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39 Years Ago, Nickelodeon Aired an Episode That Was So Controversial It Got Banned Forever

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10.06.2026

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39 Years Ago, Nickelodeon Aired an Episode That Was So Controversial It Got Banned Forever

This one episode of ‘You Can’t Do That on Television’ was so controversial, Nickelodeon banned all reruns of it forever.

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There aren’t too many things I love more than Nickelodeon shows from the 80s and 90s. The network was much more experimental during that period, as they hadn’t yet figured out what would be their bread and butter. But sometimes, when you’re trying new things, you can cross the line into “we shouldn’t be doing this” territory. And that’s exactly what happened with the You Can’t Do That on Television episode titled “Adoption,” which aired in 1987 before being banned forever.

If you’re assuming that, based on the episode’s........

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