Parents, women, and sometimes people of color have been the bone of contention for the Fox network, where the station battled for and against some of these groups as much as they chose them as controversial subjects for their most successful projects. The Fox mantra, particularly in the late ’80s and early ’90s, had the feel of, “If it doesn’t rile up the public, it’s a bust.” With comedies like The Tracey Ullman Show and In Living Color, Fox has mastered creatively discussing hot-button issues, avoiding lawsuits, and agitating its most vulnerable viewers.
Audiences have green-lighted Fox network television shows that many critics poo-pooed before their first completed season. Sitcoms that were bad influences on children, insulting to women, and told they would never be victorious with an all-Black cast are the ancestry of the debatable station. With extraordinary talent and the support of the public, the Fox network’s 7 most controversial comedies survived protests, write-ins, and talk-show discussions that perhaps paved the way for tv shows far more vexed.
7/7 Married with Children
The Bundys invaded television sets and our children’s already-MTV-riddled minds in 1987. The Fox network’s Married with Children series angered women and feminists around the country on account of its harsh scripts and blue jokes targeting female identity. The writers sexualized women and vociferated against those who didn’t fit the nearly unattainable beauty standards of the unapologetic husband, father, and sexist — Al Bundy. Married to a replica of himself, Peg Bundy became known to viewers as a self-centered, selfish housewife and mother who was unfit for both roles.
Completed with two teenage children — an intelligent, flippant boy and a girl portrayed as a sexed-crazed, 9th-grade repeat — the Bundys had many cringe-worthy moments. From Al verbally and viciously annihilating overweight women in the store where he sold shoes, to his son Bud referring to his sister Kelly as a sleep-around, the sitcom shocked audiences. After strong letters by viewers to advertisers, companies like Coca-Cola and Johnson & Johnson began pulling their ads.
6/7 In Living Color
The raunchy variety show delivered controversy at the start with its title. Nineties’ band Living Colour sued and lost their lawsuit against Fox over the name of its smash hit show In Living Color. Skits included exaggerated gay male characters, sexual innuendos, and verbal jabs at celebrities.
In Living Color lampooned former talk-show host Oprah Winfrey’s weight gain, showing an actress portraying the host, eating her way “fat” before a studio audience’s eyes until her body ballooned into the air and exploded. Winfrey later went into detail about the episode taking a toll on her emotionally while struggling with her weight.
5/7 Martin
In 1992, Martin, Gina, Pam, Cole, and Tommy were an all-Black cast of characters that many critics said couldn’t draw an audience. The five members of Martin entertained millions with Martin’s perfect comedic timing. His girlfriend Gina appeared to have mastered Lucille Ball’s slapstick techniques in one of many suggestive skits where her head is stuck between a bedpost after she and Martin make love the night before.
The series pushed the envelope and proved many naysayers wrong. Despite NBC placing the predominately African-American cast of A Different World in the same time slot as Martin, the Fox show was on the air for five years. It ended with Tisha Campbell, who played Gina, filing a sexual harassment lawsuit against her co-star Martin Lawrence in 1997.
4/7 Living Single
Living Single, an all-Black cast and show critics forecasted to fail, ultimately succeeded. The sitcom debuted in 1993, and one of its stars, Queen Latifah, has publicly stated on numerous occasions their show was the “blueprint” for the NBC comedy Friends. With Living Single’s open-door policy for their friends who lived in the building, like the other 90s comedy show based in New York, we watched them attempt to “find themselves.” Latifah and some of the cast members made their feelings known about the possibility of their framework being “copied” by other shows.
3/7 Family Guy
If tough skin is needed to endure criticism, then Seth MacFarlane has a hide made of steel. The former cartoonist and creator of the Griffins family in the animated series Family Guy asks that the viewers have one, too. MacFarlane was criticized for lampooning different races, cultures, pronouns, nationalities, and political parties. The television series also caught heat for using a White male voiceover for their Black animated character Cleveland. Mike Henry, the voice of Cleveland, has stepped down, reports say.
The show has made light of sexual harassment, the assassination of JFK, and pedophilia. Debuting in 1999, Family Guy, famous for its Parkinson’s-ridden Michael J. Fox parodies, is airing its 400th episode in early 2023.
2/7 The Simpsons
As if The Simpsons weren’t provocative enough, the misé en abyme episodes containing cartoons within a cartoon are equally damning. The Itchy and Scratchy Show is an ineffably violent version of Tom and Jerry. Bart and his sister Lisa Simpson are captivated with these toons just as their young audience is enthralled with their shenanigans. Like Peter Griffin from Family Guy, Homer Simpson gives all-day stupidity while responsible for a family and doesn’t mind chugging down cases of beer.
With expressions like, “Eat my shorts,” “…this both sucks and blows,” and “Oh! My ovaries,” mothers and teachers dubbed Bart as a foul-mouthed hoodlum and a bad influence on children. In addition to Bart’s mayhem, episodes like Sunday, Cruddy Sunday have insulted the Catholic Church, having Fox acquiesce to outtakes, putting The Simpsons on the list of Fox’s most controversial comedies.
1/7 Tracey Ullman
Not only was Tracey Ullman the first woman to be given a sketch show in the UK and America, she stirred up much controversy with the Fox network and their battle over what she stated that she and The Tracey Ullman Show contributed to The Simpsons. According to Variety, Ullman lost her lawsuit against 20th Century Fox Film Corp., seeking profits related to merchandising of The Simpsons, which was created as brief illustrative episodes for The Tracey Ullman Show. The series consisted of over forty Simpsons shorts, and had she won, the suit would have granted her over $2.25 million in profits from the animated Fox series.
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