Big Banned 'Theory': Shows and Movies You Won't Believe China Has Outlawed

Political ties between America and China can be tense, but we never suspected Sheldon Cooper to be the cause.

The Chinese government announced this week that they would be adding four new American shows to the list of banned shows in the country: "The Big Bang Theory," "NCIS," "The Good Wife" and "The Practice."

In particular, the ban is reaching out to streaming sites like Youku and Tencent (think YouTube but with more TV shows and other copyrighted content) in an effort to prevent them from hosting the shows on their sites.

What possible problem could the Chinese government have with Sheldon and the rest of the gang, you ask? Well, China has long been sensitive about the foreign content it shows on its broadcast networks, in particular shows that might criticize the Chinese government. Recently, episodes of "The Blacklist" were banned for their critique of China, so presumably these CBS shows have done the same at some point.

However, there are many reasons why a show might not be accepted by the Chinese government. In the past, China has put out guidelines to discourage filmmakers from using time travel elements in their TV shows and movies, as they consider time travel to be disrespectful to history. As such, "Back to the Future" is banned in China.

Other banned movies in the country include "The Departed," which makes a mention of the Chinese government considering a nuclear attack on Taiwan, and "Avatar," which was a concern because of themes of forced removal and was thought to have the potential to "incite violence."

Interestingly, though, there are other popular shows much more critical of China than, say, "The Big Bang Theory" that are still allowed in the country. One of the big ones is "House of Cards," which spends almost all of the second season focused on corruption in the Chinese government.

However, some theorize that since "House of Cards" shows the United States government as even more corrupt, China allows it to air nonetheless.