seinfeld” was surrounded in controversy, thanks to a comical scene in which Kramer accidentally burns the Puerto Rican flag. Even though the episode was clearly not intending to mock Puerto Ricans in any way, some civil rights groups were outraged, or at least pretended to be in order to get on TV. The episode was banned from syndication for years, and some broadcasters, including TBS, still refuse to show it. Somehow, they feel crap like “Are We There Yet” is less insulting.

The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson – “The Simpsons” (Sept. 21, 1997)

In this notable episode of “The Simpson’s,” Homer must travel to New York City to retrieve his car. When it aired in 1997, no one thought anything of the fact that the car was left at the World Trade Center. But four years later, after a bunch of assholes flew planes into the famous landmark, Fox pulled it from syndication. In recent years, someone must have figured out that keeping the episode off the air served absolutely no purpose, and it has been gradually reworked into reruns.

When You Wish Upon a Weinstein – “Family Guy” (Nov. 9, 2003)

This episode of “Family Guy” should have aired in 2000. Unfortunately, Fox decided the content would be too offensive. The plot involved Peter converting to Judaism in order to become more financially successful, and contains the classic “Family Guy” song, “I need a Jew.” The episode was included on the 3rd season DVD set, and eventually aired on Cartoon Network three years later. Eventually, Fox broke down and aired the episode as well.

Bill Hick’s Stand-up – “The Late Show With David Letterman (October 1, 1993)

This entry doesn’t involve an entire episode, but rather a segment of the show. Even so, close to 20 years later, people are still talking about it. Bill Hicks, who is considered a legend in the world of stand-up comedy, performed on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” only to have his entire set edited out. One joke in particular (“if Jesus came back he might not want to see so many crosses”) scared both Letterman and the network enough to pull the plug. In January of 2009, Letterman had Hick’s mom on the show, and apologized for the way the situation was handled. Hick’s himself could not be there to accept, since he died of cancer in 1994)

Home – “The X Files” (Oct. 11, 1996)

This famous episode of “The X Files” featured dead babies, incest, deformities and murder. What’s not to like? Oh, right: the dead babies, incest, deformities and murder. Although the show was well received by critics and fans alike, it was banned from reruns by the network.

"If Hollywood has Jennifer Lopez, we have Caterina Lopez!!"

The influx of foreign beauties into Bollywood continues with a greater fervor than ever as the popularity of item numbers reaches greater heights- all thanks to the glam quotient imparted by Munni and Sheila last year. So, this year we have Jennifer Lopez’s cousin sister Caterina Lopez, making her Bollywood debut with a raunchy item song in director Ankush Bhatt’s film Bhindi Bazaar Inc.

Talking about her experience in Bollywood, Caterina says, “It was not easy learning the whole Bollywood style of dancing because it’s very different. It’s a different ball game altogether. Learning the song was also very tough but once I got a hang of it, it became better. Honestly I think I did a good job.”

Caterina is alien to the language here but no where in the song has she missed the lip sync. She hopes for a career in Bollywood and is planning to learn Hindi soon.

“I’m still struggling with the language. Here and there I’ve learned a few words, but I’m definitely planning to get a teacher and learn Hindi completely,” she added.

The song has Caterina draped in a sexy sari and a skimpy blouse. Caterina has SRK as her favorite actor and she candidly confesses that she has once had a crush on him but the gal choses to stay mum on her relationship with Jlo.

After John and Hrithik, Aamir Khan is the next bad guy in ‘Dhoom 3′

Be it the sexy biker John Abraham in ‘Dhoom’ or the mesmerizing eyed thief Hrihtik Roshan in ‘Dhoom2’, the villains have always over powered the good guys Jai Dixit (Abhishek Bachchan) and Ali (Uday Chopra). So, what could be better choice for Yash Raj Films’ to have Aamir Khan as the villain in their ‘Dhoom 3’?

Yes, it is official now that perfectionist Khan is donning the cap of the bad guy for Aditya Chopra in ‘Dhoom 3’. Confirming the news, Aamir said, “I have recently signed Dhoom 3. I liked the script very much. When I had watched Dhoom, I liked it a lot. I enjoyed the music and the whole attitude. It’s a very fun film. I really liked it. I never thought I would fit in this kind of film.”

“When I heard the story from Victor, I really enjoyed it. Very well-written script, very enjoyable. It’s a great franchise and I am happy to be part of it. I am also looking forward to work with Abhishek and Uday,” Aamir said adding, “It’s true that for the first time I’m doing a negative role, an anti-hero in the mainstream film. I liked my role and all the characters are very well-written. Actually, in between I did another negative role in an offbeat film 1947 Earth.”

This would be the star’s third Yash Raj film after Parampara and Fanaa. The actress opposite the star is yet to be finalized.

Yash Chopra, too, expressed his joy in having Aamir on board. He said, “It’s a great pleasure to have Aamir working with our banner. I am terribly excited with what an actor like Aamir can bring to the Dhoom franchise with his unique star power and level of performance. Adi and Victor have worked over a year to bring out, what I can now confidently say, is possibly one of the best scripts coming out of our production house.”

Are You a "Mean Girl?"

Take all this pink showing up in stores everywhere with the fact that a certain movie has been on perma-re-run for the last couple weeks and I've got "Mean Girls" on the brain big time. I think I've seen "Mean Girls" three times in the last week?!

"Mean Girls" is actually one of my favorite movies. I don't know what it is about it. Sure, it's won a couple awards, but I think I just like it because it's entertaining. Anywho, watching this movie had me wondering if anyone out there has been or is a "mean girl." For me, I've been on every side of the "popularity" world. Throughout middle and high school, I was a bit of a "home school jungle freak" like early-movie-Cady. I'm not from Africa, and I've never been home-schooled, but I was definitely, completely clueless and a bit sheltered. I was by no means popular and I really didn't fit in with any of the cliques in my school. I wasn't into fashion and didn't really care about shopping (can you believe it?). I was quiet and shy and introverted. I was known as the "smart girl who ice skates." I wanted to be "popular" but I didn't know how.

When I got to college, I decided I wanted to be more extroverted, so I went through rush and joined a sorority. The sorority I joined has a pretty good rep in the south and was supposedly one of the ones that was harder to get into. I know it sounds stupid, but joining that sorority was like finally being accepted by the "popular girls" - I couldn't believe it. They were so pretty and outgoing and confident - everything I thought I wasn't. I guess I felt like if these girls liked me enough that maybe I could like myself enough. Joining the sorority helped give me more confidence and helped me realize that I wasn't such a bad person after all. Now, everyone has their own stereotype of a sorority girl, and some are probably true and a lot are probably false, but it was a fun time in my life. I'm not going to say that I was BFF with everyone in the sorority because I wasn't, but it was nice seeing people you knew almost everywhere you went. Joining a sorority was like joining a clique, except in college, you don't only talk to the people in your clique. I joined a lot of organizations, like Student Alumni Council, and I met a lot of people in college and made lots of good friends - both inside and outside of the sorority. I learned that it didn't matter so much what other people thought of you, but what you thought of yourself.

Still, sorority girls have lots of stereotypes - sorority girls are fake, mean, superficial, snobby...whatever. Was I ever a "mean girl?" Probably so. I don't think I was a complete b*tch, but, hey, who hasn't had a bad day? I'll have to think more about my potential "mean girl" moments and post them later...If I can think of any, of course.

So, what about you, dear readers? Have you ever been a "mean girl?" What did you do? Tell me your "mean girl" story.

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Elizabeth: The Golden Costumes

Has anyone seen the costumes for the upcoming movie Elizabeth: The Golden Age? I tried to look for some pictures online, but couldn't find any (that I liked), so I'll have to refer to the trailer for now. Anywho, I can't wait to see the movie for a couple reasons: the great actors & actresses, the fascinating storyline, and those fabulous costumes (not in that order, necessarily). This movie must have been a really fun project for the costume designers - all the dresses in this movie trailer with Elizabeth (Cate Blanchett) are so beautiful. Wow:


Click here to learn more about Elizabeth I