History WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids / LiveActionTV

* ''Series/{{Dinosaurs}}'' is made by Creator/JimHenson, aired on the Creator/{{Disney}}-owned Creator/{{ABC}} and features adorable dino puppets, so it's for kids, right? Technically not. The show has some mild profanity and has some sex jokes, and the last episode was one big letdown (not because it sucked, but because it was depressing).

* ''Series/{{Gotham}}'' was inexplicably nominated for a Kids Choice Awards despite being a TV-14 series full of violence, sex, and NightmareFuel. It probably was nominated due to the popularity of ''Franchise/{{Batman}}''.

[[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids/StarTrek Star Trek has its own page.]]

** Although it wasn't live action, YTV also gave this treatment to ''WesternAnimation/StressedEric'', placing it in a timeslot right after ''Anime/SailorMoon''. Surprisingly, nobody complained about this.

* ''Series/FPJsAngProbinsyano'' has young children, particularly boys, as its demographic, even going so far as to having [[TheMerch merchandise]] such as toys and mobile games aimed for youngsters. Except the series' themes aren't exactly something a sensible parent would even dare expose their son or daughter to, like drugs, government corruption and the like. And it's even more so with the DarkerAndEdgier ''Pulang Araw'' (lit. ''Red Suns''[[note]]No, not that [[Manga/InitialD Red Suns]][[/note]]) story arc which brought Kardo from an upstanding cop to a cynical VigilanteMan on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge.

** ''Glee'' in its early days got this in droves. Many people thought it was ''Film/HighSchoolMusical'': [[RecycledTheSeries The Series]], without realizing that characters freely swear and the show tackles several heavy issues like drug use, infidelity, teen pregnancy, losing one's virginity, homophobia, etc. It doesn't help that ''Glee'' covers are often played on Radio Disney, or that [[MisaimedMarketing much of its marketing is made to appeal to the tween crowd]].

* ''Series/HikoninSentaiAkibaranger'' is so rife with this (for further proof, look at the 3rd episode of the show), as the show is aired in the OtakuOClock timeslot. even the tagline says it:

* ''Series/ThePeeWeeHermanShow'': This nightclub show played at midnight at the Groundlings theater and later at the Roxy, where it was taped to air on HBO as a one-hour special. It's presented as if it's a kids' show, with Pee-wee addressing the audience as "boys and girls" and interacting with various colorful characters and puppets along the way. Most of the show maintains a facade of innocence, but there is an undercurrent of adult humor and innuendo to most segments. The most overtly risque segment has Pee-wee trick a woman into stripping down to her slip and having his puppet peak up at her underwear. ''Series/PeeWeesPlayhouse'', released six years later, bears many similarities to the live show, but really ''is'' aimed at kids.

* In the book ''Literature/LiveFromNewYork,'' many former cast members of ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' say that they started watching the show as children. The show, unlike [[Series/AllThat a very similar show on Nickelodeon]], is clearly not for children, and not just because of its late time slot.

* South Korean variety shows are a weird case. They are rated '''12 and up''' or '''15 and up''' due their content, but some examples of these shows like ''I Live Alone''(나 혼자 산다) or ''I Can See Your Voice''(너의 목소리가 보여) are mostly clean and has little to no offensive content.

* ''Series/Titans2018'' may be part of a franchise that's commonly thought of a lighthearted due to multiple animated series, but kid-friendly it is ''not''. Just the first trailer alone features a dark and brooding atmosphere, people getting mangled, snapped, sliced, burned alive, and Robin himself drops the F-bomb. The fact that it's compared to Creator/{{Netflix}} [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse MCU]] and was originally going on Creator/{{TNT}} should give you a good idea that it was never meant for kids to begin with. It's rated TV-MA for a reason.

* ''Series/WonderShowzen''. It was originally to be titled ''Kids' Show'', [[ExecutiveMeddling but they were forced to change it]] because the network feared people would take it literally. The theme song starts: "Kids' show, kids' show/ oh good lord it's a kids' show" There is a disclaimer at the beginning states that if you allow your kid to watch this show, you are a bad parent or guardian. '''It's rated TV-MA''' and is airing on '''MTV2'''.

* ''Series/WonderShowzen''. It was originally to be titled ''Kids' Show'', [[ExecutiveMeddling but they were forced to change it]] because the network feared people would take it literally. The theme song starts: "Kids' show, kids' show/ oh good lord it's a kids' show" There is a disclaimer at the beginning states that if you allow your kid to watch this show, you are a bad parent or guardian.

* ''Series/Titans2018'' may star the ComicBook/TeenTitans, but it certainly is not for kids, as the series is rated TV-MA.

* This led to the sad story of ''Series/{{Angel}}'''s botched terrestrial broadcast in the UK. Creator/Channel4 bought ''Series/{{Angel}}'' and decided to broadcast the first season at six in the evening, because, you know, anything with magic in it is obviously teatime fare for kids. Despite extremely heavy censorship cuts, this still led to a formal reprimand from the [[CensorshipBureau Broadcasting Standards Council]]. The last few episodes of the first season and the whole second season were
consequently shown after midnight with little or no publicity. The third season was bought instead by Creator/ChannelFive, who treated it equally badly. (The other two seasons have never aired on any UK terrestrial channel.)

* Creator/{{Freeform}}, formerly known as [[http://shinga.deviantart.com/art/Head-Trip-All-Greek-To-Me-61559835/ ABC Family]], is a rare example of this trope not necessarily applying to a series, but to an ''entire network''. It began as the CBN Family Channel - the CBN being "Christian Broadcasting Network", which was owned by televangelist Pat Robertson of ''Series/The700Club'' fame. When the network was sold, initially to Fox, and later to ABC/Disney, the "Family" name was actually written into various contracts with other cable companies. This led to ongoing conflicts with not only MoralGuardian types but parents, period, as ABC Family began airing shows aimed at older viewers, with sexual content and language and adult themes that seemed to contradict the "Family" name. If such a requirement ever existed, by the fall of 2015 it was no longer a concern when [[http://www.ew.com/article/2015/10/06/abc-family-changing-name-freeform the Freeform name change]] took effect in 2016.
** When they were still ABC Family, they also aired reruns of ''Series/That70sShow'' which has many references to sex and implies marijuana usage with the kids in the circle. Granted, it had both written and spoken ContentWarnings along the lines of "The following material may be inappropriate for younger viewers" before each episode.

* ''Series/{{Galavant}}'' is a parody of FairyTales, has a lighthearted, colorful tone, and has its soundtrack done by the guy who did the music for ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'' and ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', so it must be for kids, right? Well, half the opening number was devoted to all the sex Galavant and Madalena were having during their relationship, and the series only gets raunchier from there.

* Amazon categorizes ''Series/TheGoodPlace'' under Kids and Family, right next to shows like ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' and ''[[WesternAnimation/VampirinaBallerina Vampirina]]''. Just because it's about angels in heaven doesn't make it a family show, as there are several jokes about death, drugs, and sex in it. [[spoiler: And in the end, they aren't even in heaven at all]], so if they didn't get the message before...

* ''Series/OnceUponATime'' is not ''that'' extreme of an example, but just because it's about fairy tales and has many characters that were in Disney movies does not mean that it's for the same age group (besides, the fairy tales and its characters didn't become all cutesy and G-rated ''until'' Disney adapted them). The series contains things like violence, bloodshed ([[BloodlessCarnage though often not as much as would be expected]]), a character who is unknowingly a werewolf [[ImAHumanitarian turning into a wolf and eating the man she's in love with]], implied rape as well as a definite (though never ''exactly'' stated) example of a SexSlave, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking mild language]]. The inclusion of ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'' characters in particular appearing was marketed quite a bit however the series isn't as G as the film itself (which has a PG rating however is very tame and popular with little kids). The fact that the series often uses Disney's adaptations of fairy tales as a base (Gaston's not even in the original ''Literature/BeautyAndTheBeast'', he was created for ''Film/BeautyAndTheBeast1946'') really does not help. That and the fact the series uses fairy tales currently untouched by Disney (''Literature/HanselAndGretel'') and some books that aren't considered fairy tales at all (''{{Literature/Frankenstein}}'') is a bit of a MindScrew.

* Strangely enough, RealityTV shows are seldom seen as harmful for children. Despite the fact that many of them feature a bunch of people stuck together in one place while the TV makers make sure the tensions between them rise. The result is often a showcase of verbal and/or physical fights, swearing and people trying to get revenge on each other. Now, isn't that a great example for your kids growing up?
** Related to this is the fact that certain female socialites and/or reality stars who get their fame from these reality shows (i.e. Creator/ParisHilton, Nicole Richie, [[Series/KeepingUpWithTheKardashians the Kardashians]]...) are frequently criticized by other media for being "bad role models" for girls. Never mind that the shows they've appeared on were never aimed at children young enough to be harmfully influenced by their antics, and it's not like these celebrities try to pass themselves off as role models anyway.

* ''Series/Titans2018'' may star the ComicBook/TeenTitans, but it certainly is not for kids, as the episodes contain TV-MA rating.

* ''Series/{{WalkerTexasRanger}}'' was sometimes seen as a "family" show and was popular with younger kids even though the show dealt with adult themes more often than not.

* Canadian networks such as YTV and Teletoon also seem to carry the same misconceptions as suggestive cartoons, a couple of violent anime and shows targeted for older teens often run rampant or get scattered into the mix of stuff that's supposed to be for kids.
** YTV did this with ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' of all shows. They announced that they would be the first Canadian channel to carry the show... and put up a ''Farscape'' page in their website which looked like something from Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}. Apparently, they were misled by the fact that the show was made by The Jim Henson Company. They ended up only airing the first season (and censoring the crap out of it).
** YTV also was the first to air ''Series/RedDwarf'' and ended up banning one episode entirely because there was too much to cut. However, YTV eventually got the hint and began airing more adult fare like ''WesternAnimation/AeonFlux'' and ''Series/TheYoungOnes'' in late-night time slots.
** Although it wasn't live action, YTV also gave this treatment to ''WesternAnimation/StressedEric'', placing it in a timeslot right after ''Anime/SailorMoon''. Surprisingly, nobody complained about this.

* Documentary and science-based cable networks such as Discovery, National Geographic, and History have always been associated with family-friendly programming, with the assumption developed that everything aired is or should be suitable for all viewers. In recent years, however, we have seen productions such as the violent and sexually explicit series ''Series/{{Vikings}}'' appear on History, and National Geographic debuted ''Series/{{Genius}}'', a series that also has sexuality and nudity, and one of Discovery's most popular shows is ''Series/NakedAndAfraid'' in which nudity (albeit usually blurred) is a key part of the concept. Some food and cooking-related networks have also broadcast uncensored versions of Creator/GordonRamsay's [[PrecisionFStrike F-bomb-filled]] shows such as ''Series/HellsKitchen''.

* According to Creator/LisaKudrow, she has met kids claiming that their parents let them watch ''Series/{{Friends}}''. While ''Friends'' [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny is not particularly vulgar by modern standards]], there are still way too many storylines revolving around sex to consider it appropriate for younger viewers. Creator/{{Netflix}} also has the series in the separate "Kids" section of their site for profiles set to "older kids" level.

* Creator/BJNovak has stated that children as young as five years old come up to him because they know him from ''Series/TheOfficeUS''. Not only is the humor too mature for that age group (in Canada, the DVDs are rated 14A, meaning that no one under the age of 14 is to purchase them), but most children that young would find the show boring.

* ''Series/ModernFamily'' has a lot of fans who are younger children, when it's not actually for them. It doesn't help that a few of the actors would later have roles in Disney projects such as ''WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst'' and ''WesternAnimation/FindingDory''.

* This led to the sad story of ''Series/{{Angel}}'''s botched terrestrial broadcast in the UK. Creator/Channel4 bought ''Series/{{Angel}}'' and decided to broadcast the first season at six in the evening, because, you know, anything with magic in it is obviously teatime fare for kids. Despite extremely heavy censorship cuts, this still led to a formal reprimand from the [[CensorshipBureau Broadcasting Standards Council]]. The last few episodes of the first season and the whole second season were consequently shown after midnight with little or no publicity. The third season was bought instead by Creator/ChannelFive, who treated it equally badly. (The other two seasons have never aired on any UK terrestrial channel.)

** ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', despite being in the same continuity the Marvel Cinematic Universe (which despite having some more adult moments, is generally family-friendly), has a much different tone. Murder, sex, Government corruption, and lots of NightmareFuel is a regular part of the show. Despite this, Agent Coulson, Fitz, and Simmons have all appeared in the ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan'' TV show, which is aimed at kids, while an ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' DLC pack featuring the cast of the show was released for ''VideoGame/LEGOMarvelsAvengers''. All that said, ''S.H.I.E.L.D.'' has always aired with a TV-14 rating and stayed within the parameters of what regular network TV requires. The same cannot be said for the MCU-based shows produced for streaming, as cited below.

* Creator/{{Freeform}}, formerly known as [[http://shinga.deviantart.com/art/Head-Trip-All-Greek-To-Me-61559835/ ABC Family]], is a rare example of this trope not necessarily applying to a series, but to an ''entire network''. It began as the CBN Family Channel - the CBN being "Christian Broadcasting Network", which was owned by televangelist Pat Robertson of ''Series/The700Club'' fame. When the network was sold, initially to Fox, and later to ABC/Disney, the contract with Robertson reportedly stipulated that the word "Family" remain in the network name (the "Family" name was actually written into various contracts with other cable companies). This led to ongoing conflicts with not only MoralGuardian types but parents, period, as ABC Family began airing shows aimed at older viewers, with sexual content and language and adult themes that seemed to contradict the "Family" name. If such a requirement ever existed, by the fall of 2015 it was no longer a concern when [[http://www.ew.com/article/2015/10/06/abc-family-changing-name-freeform the Freeform name change]] took effect in 2016.

* ''Series/KyoryuSentaiZyuranger'' is a "kids' show" mainly by virtue of having a large cast of children in supporting roles. However, it is pretty loaded with AdultFear, along with references to the "great Satan" and has freaky stuff like taking people's souls and eating them, kidnapping them, and even dragging them into the water. And a literal ritual that involves the sacrifice of thirteen children, or another episode has children stuck in [[GreenAesop trees about to be chopped down]]. Oh yes, and Bandora at one point says the following, reminding the audience of things kids joining cults (they even act different after this bus ride):
--> ''"If we steal the souls of all the world's children, society will break down and the Earth will perish."''

* ''Series/{{Lost}}'' is about a bunch of people on an island, but beware, ''Series/Gilligan'sIsland'' or ''Series/Survivor'' this is not. While it's tamer than many shows on nowadays and is TV-14, it still has lots of corpses and blood, multiple somewhat graphic surgeries, several murders including the gassing of an entire small town, multiple (albeit nudity-free) love-making scenes, [[FromNobodyToNightmare Ben]], some minor subplots relating to infidelity, several characters struggling with depression and self-loathing, and a main character with a severe heroin addiction, not to mention the many heavy philosophical themes that most kids wouldn't be able to appreciate. It's not an outright adult show, but should be kept in the 13 and up area.

* This led to the sad story of ''Series/{{Angel}}'''s botched terrestrial broadcast in the UK. Creator/Channel4 bought ''Series/{{Angel}}'' and decided to broadcast the first season at six in the evening, because, you know, anything with magic in it is obviously teatime fare for kids. Despite extremely heavy censorship cuts, this still led to a formal reprimand from the [[CensorshipBureau Broadcasting Standards Council]]. The last few episodes of the first season, and the whole second season, were consequently shown after midnight with little or no publicity. The third season was bought instead by Creator/ChannelFive, who treated it equally badly. (The other two seasons have never aired on any UK terrestrial channel.)

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' doesn't shy away from showing vampires and demons being stabbed or decapitated, human victims lying gruesomely dead, and has a significant amount of sexual content. Nevertheless, there are 7-year-olds whose parents have allowed them to watch it. Not helped in the UK where the BBC aired a censored version at six PM with sexual and violent content cut but aired the full version at eleven the same day. All neck snappings were cut, for example, leading to strange fights with demons who suddenly just decided to give up and lie still for no reason.
** [[Film/BuffyTheVampireSlayer The original 1992 movie]], despite also not being for kids, was marketed to appeal to young teens and tweens, primarily because Creator/PaulReubens (you know, Pee-wee Herman!) was going to be in it. (This becomes ''really'' interesting when you remember that Reubens had been arrested for indecent exposure less than a year before, and that his vampire character in ''Buffy'' is made up to look ''almost exactly'' like his mugshot photo.) It's true that the film does have mostly BloodlessCarnage (the most blood we see is when Buffy has a cut on her elbow!) and [[DefangedHorrors the vampires themselves are quite campy and unlikely to frighten any but the smallest children]]. But then there's the (implied) scene of a character giving a blow job, as well as another character outright exposing his penis [[SomethingElseAlsoRises (all right, a hot dog that]] ''[[SomethingElseAlsoRises looks]]'' [[SomethingElseAlsoRises like a penis)]] before a group of girls.
* ''Series/CrankYankers'' has some well-known comedians make prank calls to various businesses, and reenacting the call on camera using Muppet style puppets. One call had a woman prank a hardware store with an extended conversation about the "big tubes of caulk." Very much not for children. Not to mention the openings of the skits. One has a man carrying his large testes in a wheel barrel and another has a woman puppet's clothes being ripped off in the wind and exposing her breasts and nipples, fully.
* The newer seasons of ''Series/{{Degrassi}}'' get this too, despite the fact that the show is usually rated TV-14 and has characters dealing with a plethora of (mostly non child-friendly) challenges, such as eating disorders, peer pressure, sexual identity, gang violence, self-injury, teenage pregnancy, drug abuse, school shootings, rape, etc. The fact that it airs in the U.S. on Creator/TeenNick might have a part in this. (It should be noted that many parents likely recall watching the original series, which ''was'' more family-friendly.)

* ''Series/DoctorWho'', the parent show of the two examples below, has run into this issue for decades, due in part to inconsistent marketing that at times treats it like a children's show, and at other times an adult sci-fi series. Came to a head during the Creator/PeterCapaldi era which gave the show a more mature feel and, at one point, saw the show airing at 8:30 p.m., which in the UK was tantamount to blasphemy for a show most saw as "teatime viewing". (Just in the UK; in North America the show regularly aired at 9 pm, with reruns of the earlier version usually airing on PBS late at night.)
** ''Series/Class2016'', a ''Doctor Who'' spin-off which is full of blood and sex, gets a lot of this as well. In addition to being a spin-off of the popular family show, it centres around a group of teenagers (which can sometimes hint at something for younger audiences). In addition, parts of the premise closely resemble ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'', a ''Doctor Who'' spin-off which was aimed ''more'' at kids than its parent show. And of course, many people are just clueless over what {{Young Adult|Literature}} fiction means (in reality it is aimed at older teenagers up to early 30s and as such can contain explicit sex and violence, but some people assume it's a synonym for "children's" or "kid-friendly"). As a result, the BBC itself ran into issues with production and marketing - according to UK media it only allowed the Doctor to make a cameo in the first episode if the show toned down its violence and sexual content (it's unclear if the reports referred to only the episode he appeared in, or the whole series); after the series underperformed in a streaming platform, BBC One buried it in a late-night time slot and fired through the 8-episode first series in 4 weeks flat, attracting pocket-change viewership numbers and leaving its future in doubt (it was ultimately cancelled after its only season). This is less of an issue on broadcasters like Space in Canada and BBC America that usually air ''Doctor Who'' in a mid-evening time slot anyway (one that in the UK would be considered post-watershed), and thus had no qualms airing a show like ''Class'' alongside ''Doctor Who'', though it still attracted criticism from viewers and didn't generate enough overseas ratings to justify BBC Three to continue it.
** The makers of ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' must have thought that by [[Series/TorchwoodMiracleDay Series 4]] there was no longer any need to keep saying "Yes, we know this is a ''Series/DoctorWho'' spinoff, but it's broadcast at 9pm for a ''reason''", so they didn't. Cue outrage at the first gay sex scene, with more than one person tweeting to the effect of "That's not right, it's a kids' show". Clearly the post-watershed swearing and gore and a paedophile as a major character - not to mention it was co-produced by and broadcast on the Starz network in the US, and Starz simply does not do family-friendly series - didn't clue them in enough. (''Series/DoctorWho'', of course, is one of the more famous examples of [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids the opposite of this trope]], since, while this doesn't always show, it's aimed at family audiences.)

* ''Series/{{Galavant}}'' is a parody of FairyTales, has a lighthearted, colourful tone, and has its soundtrack done by the guy who did the music for ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'' and ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', so it must be for kids, right? Well, half the opening number was devoted to all the sex Galavant and Madalena were having during their relationship, and the series only gets raunchier from there.
* In one of the stupidest examples imaginable, numerous parents apparently assumed that ''Series/GameOfThrones'' had to be family-friendly because it was fantasy. It didn't help that a number of articles written about the show hyped the fantasy aspects, such as mentions of dragons and direwolves, or focusing entirely on the latter part of series co-creator David Benioff's admittedly crappy tagline "''Series/{{The Sopranos}}'' in [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Middle-earth]]", apparently hearing "Middle-earth" and assuming we'd see elves, wizards, and hobbits. Never mind that it airs on Creator/{{HBO}}, which is known for series with copious amounts of nudity, violence and profanity, and never mind that right before the series a giant "Not suitable for children" warning is displayed. There were angry emails to HBO and news outlets from outraged parents at a show "for children" containing beheadings, profanity, incest, nudity and rape.

* ''Series/{{Glee}}'', largely thanks to the popularity of [[Film/HighSchoolMusical a movie with a very similar premise]] that actually ''was'' for kids. Except ''Glee'' has: jokes about oral sex; dancing which borders on dry humping; sex between teenagers and older, married adults; the president of the celibacy club getting pregnant; boys complaining about "erupting early" and an adult former student corrupting kids by giving them pornography, alcohol and lessons in stealing. And that's all within the first 5 episodes. A later episode had two teen girls becoming the first to reference in dialogue a certain sex act by name on US network TV.

* Another ABC show, ''Series/TheGoldbergs'', was advertised in cinemas before family-friendly movies such as ''WesternAnimation/{{Planes}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Turbo}}'', and was also advertised in banner ads on The Hub's (now Creator/DiscoveryFamily) website. From the preview, it looks like a fun sitcom about a boy having crazy adventures in TheEighties with his family, and he likes a few things from that era kids still like today like ''Franchise/StarWars''. Except that there's adult themes in the show and uncensored and censored swearing, mostly from the father on the show, and sometimes even Adam swears! [[note]] Only the really bad words, like the F-word, are bleeped to keep it at a TV-PG level. For example, the second season's Halloween episode had a whole string of censored swearing before cutting to an ad break[[/note]], and episodes about about Barry being taught about sex and the kids finding a scrambled porn channel (that we don't get to see, of course) when they are trying to watch ''Series/GeneralHospital''.
* Amazon categorizes ''Series/TheGoodPlace'' under Kids and Family, right next to shows like ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' and ''[[WesternAnimation/VampirinaBallerina Vampirina]]''. Just because it's about angels in heaven doesn't make it a family show, as there are several jokes about death, drugs and sex in it. [[spoiler: And in the end, they aren't even in heaven at all]], so if they didn't get the message before...
* ''Series/TheGoodies'', being essentially a live action version of a ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' cartoon, was broadcast in a children's timeslot by the Australian Broadcasting Company ... who had to edit the ''hell'' out of it.

** ''Series/{{Happy}}'', a series that came out a year later that's similar to this one, also qualifies as this trope. Yes, it's about a man and a cute animated horse, but it contains violence, drug use and cursing.

** ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', despite being in the same continuity the Marvel Cinematic Universe (which despite having some more adult moments, is generally family-friendly), has a much different tone. Murder, sex, Government corruption, and lots of NightmareFuel is a regular part of the show. Despite this, Agent Coulson, Fitz and Simmons have all appeared in the ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan'' TV show, which is aimed at kids, while an ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' DLC pack featuring the cast of the show was released for ''VideoGame/LEGOMarvelsAvengers''. All that said, ''S.H.I.E.L.D.'' has always aired with a TV-14 rating and stayed within the parameters of what regular network TV requires. The same cannot be said for the MCU-based shows produced for streaming, as cited below.

** Speaking of ''Series/{{Daredevil 2015}}'', to say that it earned its TV-MA rating would be a massive understatement. The level of violence in the series can be absolutely shocking at times, whether it be hearing Healy smash a guy's in with a bowling ball, or seeing Wilson Fisk kill Anatoly by beating him unconscious and decapitating him with a car door. While on the topic, the ''VideoGame/LEGOMarvelsAvengers'' game is based on the [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse MCU]] and has levels based on the various movies and TV shows. Despite this, the ''Daredevil'' and ''Jessica Jones'' series were not included, as Marvel felt they were inappropriate for children, but they do appear as playable characters.

* The 2015 series ''Series/TheMuppets'' is TV-PG and it shows. There are ''a lot'' of adult jokes showing off that just because it's a ''Muppet'' series doesn't mean it's for kids. In Russia, the show aired on Disney Channel, right after the Disney Junior block, and Amazon lists the show as a recommendation alongside some DirectToVideo ''Series/SesameStreet'' specials and ''The Mother Goose Club''. Eventually this trope was its downfall, as it was cancelled due to low-ratings. People just couldn't get into an adult-aimed ''Muppets'' show after years of it being child-friendly.
** Those wishing to explore the early history of the Muppets find themselves having to tread carefully, because beyond ''Series/SesameStreet'' and most of ''Series/TheMuppetShow'', Creator/JimHenson often used his Muppets for adult humour. They were regulars on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' in its early years and one of the {{pilot}}s for ''The Muppet Show'', which aired on ABC in 1975, was actually titled "Sex and Violence" and was a parody of the increasing amount of sexual content and violence on American TV.

* Nature documentaries in general might be classed as this. In the UK, at least, they're exempt from classification due to their educational nature when released as video recordings, so kids can theoretically buy them and watch them without question- even if they do contain animals fighting, killing and eating other animals and copulating. There may of course be some measure of WhatMeasureIsANonHuman about this too- it's just what animals do naturally in the wild, so who cares?

** ''Series/UltramanNexus'' was a ratings failure for the very same reasons. Intended to be a completely DarkerAndEdgier {{Deconstruction}} reimagining of the ''Fanchise/UltraSeries'' and notorious as one of the darkest entries of the franchise, it got put on a Saturday morning kids' block due to MisaimedMarketing (Hey it's ''Ultraman'', of course kids'll love it!), which resulted in abysmal ratings and the only case ever of an early cancellation for the ''Ultra Series''.

* Strangely enough RealityTV shows are seldom seen as harmful for children. Despite the fact that many of them feature a bunch of people stuck together in one place while the TV makers make sure the tensions between them rise. The result is often a showcase of verbal and/or physical fights, swearing and people trying to get revenge on each other. Now, isn't that a great example for your kids growing up?

* ''Series/{{Riverdale}}'' has received some criticism because it's not kid friendly like most other ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'' media. The first episode alone features Jason Blossom murdered and Archie having a sexual relationship with Ms. Grundy (who has been aged down significantly). The series is much HotterAndSexier and DarkerAndEdgier than the normal ''Archie'' fare (unsurprising considering one of the writers is from the ZombieApocalypse spinoff ''ComicBook/AfterlifeWithArchie''). To be fair, the comics themselves have become more adult-oriented in recent years as well.

* There are child fans of ''Series/StrangerThings'', because it A) has young children as protagonists and B) came out around the same time [[Anime/YokaiWatch an anime with a similar premise]] began picking up steam in the U.S. and Canada. This leaves out all the scary monsters, AdultFear and MindRape scenes that the former series is well-known for. In the fall of 2017, as fans awaited the eventual arrival of the third season of ''Stranger Things'', US and UK media began reporting on Netflix airing a thematically similar series called ''Dark'', imported from Europe, with many recommending it to fans of ''Stranger Things''. This led to some awkward moments for viewers expecting something semi-family friendly only to be confronted with a series with explicit sex scenes and heavier violence.

* In the early 1970s Gerry and Sylvia Anderson decided to go into more serious, live-action drama with the series ''Series/{{UFO}}'', though it still used plenty of their famous model work. Unfortunately the networks didn't know what to do with a show about faceless aliens coming to Earth to steal people's organs, which included one episode about drugged out hippies and another which focuses on the lead character having an extramarital affair. After all, it was made by the creators of ''Series/{{Thunderbirds}}'' so it must be for kids, right? Even when producer Gerry Anderson included very strong hints of the series being more adult-oriented than his usual fare - including a gratuitous MsFanservice scene in the first episode where a female character strips down to her underwear for no plot-related reason - broadcasters were still confused.

* ''Series/{{Vikings}}'' is broadcast on History Channel, a network that built its name on family friendly documentary productions. While not all affiliates of History air the uncensored version, the show is still considerably more raunchy and violent than the usual History series, and if families get their hands on the uncut DVD/Blu-ray without doing some research, they're in for a surprise.

* Canadian networks such as YTV and Teletoon also seem to carry the same misconceptions as suggestive cartoons, a couple of violent anime, and shows targeted for older teens often run rampant or get scattered into the mix of stuff that's supposed to be for kids.

* An ongoing issue faced by the so-called American mainstream commercial networks - specifically ABC, CBS, The CW, Fox, NBC and to a degree the non-commercial PBS - is the assumption that, because they are widely available to anyone with a TV (unlike premium cable networks and streaming that require subscription), and are more tightly regulated, all content aired on them is by default family-friendly. In reality, while still tame in comparison to their equivalents in the UK, Canada and elsewhere that are more lenient in terms of language, sexual content and violence, especially after the {{Watershed}} hour, the mainstream networks have always aired some level of programming suitable only for adults (as judged by the mores of the day) and, as time has gone on, the level of language, sexuality and violence allowed on these broadcasters has increased. Nonetheless, this view has led many MediaWatchdog groups to continually raise issue with network programming out of concern that children could be exposed to adult content (putting pressure on advertisers in the process), and also morally conservative viewers who have come to look upon the networks as a refuge from the cable and streaming networks and their content.
* Documentary and science-based cable networks such as Discovery, National Geographic and History have always been associated with family-friendly programming, with the assumption developed that everything aired is or should be suitable for all viewers. In recent years, however, we have seen productions such as the violent and sexually explicit series ''Series/{{Vikings}}'' appear on History, and National Geographic debuted ''Series/{{Genius}}'', a series that also has sexuality and nudity, and one of Discovery's most popular shows is ''Series/NakedAndAfraid'' in which nudity (albeit usually blurred) is a key part of the concept. Some food and cooking-related networks have also broadcast uncensored versions of Creator/GordonRamsay's [[PrecisionFStrike F-bomb-filled]] shows such as ''Series/HellsKitchen''.

* ''Series/Lost'' is about a bunch of people on an island, but beware, ''Series/Gilligan'sIsland'' or ''Series/Survivor'' this is not. While it's tamer than many shows on nowadays and is TV-14, it still has lots of corpses and blood, multiple somewhat graphic surgeries, several murders including the gassing of an entire small town, multiple (albeit nudity-free) love-making scenes, [[FromNobodyToNightmare Ben]], some minor subplots relating to infidelity, several characters struggling with depression and self-loathing, and a main character with a severe heroin addiction, not to mention the many heavy philosophical themes that most kids wouldn't be able to appreciate. It's not an outright adult show, but should be kept in the 13 and up area.

* ''Series/InstantMom'' is a sitcom that airs on Nickelodeon's adult block Creator/NickAtNite and on Creator/NickJr's now-defunct adult block [=NickMom=], but on Hulu, it was placed in the children's section in between ''WesternAnimation/MagicAdventuresOfMumfie'' and the AnimatedAdaptation of ''Series/FraggleRock''. This is possibly because it looked like a kid-friendly sitcom about a mom and her adopted children. It's basically just like any other sitcom involving kids, with dirty things kids shouldn't hear and other adult themes. Due to Hulu's mistake, other websites like [=ToonZone=] and the Canadian cable service Bell TV classify ''Instant Mom'' as a '''children's show'''!

* ''Series/{{Vikings}} is broadcast on History Channel, a network that built its name on family friendly documentary productions. While not all affiliates of History air the uncensored version, the show is still considerably more raunchy and violent than the usual History series, and if families get their hands on the uncut DVD/Blu-ray without doing some research, they're in for a surprise.

* The 2015 series ''Series/TheMuppets'' is TV-PG and it shows. There are ''a lot'' of adult jokes showing off that just because it's a ''Muppet'' series doesn't mean it's for kids. In Russia, the show aired on Disney Channel, right after the Disney Junior block, and Amazon currently lists the show alongside some DirectToVideo ''Series/SesameStreet'' specials. Eventually this trope was its downfall, as it was cancelled due to low-ratings. People just couldn't get into an adult-aimed ''Muppets'' show after years of it being child-friendly.

* The 2015 series ''Series/TheMuppets'' is TV-PG and it shows. There are ''a lot'' of adult jokes showing off that just because it's a ''Muppet'' series doesn't mean it's for kids. In Russia, the show aired on Disney Channel, right after the Disney Junior block. Eventually this trope was its downfall, as it was cancelled due to low-ratings. People just couldn't get into an adult-aimed ''Muppets'' show after years of it being child-friendly.

* Amazon categorizes ''Series/TheGoodPlace'' under Kids and Family, right next to shows like ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' and ''[[WesternAnimation/VampirinaBallerina Vampirina]]''. Just because it's about angels in heaven doesn't make it a family show, as there are several jokes about death, drugs and sex in it. [[spoiler: and in the end, they aren't even in heaven at all]], so if they didn't get the message before...

** This is one of the major reasons why ''Series/JessicaJones2015'' was in DevelopmentHell for so long. Melissa Rosenberg wanted the series to be appropriately DarkerAndEdgier to reflect its [[Comicbook/{{Alias}} source material]], but none of the networks were interested in a superhero show that dealt with the gritty subject matter she was pitching. It eventually got picked up by Creator/{{Netflix}}, which is known for its more mature content. It's primary themes include such cheery subjects as [[TheAlcoholic alcoholism]], PTSD and [[RapeAsDrama rape]], each of which are thoroughly explored and discussed to a disturbing degree. Like ''Series/{{Daredevil 2015}}'', it earned a TV-MA rating. There were eyebrows raised when the first episode of the series - which included violence and sex scenes - was shown at a New York Comic Con event attended by parents with children. To be fair, parents were given the option to leave with their kids before the screening began, but there were reports of some who didn't quite realize Marvel meant it when they said Jessica Jones was an adults-only series.