A panel discussion on the “underground press” on Newsfront, a nightly news program, erupted into chaos when, according to The New York Times, approximately “20 hippies broke into the studios of Channel 13″ and disrupted the live broadcast as they “shouted at the panelists and at one another, often using obscenities, which were heard over the air.” Astronaut John Glenn, a guest on the show, said of the chaos, “And they say there is violence on commercial television.” Thirteen didn’t stop broadcasting their signal (the broadcast was live), giving the small band of protesters an unedited megaphone to millions of New Yorkers.

In 1977, the BBCTV adaptation of the Robert Graves novels aired on Masterpiece Theater included scenes of orgies, nymphomania, adultery and incest. In their preview, The New York Times noted that the airing would “test the boundaries of public broadcasting.” Host Alistair Cooke introduced the series, and warned viewers of the sexual content. Reportedly, no PBS stations refused to carry the program.

Watch a clip here.

How many programs aired only due to an act of Congress? Let Poland be Poland was produced by the federal government’s International Communication Agency (known now as the U.S. Information Agency) and by law, could not be distributed to U.S. networks. Congress, however, passed an exemption for this program, which aimed to build support for the Polish solidarity movement. The program was labeled by many as U.S. propaganda, prompting a number of PBS stations and some international networks not to air it, though Thirteen did.

Time Magazine wrote about it.

When beloved Sesame Street star Will Lee, who portrayed Mr. Hooper, passed away in December of 1982, the show faced the task of presenting death to young viewers. Sesame Street addressed the issue head on, used the word “death” and explained that it meant Mr. Hooper would never come back.

Watch the emotional scene here.

A documentary about the Palestinians aired on Thirteen despite objections from thousands of viewers (and protests outside of Thirteen’s offices) about the film’s pro-Palestinian point of view. In response, PBS aired wraparound programming, including Israeli views on the Intifada and a roundtable discussion following the film. After the program aired, the filmmaker was accused of accepting money to produce the film from Arab sources. PBS guidelines bar financing of documentaries by those with a vested interest in the views expressed in the films.

Read the The New York Times’ review.

In 1991, explicit language and homosexual subject matter caused many public television stations not to air this award-winning documentary about gay black men, broadcast as part of the P.O.V. series. Thirteen aired the unedited version numerous times and received both complaints and support for leaving the decision to view the program in the hands of viewers themselves.

P.O.V.’s series producer reminisces.

Leading up to the program’s air date, accolades were heaped upon the inspiring story of all-black army units who helped liberate the Buchenwald and Dachau concentration camps. The program was praised for reporting a story ‘not found in standard historical accounts.’ Unfortunately, it’s likely the reason this impressive story had not been reported before was that certain events the film described were false. Despite the criticism, the program received an Oscar nomination for best Documentary Feature.

The NY Times discussed the aftermath.

Amid the controversy surrounding the homosexual themes, nudity, and illicit drug use in the miniseries based on Armistead Maupin’s books, PBS offered stations an edited version in which male and female body parts were obscured by pixilation. Despite the ratings success, PBS announced it would not participate in the television production of the miniseries’ sequel, More Tales of the City, and drew criticism, including from The New York Times’ op-ed page, where then PBS President Ervin Duggan was accused of “acting as a censor to appease the fundamentalism and homophobia of family-values kooks.”

After being appointed Chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in September 2003, Ken Tomlinson was soon accused of pushing a conservative agenda and threatening PBS’ editorial independence. Concerned the PBS program NOW with Bill Moyers had “liberal” leanings, Tomlinson appointed an outside consultant to monitor the program. Moyers resigned in 2005 after more than three decades as a PBS mainstay, citing political pressure to alter the content of his program. Moyers returned to host Bill Moyers Journal in 2007 after Tomlinson resigned. David Brancaccio took over as host of NOW on PBS.

Facing strong opposition, including that of Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, PBS decided not to distribute a scheduled episode of the children’s program Buster, where, on a trip Vermont, the title character meets children with lesbian parents. Despite the PBS decision not to distribute the episode, a number of member stations, including Thirteen, aired it.

The New York Times weighed in.

PBS feared huge FCC fines for airing Ken Burns’ The War, which contained explicit language. In response, the documentary was offered to affiliates in two versions: One that included profanity generally prohibited by FCC regulations (including explanations of the salty acronyms FUBAR and SNAFU) and one without profanity. Thirteen risked (and ultimately avoided) any fines and aired the unedited version.

Get more series info.

Any time you mention the words “Darwin” and “evolution,” you’re bound to hear some criticism. This episode of NOVA focused on a 2005 trial in a small Pennsylvania town where a school board member attempted to introduce a text teaching intelligent design into the science curriculum. When the board voted against the measure and instead, required biology teachers to read a prepared statement citing flaws in Darwin’s theories, lawsuits emerged. When the program aired, as it did on Thirteen, it was widely criticized by the religious right as being too pro-Darwin/evolution.

Watch the full program online.