22 Television History Once-Taboo Firsts

Compared to the television landscape of the mid-20th century, what we see today on network TV is a digital red light district. But it all had to start somewhere.

Lots of these landmarks are rebukes of petty network censorship practices that should have crumbled much earlier: the first times someone deigned to cuss, swear, or otherwise profane our sacred airwaves.

But many are important milestones in representation for marginalized communities... that should also have been achieved much earlier.