NBC Pulls Next Week's 'Hannibal' After Boston Bombings
The network decides to reschedule disturbing episode in wake of tragedy.
Because of this week's Boston Marathon bombing and subsequent manhunt, NBC has decided to pull next week's episode of "Hannibal" out of concern over its disturbing content.
Episode 4 of the serial-killer drama, which was slated to air next Thursday, featured Molly Shannon's character brainwashing children to murder other kids. It will not be rescheduled; instead, "Hannibal" will skip it entirely and move on to Episode 5. NBC notes that continuity will not be affected.
[Related: Latest Coverage of the Boston Marathon Explosions]
Series creator Bryan Fuller told Variety that he did not want audience members to have a "negative experience" watching the show. And after the Boston bombings and December's Sandy Hook school shooting, he and the network felt it was appropriate to pull the episode.
"With this episode, it wasn't about the graphic imagery or violence," he said. "It was the associations that came with the subject matter that I felt would inhibit the enjoyment of the overall episode. … It was my own sensitivity."
[Related: 'Hannibal' vs. 'Silence of the Lambs': What's Different?]
"Hannibal" isn't the only show that pulled or rescheduled an episode due to the violent and tragic events of the past week. ABC pushed back Monday's bomb-themed episode of "Castle" to April 29 (and may further delay it).
Fox removed a March "Family Guy" episode from Fox.com and Hulu when two unrelated clips were used in a mashup video that made it seem as if the episode depicted deadly explosions at the Boston race. Creator Seth MacFarlane called the edited video "abhorrent."
