Some of the most memorable TV Shows have been those that have shocked us with how far they are willing to push the boundaries of a storyline.
It seems like even cable television has begun to move in the direction of premium television in terms of graphic sex and violence.
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It's no secret that American television is often more prudish than its European counterparts, but when a show does decide to challenge the status quo, the payoff can very much worthwhile!
Here are some of the most controversial shows that we are still talking about!
1. Insatiable
Trailer for this show spawned the kind of internet backlash that leads to a 228,000-person Change.org petition to stop Netflix from even allowing it to air. The series has been criticized for fat shaming, transphobia, and homophobia. As a show that brands itself as satire, it seems that the entire point was to make people uncomfortable. If that was its aim, the show definitely succeeded.
2. Who Is America?
Sasha Baron Cohen goes undercover ostensibly to explore the unique people who make America what it is. Instead what often ends up happening in each episode is an exposure of what makes America slightly screwed up. There is something to be said about the duplicity of Cohen's methods and choosing only right-leaning subjects of gaining this exposure. It's doubtful that any of the subjects of the show would consent to these interviews if they had all of the information (some subjects didn't even know they were being filmed).
3. Heathers
The show, that aired internationally, was eventually scrapped in the US due to the landscape of school violence that permeates our country, however, this is not the only reason why Heathers was so controversial. The new Heathers inverted the stereotypes that would have been mocked in the original, making the Heathers former odd guys out and its Veronica a thin blonde girl who struggles to get into college because she isn't different enough.
4. 13 Reasons Why
A show about teen suicide is primed for controversy just by virtue of its subject. The glamorization of suicide, especially one that was so graphically depicted on TV and was shown to have mapped out justification for its cause by point fingers at people by way of blame, cannot be done without some type of supervision for those watching. Add to that the myriad rapes, accidents, near murders and more, and it's a parent's worst nightmare.
5. Skins
The UK Skins is the originator of the wild child gang that terrorized the streets of London. When the US tried their hand at making its own version of these troublemaking teens, the show ended up being canceled after one season because of all of the controversy and conversation it caused.
6. Shameless
Shameless has been, well, shameless in the storylines it chooses to explore. Everything from a graphic birthing scene, to an adult circumcision, has been fair game on this show. And Shameless is still on the air, which means there is probably even more to come.