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 title, Nick decided to air a controversial episode about adoption on their network, you’d be 100% correct. The concept of the episode was so ridiculous and obviously a bad idea that it’s shocking that it got approved all these years later.

Sure, it fit the overall theme of the show. But this time, you really couldn’t do that on television, and Nickelodeon found that out the hard way.

This Banned Nickelodeon Episode Proved You Really Can’t Do That on Television

The premise of the episode? A ton of jokes and gags that were built around the concept of adoption. Perhaps the worst of the bunch was a bit about a character trying to use adopted kids for household labor. Yeah, nothing about this sounds funny, let alone right for a kids’ TV show. Still, somehow it got approved, and even made it to air before being banned for good.

Even the show’s co-creator, Geoffrey Darby, agreed that the episode went too far. He claimed that the writers didn’t understand the sensitive buttons they were pushing. In their defense, kids can be mean, so I can see how they might find the episode amusing. Still, that doesn’t give you the green light to go with it. Especially knowing that you’re going to deeply upset and offend any child who has been or is waiting to be adopted.

There aren’t too many Nickelodeon shows that have had episodes pulled from reruns before. And obviously, nobody is really watching You Can’t Do That on Television anymore. But ironically, the show was perfectly named for the “Adoption” episode, which you literally can’t do (or air) on television without creating problems for your network.