History TooSoon / LiveActionTV

What with television being a very dynamic and visual medium, and with there being thousands of episodes every day that can be affected by timely sensitivity, the examples have their own page.

All examples regarding the 9/11 attacks still [[DistancedFromCurrentEvents/SeptemberEleventh go on that page]].
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!!!'''Networks:'''
* Creator/TheBBC has done a fair deal of "Too Soon" damage control since the 2012 revelations that one of its most famous presenters, the late Creator/JimmySavile, was a prolific pedophile/sexual abuser.
** The scandal broke when rival network Creator/{{ITV}} ran a special, ''Exposure: The Other Side of Jimmy Savile'', that revealed that the BBC newsmagazine ''Newsnight'' was working on an investigative report on his alleged sexual abuse at the end of 2011, shortly after his nationally-mourned death. The ''Newsnight'' report was spiked for disputed reasons... while the BBC aired Savile tribute specials that Christmas. Indeed, one of those possible reasons for the cancellation was that it would have ruined the tributes to bring up such horrific stories.
** ''Series/NewTricks'' swapped the airing order of the ninth and tenth episodes of Series 9 because the ninth, "Glasgow [=UCOS=]", featured a recently uncovered child abuse scandal involving a man who was coincidentally also named Jimmy from two decades earlier. Savile's alleged crimes dated back to TheFifties.
** Less than two years before news of the scandal broke, BBC Four had begun airing every archived ''Series/TopOfThePops'' episode from April 1976 onward. Subsequently, all the episodes Savile presented or helped to present were dropped from the rerun rotation and banished forevermore to KeepCirculatingTheTapes purgatory. After another presenter, Dave Lee Travis, was arrested as part of the Scotland Yard investigation into Savile's crimes, episodes ''he'' appeared in were dropped too.
** Surprisingly, the ''Series/{{Tweenies}}'' episode "Favourite Songs", which featured a ''Series/TopOfThePops'' spoof with Max dressed as Savile, missed the inital cut on material related to him. It wasn't until a rerun aired on Creator/{{CBeebies}} on 20th January 2013 that people complained, causing the network to finally pull the episode.
* Creator/VH1 cancelled the reality dating show ''Megan Wants a Millionaire'' and the third season of ''I Love Money'' after a contestant involved in both shows -- and alleged to be the winner of the latter -- was involved [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasmine_Fiore in a murder-suicide case.]]

!!!'''Series:'''
* A 1997 episode of ''Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun'' ("Tricky Dick") features Tommy joining a garage band. In the original script, the band was called "[[AGoodNameForARockBand Shattered Princess]]". As it happened, Princess Diana's death occurred just before filming, so the name got changed to "Whiskey Kitten". The funny part is that that episode was filmed out of order due to scheduling conflicts, so the delayed shooting date ultimately saved them the trouble of looping out "Shattered Princess". (All this is explained in the DVDCommentary for that episode.)
* The British sitcom ''Series/AbsolutePower'' postponed an episode with a throwaway but hard-to-cut joke about an MP faking a heart attack to avoid being interviewed, after the death of prominent MP Robin Cook from a heart attack. They also postponed an episode about a member of the Bin Laden family trying to buy British Airways following the London bombings.
* The Creator/{{Showtime}} documentary series ''Active Shooter: America Under Fire'', in which each episode is about a different mass shooting, had to have repeats pulled after the [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Las_Vegas_shooting Las Vegas mass shooting]] which killed 58 and injured almost 500. This was narrowly averted a month later, when the sixth episode aired just two days before another mass shooting occurred in Sutherland Springs, Texas. One of the executive producers once referred to the show as being [[http://money.cnn.com/2017/11/07/media/active-shooter-showtime-docuseries/index.html too relevant.]]
* In April 1995, ''Series/AllMyChildren'' was setting up a storyline in which one of the characters was planning on setting a bomb at the wedding of two other characters. When the Oklahoma City bombing occurred, producers immediately canceled the storyline, and appeared at the beginning of one of the episodes to explain their choice. A similar plotline on the season finale of ''Series/MelrosePlace'' (psycho Kimberley was planning to bomb the apartment complex) had already been filmed, but was edited. It did air for the following season's premiere, when the topic was not nearly as sensitive (though ironically, it did air on ''September 11'', 1995).
** Years later, plans for a school shooting sequence was dropped in the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre.
* The sixth episode of ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryCult'' was edited to remove graphic gun violence in its television airing in response to the October 2017 shooting in Las Vegas. However, the unedited version was still released digitally and on video on demand.
* ''Series/{{Bonanza}}'': Several sources claim that the episode "Kingdom of Fear" (loosely based on ''Film/CoolHandLuke'', where the Cartwrights were arrested by a despot posing as a lawman for "trespassing on his land"), filmed in 1968 and intended to air during the 1968-1969 season, was pulled due to its violent storyline, in light of the shooting death of Robert Kennedy, race riots (in the aftermath of the killing of Martin Luther King Jr.), clashes between police and war protesters and violence at Democratic National Convention events. The episode was finally aired in the spring of 1971, three years later. [[note]]David Canary, who played Candy Cannaday (the ranch hand) and a series regular from 1967-1970, had left the show by 1970, and -- since he was in a major part of the show -- was credited as a "special guest star."[[/note]]
* An episode of ''Series/{{Bones}}'' featuring the murder of a college student was delayed because of the Virginia Tech shootings, which happened earlier in the same week that the episode was supposed to air. Those same shootings also forced ''Series/OneLifeToLive'' to curtail its big sweeps storyline involving similar events.
** ''Series/CriminalMinds'' delayed the airing of "Doubt" until the next season for the same reason.
* In the final episode of the second season of ''Series/{{Bottom}}'', "[[Recap/BottomSOut 's Out]]", Ritchie and Eddie encounter a flasher while camping out on Wimbledon Common. After filming was completed, but before the episode was to be broadcasted, a young woman was sexually assaulted and murdered on the Common. The episode was shelved and first appeared on the VHS release.
* When ''Series/TheBradyBunch'' was added to CBS All-Access, the episode "Is There A Doctor In The House?" was omitted in wake a of a then-recent measles outbreak.
* Two episodes of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' ("[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E18Earshot Earshot]]" and "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E21GraduationDayPart1 Graduation]] [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E22GraduationDayPart2 Day]]") were delayed for several months following the Columbine shootings. One episode featured a student attempting suicide on campus, the other ended with the entire graduating class coming to graduation armed and fighting against a horde of vampires that ended with part of the school being blown up.
** Interestingly, "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E22GraduationDayPart2 Graduation Day, Part 2]]" did air in a couple of places in Canada. Fans started tape trains and Creator/JossWhedon was apparently all for it.
** WordOfGod has stated that everyone, ''everyone'' was in favor of scrapping "Earshot", as it would have aired shortly after Columbine and was a mundane school shooting. However, many (including Whedon, Creator/SarahMichelleGellar, and Creator/SethGreen) spoke out against the decision to pull the finale (hours before it would have aired) because of kids using axes against a giant snake.
* The ''Series/{{Castle}}'' episode "[[Recap/CastleS5E22Still Still]]", in which the characters have to disarm a bomb in order to save Beckett, was [[http://tvline.com/2013/04/17/castle-still-episode-delayed-boston-marathon-attack/ postponed]] so that it would air two weeks after the Boston Marathon bombing instead of just one week, and was never seen in the Boston area outside of areas which received the Boston ABC affiliate's sister station in New Hampshire, online, and then seven months later when it hit the rerun cycle. Unfortunately, just three days after the Boston Marathon attack, TNT inadvertently aired a rerun of the ''other'' episode that has a bomb plot, "47 Seconds." They then had to [[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/19/tnt-apology-castle-47-seconds-bomb_n_3119209.html issue an apology]] for it.
* ''Series/{{Casualty}}'' rewrote an episode which would have shown a Muslim suicide bombing, because the issue of Islamic terrorism was thought to be too sensitive after the 7/7 London train bombings. (See WesternTerrorists.)
* ''Civil'' was a planned TNT drama about a modern-day [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar American Civil War]]; it made it to the pilot stage but [[http://www.avclub.com/article/tnt-decides-modern-day-civil-war-show-doesnt-sound-247428 was completely dropped when the 2016 Presidential election and its outcome proved too similar to the plot's jumping-off point for comfort]] especially towards left-wing Americans.
* Creator/ParamountNetwork indefinitely delayed the season 33 premiere of ''Series/{{Cops}}'', and later decided to cancel the show altogether, in the wake of the protests that resulted from the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers. It’s Creator/AAndE counterpart, ''Series/LivePD'', decided to temporarily stop airing new episodes, and then was cancelled altogether for the same reason.
* ''Series/CoronationStreet'':
** The show also changed a storyline in which a character's baby was abducted due to similarities with the Madeline [=McCann=] abduction case.
** The episode scheduled to air on June 2, 2010 was cancelled by Creator/{{ITV}} due to the then-breaking news about the Cumbria massacre. The episode in question featured scenes with guns.
* One episode of ''Series/TheCosbyShow'', "The Dentist", was originally to have had Creator/DannyKaye as the eponymous dentist persuading a child character into his chair by propelling it up and down and saying "This is the tooth shuttle, and I need an astronaut!" The episode's original broadcast was scheduled for less than one week after the disaster aboard Space Shuttle ''Challenger'', so Kaye overdubbed the line with "This is the tooth ship, and I need a pilot!"
* The UK airing of the ''Series/{{CSI}}'' two parter "Grave Danger" was delayed by a week because on the day that it was due to be aired, it emerged that the 7/7 bombings (about a week earlier) were the work of suicide bombers.
** And the French airing of the finale was delayed following the terrorist attacks in Brussels.
* ''Series/{{Danger 5}}'' Season 2, intended to be broadcast in October 2014, was at first delayed indefinitely, then pushed back to 4 January 2015. SBS was worried that airing a comedy show with beheadings during the ISIS crisis (characterised by infamous terrorist beheadings) would be too offensive.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** Following the Dunblane massacre, [[Recap/DoctorWhoTVMTheTVMovie the 1996 TV Movie]] was edited on its original BBC transmission, to remove as much of the opening gunfight as possible. This scene has subsequently been reinstated on the DVD release of the episode, but the sound effect of the Master breaking his wife's neck (which was also removed on the original transmission) is still missing on the DVD.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E3SchoolReunion "School Reunion"]] (Series 2) features a school being blown up in order to destroy the aliens inside it. This episode was taken off the air in Australia after a similar event involving a student rebel detonating a bomb in a class room killing 5 students happened. The fact that the rebel was called "Ken" didn't help due to this line being featured in the episode: "Kenny blew up the school! It was Kenny!" (whereupon the happy students cheer...)
** The death of [[spoiler:the Sheriff of Nottingham]] in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E3RobotOfSherwood Robot of Sherwood]]" (Series 8) had to be altered at the last minute, from the character being beheaded, which would've led to a RoboticReveal, to being pushed into a vat of molten gold, leaving his nature ambiguous in the final product. (This also led to a Missy-in-the-Nethersphere scene involving said character getting cut.) This change was due to the recent beheadings of American journalists James Foley and Steven Stoloff by the Muslim extremist militia ISIS; as the show was meant as one of the season's {{Breather Episode}}s, the change was probably for the best.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E7ThePyramidAtTheEndOfTheWorld "The Pyramid at the End of the World"]] (Series 10) aired within the week following the suicide bombing of an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, so a discussion the Doctor had with Nardole about what could cause TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt cut lines referencing terrorism, in particular the Doctor noting that "Terrorism discriminates" (as opposed to the real threat, [[spoiler:a bacterial plague]]).
** An interesting example arose with the last of the fan live watches linked to the Doctor Who Lockdown event during the COVID-19 pandemic: [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E11WorldEnoughAndTime "World Enough and Time"]] and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E12TheDoctorFalls "The Doctor Falls"]] were to be screened June 6th, but the UnfortunateImplications of running a story involving a black companion being shot and mutilated airing at a time when the top international headline was worldwide Black Lives Matter/police brutality protests (especially given that fans were encouraged to tweet reactions, etc. to it on Twitter, which could have become ugly) [[https://twitter.com/Emily_Rosina/status/1268270120981446665 led to it being cancelled]]. The day it would have ran the original short [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOJ0OU6Odh4 "The Best of Days"]], a canon epilogue to the story written by Steven Moffat and featuring [[spoiler: Bill and Nardole, voiced by their original actors]], was screened instead. Notably, it's set in 2020 and mentions the protests (since [[spoiler: Bill is back on Earth at the time]]).
* ''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard'' has fallen victim to this. Don't expect to see it on television again any time soon after the Charleston church massacre perpetrated by white supremacist and Confederate sympathizer Dylann Storm Roof. (For those who've never watched it, its SweetHomeAlabama theme involves the heroes' car having a giant Confederate flag painted on the roof and being known as the "General Lee".)
* ''Series/EastEnders'' altered a storyline about May Wright kidnapping Dawn Swann's baby, because of the then-recent disappearance of Madeleine [=McCann=]. When the air date for a planned storyline about Lucas Johnson murdering a prostitute coincided with the high-profile murders of sex workers in Ipswich, the episodes were rewritten to have him kidnapping a random woman who survives.
* In the ''Series/EleventhHour'' episode "Miracle", a "healing" spring turns out to be contaminated with tritium, a component in refining nuclear material. In the original UK version, the source of the contamination was a ''secret government program'' to manufacture plutonium ''for the express purpose of planting it in foreign countries as a pretense on which to invade''. "It would be really embarrassing if we decided to invade some country on the claim that they had a nuclear weapons program, and there turn out to be absolutely no evidence," hit a little too close to home on the other side of UsefulNotes/ThePond, so in the US version, it's the work of white supremacists trying to build a dirty bomb.
* Irish TV channel RTE aired a sitcom called ''The English Class'' about a group of recently-arrived immigrants attending a night school class to improve their English. In one episode, when a woman misses class, the teacher later announces that she was murdered and dumped next to a railway line (all PlayedForLaughs). This had a lot of similarities to the case of a Swiss student recently murdered in Galway, and provoked a large number of complaints about its poor taste.
* Lauren Graham hurriedly had to voiceover a one-liner involving Bali for Lorelai in ''Series/GilmoreGirls'' which aired four days after the 2005 Bali bombings to instead refer to Maui, though the UsefulNotes/ClosedCaptioning track wasn't able to be replaced in time.
* ''Series/{{Glee}}'' took a three-week hiatus before airing "[[Recap/GleeS4E18ShootingStar Shooting Star]]". Speculation says it was out of respect for the Newtown school shootings a few months earlier. The episode was prefaced with a slide that warned of school violence, although this did not appear on online streams.
* The BBC drama ''Good Cop'', about an otherwise impeccable cop who goes rogue and vigilante-kills the nasty piece of work who beat his partner to death, had its final episode postponed for almost a month following the gun-murder of two policewomen in Manchester.
* ''Good Morning America'' and ''The View'', both on Disney-owned ABC, were set to feature extensive behind-the-scenes and grand opening coverage of [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Shanghai Disneyland]] on June 15, 2016, with Robin Roberts hosting. The night before that, however, a child wading in water at one of Walt Disney World's resort hotels (in Orlando, Florida) was snatched by an alligator. "Tragedy at Disney World" ended up being the top story on ''GMA'' the next morning as there was no hope the child would be found alive by then; he was found drowned later that day. With coverage of the disaster being a national news story for days afterward, televised Shanghai Disneyland coverage was [[http://money.cnn.com/2016/06/15/media/abc-news-disney-orlando-coverage/ indefinitely postponed]] without so much as an explanation despite all the pre-disaster advertising; even then, the network came under scrutiny for not discussing (as CBS and NBC did) the issue of why Disney beaches didn't have signs posted about the gators.
* In ''Series/TheGreatestAmericanHero'', Ralph Hinkley's name was changed to Hanley for several episodes after John Hinkley Jr. shot President Ronald Reagan.
** And a scene that has June Lockhart saying that his name suggests that he's reliable had to be dubbed over with [[http://www.agonybooth.com/tv/Greatest_American_Hero/Here_s_Looking_at_You__Kid_S01E03.aspx?Page=2 airplane noise]].
* Season 1, Episode 4 of ''Series/{{Hannibal}}'' was scheduled for soon after the Boston Marathon bombing and Sandy Hook. The show's creator felt like it would be in poor taste to air an episode about children killing other children, so the episode was postponed in the U.S. (but did air overseas) plot-relevant bits were released online as "minisodes" and the full episode was later released on iTunes.
* ''Series/HaveIGotNewsForYou'':
** One episode, which aired a day after the 7/7 London Bombing, had the "Caption" section, in which a screenshot is shown and the panel must come up with a caption to go with it in a spot, a picture of a man holding a pink bag on a tube train while standing next to a child wearing a pink shirt was shown and the caption given was: "Gay suicide bomber kiss 10 gay kids." Many complaints rained in and a public apology was given.
* The episode of ''Series/{{Haven}}'' named "Reunion", in which there is a shooting at an alumni reunion, was pulled off Syfy's schedule shortly after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and replaced with a holiday-themed episode of ''Series/{{Eureka}}'' from the previous year.
* The 2018 reboot of ''Series/{{Heathers}}'' was originally slated to premiere in March 2018, but was pushed back after the Stonewall Douglas High School shooting due to a core part of the ''Heathers'' story being high school students shooting their classmates to death. The new premiere was scheduled for July 2018, but the show was cancelled after the Santa Fe High School shooting (with the showrunners currently trying to shop the series around to other networks to pick it up), with the Paramount Network president of development stating that "the combination of a high school show with these very dark moments didn't feel right" in the current climate. Even after Paramount decided to air it in a five-night event with [[{{Bowdlerise}} some of the violence edited out]], episodes were pulled ''again'' after a mass shooting in a Pittsburgh synagogue (as they depicted active-shooter training at the high school) and the series finale was edited down to remove the school being blown up for the airing (though the unedited version was shown on HBO overseas).
* ''Series/{{Hollyoaks}}'' dropped a storyline which would have revealed that two characters had committed murder while underage and were now living under new identities with police protection, because of the similarities to the James Bulger case.
* A two-episode story in ''Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'' was left out of the UK broadcast because it dealt with a hostage situation in a school and would have been broadcast too soon after the Dunblane massacre.
* The first episode of the BBC sketch show ''Horne and Corden'' had a sketch in which a pair of performers magically eliminated gun violence. The following day, a school shooting happened in Germany, and the sketch was removed from the repeats and iPlayer version.
* The 2012 season finale of the Biography Channel series ''Series/ISurvived'' was to feature the stories of those who survived the [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Norway_attacks mass shooting in Norway]]. It was scheduled to air on 12/16/12--until the freakishly similar [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Hook_Elementary_School_shooting Sandy Hook shooting]] occurred two days beforehand. The episode was immediately replaced with a repeat. Not until almost a year later, in October 2013, did it finally air. Episodes featuring survivors of the [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Tech_shooting Virginia Tech]], [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_High_School_massacre Columbine]], and other mass shootings weren't re-run for a long time, and the show's 2013 season premiere was considerably delayed.
* ''Series/JackAndBobby'' had a flash-forward scene removed from an episode before it's airing after the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster because it mentioned the shuttle by name.
* Only a few days after Hurricane Katrina hit, ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}'' aired three episodes featuring a contestant from New Orleans. A short clip was added before each episode of host Alex Trebek explaining that they had been taped before the storm hit, and that the show's production had confirmed that the contestant was safe and well.
* The Season 3 premiere of ''Series/TheLastShip'' was delayed after the Orlando nightclub shooting of June 12, 2016 due to a similar event occurring in a nightclub in the series.
* Creator/CraigFerguson had filmed a monologue for ''Series/TheLateLateShow'' that was mostly about Batman, to be aired on the US premiere date for ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises''. After the mass murders at an Aurora, CO theater, the monologue was replaced with Craig, sitting at his desk, sending condolences to friends and relatives of the victims.
** The episode that aired the night of the Sandy Hook tragedy had been pre-recorded a week earlier and Ferguson was out of the country for his Christmas break, but apparently on his orders CBS cut out the traditional "it's a great day for America" monologue open.
* The ''Series/{{Legends}}'' episode "The Legend of Curtis Ballard" delayed its airing due to its depiction of a Muslim teenager shooting up a Paris school, which would have aired within a week of the terrorist attacks also committed in Paris.
* Creator/{{Fox}} considered changing the name of the family on ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' due to it being the same as infamous serial killer Ted Bundy. They were actually named for professional wrestler Wrestling/KingKongBundy.
* The ''Series/{{MASH}}'' episode "The Life You Save", in which Winchester almost gets shot on a mission and enters an existential crisis, was supposed to air on March 30, 1981. However, that same day, President Ronald Reagan was shot in an assassination attempt, so it was rescheduled for May 4, serving as the season finale.
* ''Series/{{Medium}}'' had a two-part episode about a shooting at the aerospace engineer husband's workplace and its aftermath. When the Virginia Tech massacre ''and'' the Johnson Space Center shooting occurred during the week between episodes (what the ''hell''), the recap of the previous episode (including the shooting itself) was replaced by a [[AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle brief lecture]] and an acknowledgment that "there's been enough shooting" from the two lead actors.
* Four days after the Boston Marathon bombing, a Creator/MyNetworkTV rerun of the ''Series/{{Monk}}'' episode "Mr. Monk and the Marathon Man", which features a murderer use an alibi of being in the San Francisco Marathon at the time of the murder of his girlfriend, was quietly replaced with another episode without notice; it aired the next week.
* The episode of ''Series/MrBean'' where he ends up looking after a baby had its premiere delayed by a few months due to the murder of James Bulger.
* The first season finale of ''Series/MrRobot'' was to involve [[spoiler:an Evil Corps executive shooting himself during a news conference broadcast live]]. It was slated to air the day two Virginia news reporters were shot and killed by an ex-employee while reporting a news story on live television. The finale was postponed out of respect for the victims.
* The episode of ''Series/MuppetsTonight'' guest starring Creator/SandraBullock was delayed for months after the Oklahoma City bombing in the spring of 1995, since the episode was based around a parody of ''Film/{{Speed}}'' in which a mysterious bomber was threatening to blow up the studio if the ratings went below 50.
* ''Neighborhood Watch'', an A&E reality series that looked like it was about overzealous watch-people, changed its name to ''Small-Town Security'' in the wake of the Trayvon Marting shooting by an overzealous watchman.
* The second SeasonFinale of ''Series/NewAmsterdam2018'' was called "Pandemic". Since it was due to be broadcast in April 2020, during an actual global pandemic, it was pulled entirely and replaced by the Season 3 opener "Matter of Seconds".
** Adding to the situation was the the episode would have guest-starred Daniel Dae Kim, who was afflicted by coronavirus himself.
* The ''Series/{{Numb3rs}}'' (which is set in Los Angeles) episode "Thirty-Six Hours", which centers around a horrific collision between a passenger train and a freight train, was set to air on October 24, 2008, as the fourth episode of Season 5. On September 12, 2008, two weeks after filming concluded on the episode, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Chatsworth_train_collision a passenger train collided with a freight train near Los Angeles]], becoming one of the worst rail disasters in the US in living memory. A decision was ultimately made to shift the episode later in the season to allow a little more time to pass (requiring a few edits to the script to maintain continuity). It ultimately aired on November 21, 2008, as the eighth episode of the season, and was preceded by a brief statement to warn viewers of the similarity to the real-life disaster.
** On the other hand ''Strong Medicine'''s final-season premiere a few months later would pretty much [[RippedFromTheHeadlines rip this one straight from the headlines]].
* The ''asadora'' (morning drama) series ''Series/{{Oshin}}'' was rejected by several Japanese TV stations before Creator/{{NHK}} decided to air it. According to its script writer Sugako Hashida, this trope was the reason why:
-->"The themes were so [[DarkerAndEdgier harsh and dark]] that the show was rejected by every television network. Even NHK opposed it. I was told '[[UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan We can't confront Meiji issues.]]'"[[note]]でもテーマが地味過ぎて、どのテレビ局にも断られました。 NHKでも、かなり反対があったんですよ。『 明治物は、当たらない』と言われてましたし…。[[/note]]
* After Pee Wee Herman got arrested for indecent exposure at an X-rated movie theater, CBS pulled ''Series/PeeWeesPlayhouse'' from their Saturday morning line-up (though at the time, the show was already over as Paul Reubens decided to end the show and move on, CBS was just airing reruns until the incident). In addition to this, Pee Wee Herman dolls were pulled from store shelves for the same reason.
* ''Series/PoliceCameraAction'', which edited out 2 pieces of footage from the 2007 episode "Less Lethal Weapons" where Michael Todd from the Greater Manchester Police was being shot at with a Taser to demonstrate its use. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Todd The Other Wiki has info on him here]]. The cut hasn't been reinstated since, and an InMemoriam at the end of the episode would have been far better judgment. This is a case of where this trope collides with ExecutiveMeddling and, more possibly FridgeBrilliance. This is also a possible case of HarsherInHindsight too.
* In ''Series/PoliceSquad'', one of the [[DeadStarWalking doomed guest stars]] was to have been Creator/JohnBelushi drowning with CementShoes on. This was filmed but never used owing to Belushi's RealLife death.
* ''[[Series/{{POV}} P.O.V.]]'': A damaging controversy over explicit content in ''Tongues Untied'', a documentary about what it's like to be black and gay which had been broadcast during the 1991 season, caused PBS to pull a scheduled national broadcast of ''Stop the Church'', a documentary about an AIDS protest critical of the Catholic Church, which was supposed to be shown as part of ''P.O.V.'' on August 27. The documentary would ultimately be shown by individual stations the next month.
* ''Series/PowerRangersNinjaStorm'' had an episode in the queue about a HatePlague MonsterOfTheWeek trying to start UsefulNotes/WorldWarIII by infecting everyone at a peace conference -- then UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror got rolling. The episode was pulled, and heavily edited to be about a city council meeting trying to increase energy efficiency, and aired later - ''way'' later. This means (1) there's a quest to acquire the ancient and powerful Turtle Mace some 20 episodes after it originally debuted by being used as if it had always been there, (2) apparently everyone except the first three Rangers had the day off, and (3) that is the most ethnically diverse city council ''ever.''
* ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'':
** Not long after Katrina, a re-run was aired during which they gave away a trip to Mardi Gras. The prize package included a boat. CBS was quick on the draw; the re-aired episode was only shown west of the Rockies.
** The show delayed the taping of its episodes after host Creator/DrewCarey's ex-wife Amie Harwick died after falling from a balcony.
* Marvel was forced to pull a planned promotion for ''Series/ThePunisher'' from New York Comic-Con 2017 after a mass shooting took place in Las Vegas, Nevada less than a week earlier.
* Two episodes of ''Series/RedDwarf'' (specifically "[[Recap/{{Red Dwarf Season IV Dimension Jump}} Dimension Jump]]" and "[[Recap/{{Red Dwarf Season IV Meltdown}} Meltdown]]") were shunted to the end of Series 4 of the series, because when they were due to air the Persian Gulf War was on, the former for fear that the character of Ace Rimmer would glamorize combat too much (however farcically), and "Meltdown" for its anti-war slant featuring the slaughter of hundreds of (robotic celebrity-wax) soldiers.
** The repeat of "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVIRimmerworld Rimmerworld]]" was also pushed back after the Dunblane massacre and Cat's quote (when following Rimmer's escape pod), "Form an orderly queue behind the gunsight".
* ''Rudy Coby: The Coolest Magician on Earth'' was going to refer to the cardboard bomb at the end as the "Bomb of Death", but due to the Oklahoma city bombing that had just happened, they said "DoomsdayDevice of Death" instead.
* Creator/TeenNick temporarily pulled repeats of ''Series/SamAndCat'' after the Manchester bombing at an Ariana Grande concert on May 22, 2017.
* Former ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' cast member and then-Senator Al Franken, who had been accused of sexual misconduct, had his appearance removed from a Creator/DavidLetterman tribute broadcast by Creator/{{PBS}} in November 2017 as a gesture of sensitivity to the growing [=#MeToo=] movement.[[note]]Ironically, Letterman has also been at the center of a sex scandal due to his affairs with female staff on his show.[[/note]], That Charlie Rose, a PBS regular up to that point, had only ''hours'' earlier been kicked off the air by sexual misconduct allegations of his own only made the removal of Franken's performance during the tribute look more justified, even if the timing was coincidental (the decision to remove Franken's appearance had been made well before the allegations against Rose came out).
* During the 2001 anthrax scare to spread the disease via mail, the episode of ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' where Susan died from licking toxic envelope glue was temporarily removed.
** Interestingly, the FBI concluded that the main culprit in those mail attacks was a disgruntled U.S. Army biodefense researcher who was angry that girls from nearby colleges wouldn't date him, and set the entire operation up as an elaborate revenge/murder-suicide plot. HarsherInHindsight?
* For ''Series/ShakeItUp'', the premiere of the second season was supposed to be a 1-hour special to air on September 18, 2011, but the 1-hour episode was postponed due to a terrifying plane crash that happened that weekend at the Reno Air Show in Nevada (and the episode featured [=CeCe=] and Rocky flying on an airplane). However, it was replaced with a new episode that night and has been scheduled to air in early October.
* WETA and WNET, two Creator/{{PBS}} affiliates, reran the ''Series/ShiningTimeStation'' episode "The Mayor Runs For Re-Election", which guest starred a Richard Nixon impersonator named Richard Dixon, on April 27th, 1994, the day that Nixon's ''funeral'' took place. While the affiliates might have seen this as a tribute to him, 5 parents complained to the former station and 20 parents complained to the latter station. They both had to issue apologies the following day. This incident would cause the episode [[BannedEpisode to be banned]].
* USA Network [[http://www.avclub.com/article/usa-realizes-its-probably-not-good-time-debut-its--239421 pushed the premiere]] of ''Series/{{Shooter}}'' from July 19, 2016 to July 26, after a sniper murdered five policemen at an anti-police brutality protest in Dallas, TX on July 7. That the protagonist of the show was an Army veteran, as was said gunman, '''and''' an ex-sniper didn't help its case, nor did the premise that he's been framed for assassinating the U.S. President. That last point was one reason it was bumped '''even further''' back [[http://www.avclub.com/article/usa-bumps-shooter-premiere-fall-239734 to that fall]] (the other was a similar Baton Rouge, LA shooting on July 17) -- in the midst of the nasty, chaotic presidential election pitting Donald Trump against Hillary Clinton and fears over its outcome no matter who won.
* ''Series/ShortlandStreet'': A scene from an early October 2009 episode involving a character returning from Samoa and boasting of sunshine and drinking on the beach had to be re-shot in the wake of the Samoan earthquake and tsunami.
** Downplayed with the 20th anniversary feature-length episode, which featured a helicopter crash. A fatal helicopter crash occurred in the South Island just hours before the episode was due to air; pulling the episode would have caused huge disruption so the show went to air as planned with an added ContentWarning.
* ''Series/SilentWitness'' had to postpone two episodes (about Pakistani gangs forcing underage girls into prostitution) of series fifteen, due to similarities to a high-profile case in the news.
* The Creator/Channel4 series ''Smuggled'' [[https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/oct/23/channel-4-postpones-smuggled-broadcast-after-bodies-found-in-lorry had its premiere postponed]] after 39 smuggled migrants were found dead in a lorry in Essex. The series was based around British nationals trying to smuggle their way into Britain to test its security.
* The BBC downplayed this in 2005 when the fourth series of ''Series/{{Spooks}}'' started - the opening two episodes revolved around a series of bombings in central London, barely two months after the July 7 bombings. The similarities between the episodes' plot and the real life bombings were sufficient enough to cause the Head of Drama and BBC One controller to agonise over whether to drop the episodes - both episodes went out unedited, but with warnings that they featured scenes that some viewers might have found disturbing.
* An in-universe example in ''Series/Studio60OnTheSunsetStrip'': The live comedy show was to feature a sketch about an incompetent robber taking hostages. Then, just as the show began, the producers learn about a similar event on the news, in which some of the hostages had died. The show quickly cancels the sketch before it airs, and proceeds with the next sketch. The writers come up with a new sketch to fill the time at the end of the show.
* The ''Series/{{Supergirl|2015}}'' episode "[[Recap/Supergirl2015S1E4HowDoesSheDoIt How Does She Do It?]]" was postponed due to the plot involving Supergirl stopping a bunch of bombs from going off around National City. The episode was slated to air right after the November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris, leading to it being replaced with the episode that introduced Livewire.
* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' has been hit with this at least a couple of times.
** ''Series/ChourikiSentaiOhranger'': The show's entire {{d|arkerAndEdgier}}irection suffered from this, as the season had the unfortunate luck to come right between the Great Hanshin Earthquake and the 1995 Aum Shinrikyo sarin gas attacks. Some of the original premise of the story (involving superpowers and ancient civilizations) was considered to be too close to claims made by Aum Shinrikyo's leader about himself; and Toei thought that with all the recent tragedies in the news, viewers wouldn't feel like watching an intense and dramatic show. Ohranger was then {{ReTool}}ed into something much more [[LighterAndSofter light-hearted]]. Because of resulting inconsistencies in tone between the first few episodes (that aired before the subway attacks) and the rest of the show, ratings suffered. It was thought to be the FranchiseKiller for quite a time until it was revealed that ''Ohranger'' toy sales had reached record highs at the time, thus saving it from doom.
** ''Series/EngineSentaiGoOnger'': Shortly after the debut of the [[SixthRanger Go-on Wings]], whose primary weapons are the high-tech Rocket Daggers, the Akihabara massacre occurred, where a man stabbed at least a dozen people using a dagger. Afterwards, the toy versions were renamed "Rocket Boosters" and the Wings avoided [[CallingYourAttacks calling their attacks]] for a while.
* ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'': The first episode featured a terminator trying to kill John in a high school, which coincided with the Virginia Tech event. The scene was kept on, but scenes featuring the students' reactions as if to a school shooting were removed.
* ''Series/TerraceHouse''[='s=] 2020 season was cancelled after cast member Hana Kimura's suicide.
* Defied by ''Series/TopGear'' when an episode in which the trio demonstrate the dangers of trying to drive across a level crossing while the gates are coming down by parking a car on some test track and crashing a train into it aired just two days after [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grayrigg_derailment a fatal train wreck]]. Not everyone was happy about this, but the producers pointed out that they'd already had to delay the segment several times due to fatal train accidents ''caused by people being careless around level crossings'', which were so prevalent that there was never going to be a time to air it that wouldn't be insensitive to ''someone''.
* In some kind of awkward aversion, the third season of ''Series/UnitedStatesOfTara'' had in one of its plotlines Kate wanting to teach English in Japan. She wants to go to Tokyo, however, an earthquake hits the country making her change her plans. The episode aired April 11, 2011, exactly one month after the fatal [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_T%C5%8Dhoku_earthquake_and_tsunami earthquake and tsunami in the Tohoku region]]. The episodes were written and produced in late 2010, and screenwriter Diablo Cody [[http://honesttoblr.tumblr.com/post/4528287684/apology-to-tara-viewers-re-tonights-episode apologized]] on Tumblr beforehand.
* ''Series/WheelOfFortune'' has several examples, mostly due to certain things happening between the tape date and air date:
** A rather unfortunate example was a 1992 episode that had VANNA'S PREGNANT as a puzzle (in reference to hostess Vanna White). She miscarried not long after it taped, so the only choice they had was to edit out the entire round, and replace it with a segment about San Francisco (where they were taping at the time).
** In May 2001, they had ROBERT BLAKE AS [[Series/{{Baretta}} BARETTA]] as a puzzle on an episode that aired shortly after he was accused of shooting his wife. They had to dub in a clip of host Pat Sajak explaining the situation.
** ''Wheel'' was taping on location in New Orleans right before Hurricane Katrina hit. They got two weeks done, and had to cancel a third (although all of the contestants slated for that third week eventually did get to play). Two episodes from the first taped week had entire puzzles edited out because it was thought that their answers might be insensitive to hurricane victims. In their place, viewers saw clips of Pat and Vanna promoting Katrina relief funds.
** In November 2006, they used THE CROCODILE HUNTER on an episode that ended up airing right after Steve Irwin died. Once again, a clip was dubbed in of Pat explaining the situation.
** On a lighter note, something similar occurred when THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH CONAN O'BRIEN came up just after O'Brien left the show in the wake of the ''Jay Leno Show'' debacle, which ended with Leno returning to his old stomping grounds.
** On December 2, 2013, they used THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS as a puzzle just two days after Paul Walker died. Although the events were not mentioned in-show, the staff did make note of the unfortunate circumstances via Website/{{Facebook}}, as did Sajak via Website/{{Twitter}}.
** A week or two of episodes themed around Texas were filmed before Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Each of them was preceded by a short clip of Pat and Vanna explaining this.
** Similarly, another episode (not during the weeks above) had a contestant win a trip to the "untouched beauty" of Puerto Rico, before Hurricane Maria and the government's... [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment lackluster response]]. A message at the bottom of the screen explained this.


!!!'''TV Movies and Screenings:'''
* A showing of ''Film/ChildsPlay3'' was pulled from British TV screens in the fallout from the James Bulger murder. The murderers (children themselves) had reportedly watched it prior to committing the crime, and their actions bore some similarities to those of Chuckie in the film. This led to a period of demonization of the ''Child's Play'' series in the media, reacting as though the films actively ''encouraged'' murder.
* In the wake of the Columbine massacre, Lifetime removed a scheduled airing of ''Death of a Cheerleader'', a TV movie about an outcast who murders a popular girl for not wanting to be friends with her.

----

* Allegedly, one of the reasons the planned [[Creator/TheCW CW]] adaptation of ''Film/BattleRoyale'' fell apart was the spate of high profile mass shootings involving child or teen victims that occurred after 2011 (when the discussions first began). Don't expect a show about high schoolers being kidnapped and forced to fight to the death with weapons to air in America anytime soon.

* An unusual variant (Inversion?): Netflix was slated to take down ''Series/PartsUnknown'' from streaming in June 2018. Sadly, that month Anthony Bourdain [[AuthorExistenceFailure went to the Great Unknown himself]], and the show's popularity [[DeadArtistsAreBetter skyrocketed]] on the platform. After people noticed it was about to be removed, Netflix announced they had signed a deal to keep the show available "for months to come".

All examples regarding the 9/11 attacks still [[TooSoon/SeptemberEleventh go on that page]].

** The death of [[spoiler:the Sheriff of Nottingham]] in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E3RobotOfSherwood Robot of Sherwood]]" (Series 8) had to be altered at the last minute, from [[spoiler:the Sheriff]] being beheaded, which would've outed him as a robot, to being pushed into a vat of molten gold. (This also led to a Missy-in-the-Nethersphere scene involving said character getting cut.) This change was due to the recent beheadings of American journalists James Foley and Steven Stoloff by the Muslim extremist militia ISIS; as the show was meant as one of the season's {{Breather Episode}}s, the change was probably for the best.

* Four days after the Boston Marathon bombing, a Creator/MyNetworkTV rerun of the ''Series/{{Monk}}'' episode"Mr. Monk and the Marathon Man", which features a murderer use an alibi of being in the San Francisco Marathon at the time of the murder of his girlfriend, was quietly replaced with another episode without notice; it aired the next week.
* The episode of ''Series/MrBean'' where he ends up looking after a baby had its premiere delayed by a few months due to the kidnap and murder of James Bulger.

* The ''asadora'' (morning drama) series ''Series/{{Oshin}}'' was rejected by several Japanese TV stations before NHK decided to air it, according to its script writer Sugako Hashida, this trope was the reason why:

* Franchise/SuperSentai has been hit with this at least a couple of times.

** An interesting example arose with the last of the fan live watches linked to the Doctor Who Lockdown event during the COVID-19 pandemic: [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E11WorldEnoughAndTime "World Enough and Time"]] and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E12TheDoctorFalls "The Doctor Falls"]] were to be screened June 6th, but the UnfortunateImplications of running a story involving a black companion being shot and mutilated airing at a time when the top international headline was worldwide Black Lives Matter/police brutality protests (especially given that fans were encouraged to tweet reactions, etc. to it on Twitter, which could have become ugly) [[https://twitter.com/Emily_Rosina/status/1268270120981446665 led to it being cancelled]]. The day it would have ran the original short [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOJ0OU6Odh4 "The Best of Days"]], a canon epilogue to the story, was screened instead.

** An interesting example arose with a fan live watch linked to the Doctor Who Lockdown event during the COVID-19 pandemic: [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E11WorldEnoughAndTime "World Enough and Time"]] and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E12TheDoctorFalls "The Doctor Falls"]] were to be screened June 6th, but the UnfortunateImplications of a story involving a black companion being shot and mutilated airing at a time when the top international headline was worldwide Black Lives Matter/police brutality protests led to it being postponed.

* ''Series/JackandBobby had a flash-forward scene removed from an episode before it's airing after the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster because it mentioned the shuttle by name.

!!!'''Award Shows:'''
* At the beginning of the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5JLDRphSpI&feature=player_embedded 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards]] on August 29, 2010, host Jimmy Fallon is playing an acoustic guitar. He jokingly says "NBC asked me, the host of ''Late Night'', to come to Los Angeles to host a different show. What could possibly go wrong?" Cameras panned to Creator/ConanOBrien, the previous host of ''Late Night'', then had a brief seven-month stint as ''Series/TheTonightShow'' host before leaving the network (because NBC wanted Jay Leno back in his old timeslot of 11:35 P.M. EDT). "Too soon?" Jimmy Fallon asks.

!!!'''Creators:'''
* Comedian Creator/BillMaher received some criticism when he dressed as Steve Irwin (with the stingray in his heart) on the first Halloween after his death. Bill himself referenced this trope in a few episodes of his show, where he made jokes about Mohandas Gandhi and Amelia Earhart.

* Intentionally used in ''Series/ThirtyRock'' episode "Into the Crevasse", not quite three months after Music/MichaelJackson's death.
-->'''Jenna:''' I don't know if you know this, but werewolves only come out at night.\\
'''Liz:''' Yeah, I think I remember that from the "Music/{{Thriller}}" video.\\
'''Tracy:''' Too soon!

* Two episodes of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' ("[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E18Earshot Earshot]]" and "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E21GraduationDayPart1 Graduation]] [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E22GraduationDayPart2 Day]]") were delayed for several months following the Columbine shootings. One episode featured a student attempting suicide on campus, the other ended with the entire graduating class coming to graduation armed and fighting against a horde of vampires that ended with part of the school being blown up. Two particular instances stand out:
** First:
--->'''Xander''': Who hasn't idly thought about taking out the whole place with a semi-automatic?\\
(looks from everyone)\\
'''Xander''': What? I said ''idly''.
** Second:
--->'''Xander''': I'm still having trouble with the idea that one of us is just gonna gun everybody down for no reason.\\
'''Cordelia''': Yeah, 'cause that never happens in American high schools.\\
'''Oz''': It's bordering on trendy at this point.
** That Willow was amused by the joke ''did not help.''

* In-universe example from ''Series/{{Community}}'':
** Episode [[Recap/CommunityS1E19BeginnerPottery Beginner Pottery]]: The pottery teacher (played by Tony Hale [[note]]Buster Bluth on ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment''[[/note]]) has a rule in his class stating that no one is allowed to imitate the pottery wheel love scene from the movie ''Ghost''. He drives the point home by pointing to a poster of Creator/PatrickSwayze with an "X" over it. He then quietly tells the shocked students "I had it made before he died so it's not in bad taste."
** "[[Recap/CommunityS5E06AnalysisOfCorkBasedNetworking Analysis of Cork Based Networking]]": Chang was suggesting a bear theme for the midterm party (with the line "Bear Down for Midterms"), only for Jeff, Shirley, Duncan and Chang to be told by the soda delivery person that a bear broke loose at a birthday party and mauled guests in Wisconsin the morning that episode happened.

* Parodied in ''Series/{{Frasier}}''; much to the Crane brothers' horror, their favorite restaurant burns down as a result of "the worst centerpiece disaster in Seattle's history" days before the 2000 millennium celebrations. To lighten the mood, Niles cracks a joke, only for Frasier to soberly tell him that it's too soon for jokes.
** There's another ''Frasier'' episode where immediately before Frasier starts giving a speech the audience is informed that a beloved local clergyman is missing following a boating accident. The other characters try -- in vain -- to warn Frasier before he can tell the joke about a rabbi, a minister, and a priest on board the ''Titanic''.

** When the audience reacted to his joke about Princess Diana with indrawn breath, Ian Hislop sarcastically asked "What? Too soon?" Diana's death had been well over ten years earlier.

* ''Series/HawaiiFive0'' (2010 reboot): invoked in-show in "He Kane Hewa' Ole":
-->'''[=McGarrett=]:''' Okay, what about our John Doe #2?\\
'''Danno:''' You mean Jack?\\
'''[=McGarrett=]:''' You got an I.D.?\\
'''Danno:''' No Ja - his head was in a box. Jack.\\
'''Chin Ho:''' [[DudeNotFunny That ain't right, bro.]]\\
'''Danno:''' Too soon?\\
'''[=McGarrett=]:''' Little bit.

%%* The most recent series of ''Series/TheInspectorLynleyMysteries'' has been delayed (on pretty short notice) due to the ongoing disappearance of Madeline [=McCann=]. Administrivia/ExamplesAreNotRecent.

* ''Series/MadMen'' deliberately invoked this in-series, with an ad campaign that would've featured overhead views of a convertible with two couples riding in it, under development at the time of the assassination of UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy.
** And the episode where Pete's [[spoiler:father dies]] because of the American Airlines Flight 1 crashing. Sterling Cooper pulls all of the ads for Tomahawk airlines.
** And they also developed ads for Playtex rather daringly using the same model to play both Jackie Kennedy and Creator/MarilynMonroe (ie. the same bra lets you be MyGirlIsASlut and MyGirlIsNotASlut for your man). Playtex loved it, but declined because it didn't quite fit their image. A few days later, Marilyn dies and Peggy says, "Well, it's a good thing Playtex didn't buy the ad; we would have had to pull it." Don's again impressed because she was the only woman in the office not weeping for Marilyn ''and'' was the only one to make that business connection.
** In season 6 Peggy has to rework a campaign for headphones since the slogan "Give us your ears" might come off wrong in light of the reveal that some US soldiers in Vietnam have been collecting ears of the people they killed.

* ''Series/MockTheWeek'' has fallen afoul of this a few times. One lampshaded DoubleStandard has UsefulNotes/SaddamHussein's execution (only weeks prior) ''not'' be too soon for the audiences, but [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI the soldiers who died at the Somme]] apparently ''was''.
-->'''Dara:''' [[SarcasmMode What, too soon?]]
** You can ''hear'' the audience's discomfort at the end of [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=26VP5SY-dZw this]] clip from July 2008.
--->'''Creator/FrankieBoyle:''' What's that, [[Film/TheDarkKnight Joker?]] You'll be back? Somehow, I don't think you will be.

* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' in-universe example, right after Joel's final goodbye to the 'bots:
-->'''Crow''': Well, race you to the Mallow Cups! I found out where he hides them.\\
'''Servo''': Crow, too soon!
** Also consciously averted when they riffed on the movie ''Film/OverdrawnAtTheMemoryBank'' just a few years after its star Creator/RaulJulia died. In ''The Amazing Colossal Episode Guide'' writer/actress Mary Jo Pehl said they tried to make it clear that their target was the poorly-written movie and characters and not Julia -- as evidenced by her character (MadScientist Pearl Forrester) {{sincer|ityMode}}ely calling him "a very fine actor" in the episode.

* ''Series/TheOfficeUS'' has a scene where regional manager Michael Scott discusses which topics are off-topic for comedy, saying that the Lincoln assassination "just recently became funny."

** Happens InUniverse during one of the "Celebrity Jeopardy" sketches when a Video Daily Double for the category "Potent Potables" (the only time a clue from this category is shown) features Creator/BillCosby -- shortly after the sex scandal broke wide open. Alex Trebek quickly cuts it short, and even ''[[{{Jerkass}} Sean Connery]]'' [[EveryoneHasStandards tells him that they crossed the line]].
--->'''Bill Cosby:''' ''(on video)'' Okay, now this potent potable is a real--\\
'''Alex Trebek:''' Oh, [[RapidFireNo no no no no no no no]]. I'm very sorry. We filmed this in June.\\
'''Sean Connery:''' ''(laughing)'' That was ''bad'', Trebek!

* Used InUniverse in an episode of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': after Fate has a guy run over by a bus, Dean notices that the back of the bus holds an ad for the same guy's legal firm, where he offers representation for wrongful death and injury. When he points it out, Sam isn't impressed.
-->'''Dean:''' Too soon?\\
'''Sam:''' Yeah, Dean, I'm pretty sure six seconds is too soon.

* Used in ''Series/{{Terriers}}'', when Hank and his tech buddies start fearing that the BigBad might be gearing up to killing a woman in front of their hidden camera:
-->"Come on. What can they do to her? They're in a hotel full of people!"\\
"Yeah. Tell that to Bobby Kennedy, right? ({{Beat}}) Really? ''That's'' too soon?"
* Played with (lampshaded and mocked frequently by Creator/JayLeno during his time hosting ''Series/TheTonightShow''. He would occasionally make jokes about Abraham Lincoln's assassination, and when the audience groaned, ask "Too soon?", which would get laughter.

* An episode of the British ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway'' recorded in 1994, just after Richard Nixon's death, has the World's Worst "person to be president of the world during an intergalactic crisis."
-->'''Tony:''' Ladies and gentlemen, Richard Nix--oh dear.\\
'''Audience:''' ''(laughter followed by loud booing)''\\
'''Clive:''' Topical ''now'', it'll be great in six months' time when this goes out.\\
'''Tony:''' He'll still be dead!
* Parodied in an episode of ''Series/XPlay''. Adam Sessler makes a jab at a [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto GTA]] knock-off's controls stinking worse than [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI archduke Franz Ferdinand's rotting corpse]], to which he pauses before adding a "Too Soon?"

* ''Series/PowerRangersNinjaStorm'' had an episode in the queue about a HatePlague MonsterOfTheWeek trying to start UsefulNotes/WorldWarIII by infecting everyone at a peace conference -- then TheWarOnTerror got rolling. The episode was pulled, and heavily edited to be about a city council meeting trying to increase energy efficiency, and aired later - ''way'' later. This means (1) there's a quest to acquire the ancient and powerful Turtle Mace some 20 episodes after it originally debuted by being used as if it had always been there, (2) apparently everyone except the first three Rangers had the day off, and (3) that is the most ethnically diverse city council ''ever.''

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E7ThePyramidAtTheEndOfTheWorld "The Pyramid at the End of the World"]] (Series 10) aired within the week following the suicide bombing of an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, so a discussion the Doctor had with Nardole about what could cause TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt cut lines referencing terrorism, in particular the Doctor noting that "Terrorism discriminates" (as opposed to what turned out to be the real threat, [[spoiler:a bacterial plague]]).
** An interesting example arose with a fan live watch linked to the Doctor Who Lockdown event during the coronavirus lockdown of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E11WorldEnoughAndTime "World Enough and Time"]] and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E12TheDoctorFalls "The Doctor Falls"]] in that the proposed date of June 6th was called off due to the UnfortunateImplications of a black companion being shot and mutilated in a week where the dominant headline were global protests connected to Black Lives Matter and police brutality.

* Creator/ParamountNetwork indefinitely delayed the season 33 premiere of ''Series/{{Cops}}'', and later decided to cancel the show altogether, in the wake of the protests that resulted from the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers. It’s Creator/AAndE counterpart, ''Series/LivePD'', decided to temporarily stop airing new episodes for the same reason.

* ''Series/TerranceHouse''[='s=] 2020 season was cancelled after cast member Hana Kimura's suicide.

* Creator/ParamountNetwork indefinitely delayed the season 33 premiere of ''Series/{{Cops}}'' in the wake of the protests that resulted from the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers. It’s Creator/AAndE counterpart, ''Series/LivePD'', decided to temporarily stop airing new episodes for the same reason.

** An interesting example arose with a fan live watch linked to the Doctor Who Lockdown event during the coronavirus lockdown of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E11WorldEnoughAndTime]] and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E12TheDoctorFalls]] in that the proposed date of June 6th was called off due to the UnfortunateImplications of a black companion being shot and mutilated in a week where the dominant headline were global protests connected to Black Lives Matter and police brutality.