WATCH: Busy Philipps On Why NBC Banned That Episode of 'Freaks And Geeks'

The late '90s comedy "Freaks and Geeks" has become a beloved cult hit, despite airing only 12 episodes before its cancellation. But before NBC pulled the trigger on the show, the network had already prevented an early episode from airing. Star Busy Philipps joined HuffPost Live to discuss the show and the banned episode.

"'Freaks and Geeks' aired in 1999 and 2000, and at the time, 'Kim Kelly Is My Friend' was the third episode that was set to air, and it showed a very fairly realistic, albeit humorous, view of a girl that comes from a pretty tough household, where there's maybe some domestic violence happening -- not only from her mom, but her step-dad. There's some creepy undertones," Philipps explained to host Caitlyn Becker. "And at the time, NBC just felt like, for a show that was geared towards teenagers and young adults, it was inappropriate."

Philipps said that such depictions of abuse, as well as of violence and sex, have now become more commonplace on network television. "It's really such an indicator of how far we've come in such a short period of time, in terms of content on television and what's acceptable and what's not, and what's considered to be controversial."

She added, "Within five years, you had like people's butts on TV, like the language has changed -- what's appropriate to say, innuendo has changed, you can say all kinds of things now. Even at the time, I remember feeling like, 'that's weird but I get it.' But then 'Law & Order: SVU,' it's like little kids getting killed in the park -- whatever it is, it's just gone so far."

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"So that's why they didn't air the episode. And I know in retrospect, it seems totally bizarre and it doesn't make any sense, but at the time, in 1999, you have to remember too -- I just feel like we were a little bit more innocent."

Watch the full conversation on HuffPost Live.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.