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"Peter, your excuses are lamer than FDR's legs."
[everyone gasps]
"Too soon?"
Brian Griffin, Family Guy

"Comedy is tragedy-plus-time. For instance, the night Lincoln was shot, you couldn't make a joke about it, but now it's fair game, see? Tragedy-plus-time."
Lester (Alan Alda), Crimes and Misdemeanors

A kind of censorship borne out of sensitivity to current issues (although Your Mileage May Vary as to whether this is oversensitivity or not). One frequent situation is when a new episode (or possibly an old one) is edited or not broadcast because it coincides with some recent tragic event. Can be taken to ridiculous extremes, especially if Executive Meddling is involved. After President Reagan was shot, The Greatest American Hero had the name of its main character changed because his name was Hinkley, the same as the would-be assassin.

A prominent example for Americans was that, for several years, any show featuring the World Trade Center tended to be tweaked a bit. Some older shows and even movies had broadcasts digitally edited to remove it from the skyline. This sometimes happened even when the show or movie was set before 2001. This has Unfortunate Implications, in that it allows the terrorists to destroy the World Trade Center retroactively.

In other cases, the result ends up being a Missing Episode.

Ironically, sometimes it is the very act of censoring a scene that gives it its Too Soon quality. A seemingly innocuous scene has been edited out of a repeat; the only explanation is that it referred to the same kind of situation as in Current Issue X. What was a vague connection has now been made explicit.

For obvious reasons, what qualifies as Too Soon is a matter of opinion (see: Dead Baby Comedy). Johnny Carson famously found out in the 1970s that the Lincoln assassination was still Too Soon for his audience, while few comedians even today are brave enough to poke fun at Kennedy's murder (although the conspiracy theories have come in for their share of ridicule).

Easier for dramatic series to avert than comedy series, since at least in dramas the sensitive subject matter is being tackled with a degree of seriousness and respect. On the other hand, it's a comedy series' prerogative to satirize and make light of its subject matter, which may be seen as more offensive. If the satire isn't aimed directly at the target, though, audiences might even find it more offensive.

Has elements in common with Harsher In Hindsight.

9/11 Examples:

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    Anime and Manga 

    Comic Books 

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    Radio 

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Other Examples:

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    Advertising 

    Anime and Manga 

    Comic Books 

    Commercials 

    Film 

    Live Action TV 

    Literature 

    Music 

    News 

    Newspaper comics 

    Professional Wrestling 

    Video Games 

    Webcomics 

    Western Animation 

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