Alyoshka

I wanted to start this up with a little bit of a controversy. I'm happy this forum is here! More to play around with.

I think that it would be Temptation Island (ok, I know there are better but I can't think of anything...)

Bandoman

I think "Who Wants To Marry a Millionairre" had more controversy than the average show - deservedly so.

NC-36

ALL IN THE FAMILY is television's all-time controversy king.
No show on TV today comes close to creating the stir Archie Bunker did - in fact, producers in today's "PC" environment would NEVER attempt what that show did. Witness the recent cave-in NBC did when LAW & ORDER was accused of "perpetuating racist stereotypes" - they vowed never to rerun a certain episode, and LAW & ORDER is one of the most critically acclaimed shows on television.
TEMPTATION ISLAND and WHO WANTS TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE are just silly in comparison. Nobody is picketing the network for showing it, producers aren't fighting the network over censorship, and no advertiser has threatened to drop the show because it's "immoral". All these things happened to ALL IN THE FAMILY, and the show has stood the test of time, in part, because of those battles.
Nobody will remember TEMPTATION ISLAND in a couple of months because any controversy surrounding that show is just faked hype.
That, and it sucks, too.

JoeC

I'd have to agree with All in The Family. Though the new show "Queer As Folk" is pretty controversial. I think, though, that the people who would picket it just don't subscribe to Showtime.

JoeC...NYPD Blue was controversial in season one, you know, now it's passe.

Geofferson

Some said that FOX's short-lived comedy, Action, with Jay Mohr was controversial. Mainly due to the profanity (which was bleeped out). I didn't think it was controversial. I though it was the best comedy to come on in years!

Calistoga

Ellen contributed a bit of controversy.

KennyBoy

I wa also going to say ellen

Jepthah

A contender would have to be that show the name of which escapes me (I hate TV overall and pay no attention to virtually all 'hot' shows and new stuff)--I'm alluding to the sitcom that took place in Abe Lincoln-era Washington about the black butler, and it came on recently, like 1 or 2 years ago, then was promptly yanked after 2-3 episodes. It was accused of being pretty much a minstrel show, and Spike Lee said it inspired him to make Bamboozled. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

yangshouwen

In the UK, possibly one of the most controversial shows was "The Word". If anyone knows the show here, they'll know how it had some of the most sick things broadcast (they won't try that again), it had complaints every week. And it had Nirvana and Jackie Chan as some of the guests.

JoeC

Jepthah,

You're thinking of the wisely short-lived "The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer" (Pronounced Puh-fife-er) on UPN. It was certainly controversial...and a bad idea.

JoeC

Jobronie

Being from Boston, I've seen more than my share of controversy over TV shows (Boston is notorious for refusing to run network shows that are considered over the edge). Some of the biggest have been:

All in the Family
Maude's abortion (this was HUGE at the time)
Welcome Back Kotter (believe it or not, due to the bussing situation in Boston)
Soap
Some telepic with MMBirney's breast
NYPD Blue

monkeyboy

cop rock!

milkdog

All in the Family

Back in the early '50s it was controversial (especially in the South) that "I Love Lucy" featured a (real) interracial marriage: Lucy and (Cuban) Ricky. Like "All in the Family," it didn't stop it from becoming the most popular show, though.

Nightflyer

Twin Peaks, which made surrealism trendy. If not for "Twin Peaks," there wouldn't have been "Northern Exposure"(and thus "Ed"), or "Picket Fences"(which begat "Ally McBeel").

Danny in Yorktown, VA.

RobCA

I'd have to go with three shows that have already been mentioned:
All in the Family, Soap and Ellen.

Also Married With Children.

Gamewizard

Jackas* has stirred up a little lately.

jjtaLLman

Smothers Brothers

Laugh-In

As a side note:
When the Rolling Stones appeared on the Ed Sullivan show many decades ago Mick Jagger astounded everyone especially host Ed Sullivan by singing the controversial lyric "Let's Spend the Night Together"..of course it was LIVE so Ed failed in his attempt to censor them. Afterwards "supposedly" Ed walked up tp Mick and said "you will never appear on this show again" and Jaggers reply was "Thats OK,...We already did".

Barings

^ I think you're confusing the Rolling Stones with the Doors.

bluetoast

All in the Family
Soap

Drexl

No, it was the Stones. The Doors incident was another one where they weren't supposed to say "we couldn't get much higher" during "Light My Fire."

Nice bump, BTW. I wonder what shows have come along since. I can't think of any big ones, unless you count that Super Bowl with Janet Jackson.

Max Bottomtime

Actually, Jagger rolled his eyes every time he sang "Let's spend some time together."

Original Desmond

Megan marries a millionaire or something like that, got canned cos one of the contestants got charged with murder i think it was

Goat3001

Moment of Truth was really controversial. It was a horrible idea for a show. I would rip Fox for putting it on the air but they did have a bunch of assholes lining up to be contestants.

(for those that don't remember, it was the show where they plugged people into a lie dectector and asked them questions in front of their family and friends.)

Josh-da-man

Now that's a goddamned thread bump!

dhmac

Wow, 2001. has it really been that long since Temptation Island was on?

(Not that I ever watched it, that is.)