8 Sitcom Episodes That Have Aged Like Milk

What makes sitcoms so popular is mostly their light tone. Sitcoms are meant to be fun, entertaining, and most of them relatable, even if they have to exaggerate situations and more from time to time. Of course, most sitcoms have had more serious and even dark moments where they have addressed serious issues, either providing some lesson for the audience or just raising awareness.

However, this hasn’t always been intentional or done well. Some of the most popular and successful sitcoms haven’t been perfect from beginning to end, and have one or more episodes that it would be best to forget. Some episodes probably weren’t perceived as bad when they originally aired, but with time, their flaws and problems have become more and more evident, and so these episodes have aged quite badly.

“Diversity Day” - The Office

Season 1, Episode 2

As a result of Michael Scott’s (Steve Carell) imitation of a Chris Rock routine, the entire staff has to attend a diversity training seminar, though it’s mostly for Michael’s benefit. Michael then decides to hold his own diversity meeting, in which he hands index cards with a different race on them to every staff member, instructing them to treat others the way they would treat people of those races. Of course, it doesn’t go well, and the cherry on top is when Michael does a racist impression.

It’s not hard to see why “Diversity Day” is one of The Office’s most controversial episodes and one that keeps aging terribly. The episode relies on racial stereotypes and racist jokes, and though some have defended the episode as being satire and its humor being more like that of the original British version of the show, the truth is that the episode only gets worse with the passing of time.

“Mistaken Identity” - The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Season 1, Episode 6

In “Mistaken Identity”, while Philip and Vivian go to Palm Springs in Mrs. Furth’s helicopter, Will (Will Smith) and Carlton (Alfonso Ribeiro) are paid to drive Mrs. Furth’s Mercedes there. On their way, they are pulled over by a police officer who argues that they stole the car. Will and Carlton are eventually helped by Phillip and Vivian and are acquitted, but it prompts a conversation between them about racial profiling.

The problem with “Mistaken Identity” isn’t the topic of racial profiling but how the show handled it. The episode has been criticized for making it unnecessarily comedic, with a resolution that gives the wrong message, and has been labeled as “performative.” Perhaps the intention was good, but the execution has only gotten worse over time.

“Not Without My Nanny” - The Nanny

Season 5, Episode 14

“Not Without My Nanny” sees Fran (Fran Drescher) accompanying Grace to the Middle East to visit her pen pal, Billy, who is the son of the Sultan of Koorestan. There, Fran feels homesick and uneasy as she had an argument with Maxwell before leaving, but, to her surprise, the Sultan is strangely similar in appearance to Maxwell. Meanwhile, at home, Maxwell misses Fran and travels to Koorestan, where the Sultan is now keeping Fran captive.

“Not Without My Nanny” is packed with offensive Middle Eastern stereotypes, is culturally insensitive, and has Charles Shaughnessy with “brownface” as he plays both Maxwell and the Sultan. This also made way for an exaggerated portrayal of the Sultan, which adds to the stereotypes and insensitivity of the episode.

“The Cigar Store Indian” - Seinfeld

Season 5, Episode 10

A lot has been said about “The Puerto Rican Day”, which is definitely a controversial episode done in poor taste and that will continue to age badly, but it isn’t the only Seinfeld episode that will have that fate. In “The Cigar Store Indian”, Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) wants to give an apology gift to Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) while also looking to impress her newly single friend Winona. Jerry ends up giving Elaine a cigar store Indian, along with an apology card with a peace pipe, and tribal chants and dances with the figure.

Jerry’s actions offend Winona, as she’s Native American. Like other entries on this list, it’s not hard to see why “The Cigar Store Indian” has aged terribly, starting with the figure itself, which is an offensive caricature of Native Americans. It all goes downhill from there, with various jokes in very poor taste, dated racial slang, and an overall offensive storyline.

“Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra” - How I Met Your Mother

Season 9, Episode 14

In “Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra”, Marshall (Jason Segel) prepares to give the next slap to Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) before his wedding, but he goes into detail about the extensive training he went through. Marshall traveled to Shanghai for a year to train and learn the technique of the “Slap of a Million Exploding Suns.” Once there, he’s trained by Red Bird, White Flower, and the Calligrapher, who look like Robin, Lily, and Ted, respectively – and that’s where the episode’s problem lies.

Cobie Smulders, Alyson Hannigan, and Josh Radnor wore stereotypical Chinese clothes and had exaggerated accents, being insensitive and offensive portrayals of Asian characters. Although the entire episode’s story is widely deemed as unnecessary and just a “filler”, having white actors playing Asian characters, and especially in the way the show did, was the most unnecessary element of the episode.

“The One With the Rumor” - Friends

Season 8, Episode 9

Despite being one of the most popular and beloved sitcoms ever, Friends has various episodes that haven’t aged well. For this list, the chosen one is “The One With the Rumor”, which is also one of Friends’ Thanksgiving episodes. In it, Monica invites an old high school friend of hers and Ross, Will (Brad Pitt), but what she doesn’t know is that Will and Ross used to have an “I Hate Rachel” club in high school.

Will and Ross reveal that they started a rumor back then about Rachel being a hermaphrodite, with Rachel understandably feeling betrayed by Ross. What has made this episode age terribly is the rumor itself, as it’s a tasteless, transphobic, and intersexphobic “joke.” On top of that, the episode has moments of fat-shaming with Monica and Will, both of whom lost a significant amount of weight since high school, and whose past size is used for jokes throughout the episode.

“Burning Man” - Malcolm in the Middle

Season 7, Episode 1

“Burning Man” sees Malcolm (Frankie Muniz) and his family going to the title festival after he and Reese failed at trying to hitchhike there. Once at the festival, Reese and Lois quickly blend in, while Hal is scared by attendants and Dewey has to do all the chores around the RV. Meanwhile, Malcolm meets a healer named Anita (Rosanna Arquette), with whom he has sex for the first time in his life. The thing here is, that Anita is a lot older than Malcolm.

Malcolm is 17 at the time, and Anita is an adult woman, so there’s a clear power imbalance that, in retrospective, has been labeled as “grooming.” Many viewers have pointed out that, had the genders been reversed, the episode would have been predatory and highly controversial, and, instead, it’s played as a “teenage boy fantasy”, even though it’s still wrong.

“The Indian Show” - I Love Lucy

Season 2, Episode 24

I Love Lucy is one of the most influential sitcoms of all time, but it definitely hasn’t aged well. An important example of this is the episode “The Indian Show”, in which Ricky plans a “Native American” musical number for the nightclub, while assuming Lucy will be ok staying at home with their baby. Lucy being Lucy, she finds a way to sneak into the performance, with her baby son strapped to her back.

Unsurprisingly, “The Indian Show” relies on offensive tropes and Native American stereotypes, making fun of the culture and exaggerating various elements. “The Indian Show” is an uncomfortable episode to watch nowadays, and proves that even the most popular and influential TV shows aren’t perfect.