''Taboo'' is a

documentary television series Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. *Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

that premiered in 2002 on the

National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television television network, network and flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel owned by the National Geograp ...

. The program is an educational look into "

taboo A taboo or tabu is a social group's ban, prohibition, or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, sacred, or allowed only for certain persons.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

" rituals and traditions practiced in some societies, yet forbidden and/or illegal in others. Each hour-long episode details a specific topic, such as marriage or initiation rituals, and explores how such topics are viewed throughout the world. ''Taboo'' generally focuses on the most misunderstood, despised, or disagreed-upon activities, jobs, and roles.

Episodes

National Geographic TV producers did not produce ''Taboo'' in seasons of fixed episode counts, thus the number of episodes in each production batch varies wildly. The production order does not necessarily match the order episodes were arranged into for DVD "season" boxsets. In total, 118 episodes have aired.

Season 1

# "

Food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...

" - Sep. 30, 2002 # "

Healers Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alte ...

" - Oct. 7, 2002 # "

Tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several Process of tatt ...

" - Oct. 14, 2002 # "

Voodoo Voodoo may refer to: Religions * African or West African Vodun, practiced by Gbe-speaking ethnic groups * African diaspora religions, a list of related religions sometimes called Vodou/Voodoo ** Candomblé Jejé, also known as Brazilian Vodu ...

" - Oct. 21, 2002 # "

Witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

" - Oct. 28, 2002 # "

Marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

" - Nov. 4, 2002 # "

Drugs A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalat ...

" - Nov. 11, 2002 # "

Evil Spirits A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, anime, ...

" - Nov. 18, 2002 # "

Sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

" - Dec. 2, 2002 # "

Death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

" - Dec. 9, 2002 # "Test of Faith" - Dec. 23, 2002 # "

Blood Sports A blood sport or bloodsport is a category of sport or entertainment that involves bloodshed. Common examples of the former include combat sports such as cockfighting and dog fighting, and some forms of hunting and fishing. Activities charact ...

" - Dec. 29, 2002 "Death" is not featured on the National Geographic page for the show. However it does appear on the first season boxset.

Season 2

# "

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

" - Oct. 6, 2003 # "

Delicacies A delicacy is usually a rare and expensive food item that is considered highly desirable, sophisticated, or peculiarly distinctive within a given culture. Irrespective of local preferences, such a label is typically pervasive throughout a r ...

" - Oct. 13, 2003 # "Creature

Cure A cure is a substance or procedure that ends a medical condition, such as a medication, a surgical operation, a change in lifestyle or even a philosophical mindset that helps end a person's sufferings; or the state of being healed, or cured. The ...

s" - Oct. 20, 2003 # "

After Death ''After Death'' ( it, Oltre la Morte) is an Italian zombie film directed by Claudio Fragasso. The film is set on a remote island where a voodoo curse raises the dead from their graves to feast on the flesh of the living. When a boat of explor ...

" - Nov. 3, 2003 # "Body Perfect" - Nov. 10, 2003 # "Sacred

Pain Pain is a distressing feeling often caused by intense or damaging stimuli. The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, ...

" Dec. 8, 2003 # "

Rites of Passage A rite of passage is a ceremony or ritual of the passage which occurs when an individual leaves one group to enter another. It involves a significant change of status in society. In cultural anthropology the term is the Anglicisation of ''rite ...

" - Dec. 30, 2003 # "

Child Rearing Parenting or child rearing promotes and supports the physical, emotional, social, spiritual and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood. Parenting refers to the intricacies of raising a child and not exclusively for a biol ...

" - Jan. 12, 2004 # "Extreme

Entertainer An entertainer is someone who provides entertainment in various different forms. Types of entertainers * Acrobat * Actor * Archimime * Athlete * Barker * Beatboxer * Benshi * Bouffon * Circus performer * Clown * Club Hostess/Host * Comed ...

s" - Jan. 19, 2004 # "Blood Bonds" - Jan. 26, 2004 # "Marks of

Identity Identity may refer to: * Identity document * Identity (philosophy) * Identity (social science) * Identity (mathematics) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film * ''Identity'' (2003 film), ...

" - Mar. 15, 2004 # "

Initiation Initiation is a rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. In an extended sense, it can also signify a transformation ...

" - Mar. 23, 2004

Season 3

# " Outcasts" - Jun. 14, 2004 # "Extreme Living" - Jun. 30, 2004 # " Spirit Worlds" - Jul. 07, 2004 # "Extreme

Cuisine A cuisine is a style of cooking characterized by distinctive ingredients, techniques and dishes, and usually associated with a specific culture or geographic region. Regional food preparation techniques, customs, and ingredients combine to ...

" - Jul. 14, 2004 # "Extreme

Childhood A child (plural, : children) is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers ...

" - Jul. 21, 2004 # " Body Cutters" - Jul. 28, 2004 # "

Body Art Body art is art made on, with, or consisting of, the human body. Body art covers a wide spectrum including tattoos, body piercings, scarification, and body painting. Body art may include performance art, body art is likewise utilized for investiga ...

" - Aug. 04, 2004 # "Gross

Grub Grub can refer to Grub (larva), of the beetle superfamily Scarabaeoidea, or as a slang term for food. It can also refer to: Places * Grub, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Switzerland * Grub, St. Gallen, Switzerland * Grub (Amerang), a hamlet in Bavaria, ...

" - Sept. 13, 2004 # "Rites of

Manhood A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromos ...

" - Sept. 20, 2004 # "

Possessed Possessed may refer to: Possession * Possession (disambiguation), having some degree of control over something else ** Spirit possession, whereby gods, demons, animas, or other disincarnate entities may temporarily take control of a human body *** ...

" - Oct. 4, 2004 # "

Altered States ''Altered States'' is a 1980 American science fiction body horror film directed by Ken Russell and based on the novel of the same name by playwright and screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky. The film was adapted from Chayefsky's 1978 novel and is his f ...

" - Oct. 4, 2004 # "

Gender Benders "Gender Benders" is the twelfth episode of ''Taboo'' third season, which aired on October 18, 2004. It is the 36th episode to be broadcast. Female bodybuilding 2003 Ms. Olympia The segment begins in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, at the 200 ...

" - Oct. 18, 2004 # " Blood Rites" - Nov. 8, 2004 # "

Crime Scene A crime scene is any location that may be associated with a committed crime. Crime scenes contain physical evidence that is pertinent to a criminal investigation. This evidence is collected by crime scene investigators (CSI) and law enforcement ...

" - Jan. 27, 2005 # "Gross Work" - Jan. 27, 2005

Season 4

# "Initiation Rituals" - Aug. 5, 2007 # "Skin Deep" - Aug. 5, 2007 # "Sexual Identity" - Aug. 8, 2007 # "Signs of Identity" - Aug. 15, 2007 # "Proving Ground" - Aug. 22, 2007 # "Body Modification" - Aug. 29, 2007 # "Nudity" - Sept. 5, 2007 # "Trials of Faith" - Oct. 3, 2007 # "

Pet A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive appearances, intelligence, ...

s" - Oct. 10, 2007 # "Gross Food" - Oct. 31, 2007 # "Extreme

Performer The performing arts are The arts, arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art object ...

s" - Nov. 11, 2007 # "

Jobs Jobs may refer to: * Job, an activity that people do for regular income gain People * Steve Jobs (1955–2011), co-founder and former CEO of Apple Inc ** Steve Jobs (disambiguation) * Laurene Powell Jobs (born 1963), widow of Steve Jobs * Lisa ...

" - Nov. 14, 2007 # "

Mating In biology, mating is the pairing of either opposite-sex or hermaphroditic organisms for the purposes of sexual reproduction. ''Fertilization'' is the fusion of two gametes. ''Copulation'' is the union of the sex organs of two sexually reproduc ...

" - Nov. 21, 2007

Season 5

# "Touching Death" - Aug. 6, 2008 # "Extreme Kids" - Aug. 6, 2008 # "Supreme

Devotion Devotion or Devotions may refer to: Religion * Faith, confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept * Anglican devotions, private prayers and practices used by Anglican Christians * Buddhist devotion, commitment to religious observance * Cat ...

" - Aug. 13, 2008 # "Body Extremes" - Aug. 20, 2008 # "Extreme Healing" - Aug. 27, 2008 # " Trial by Fire" - Sept. 3, 2008 # "Extreme Eats" - Sept. 10, 2008 # "

Outsiders Outsider(s) may refer to: Film * Outsider (1997 film), ''Outsider'' (1997 film), a 1997 Slovene-language film * Outsider (2012 film), ''Outsider'' (2012 film), a Malayalam-language Indian film * Outsiders (1980 film), ''Outsiders'' (1980 film), a ...

" - Sept. 17, 2008 # "Drugs" - Oct. 15, 2008 # "The Third Sex" - Oct. 22, 2008 # "Extreme

Punishment Punishment, commonly, is the imposition of an undesirable or unpleasant outcome upon a group or individual, meted out by an authority—in contexts ranging from child discipline to criminal law—as a response and deterrent to a particular acti ...

" - Oct. 29, 2008 # "Bizarre Bodies" - Nov. 10, 2008 # "Extreme

Ritual A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, b ...

s" - Nov. 24, 2008 # "Spilling

Blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the c ...

" - Dec. 1, 2008 # "

Sex Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones ( ova, of ...

" - Dec. 8, 2008

Season 6

# "

Prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

" - Jan. 17, 2010 # "

Fat In nutrition science, nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such chemical compound, compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers spec ...

" - Jan. 20, 2010 # "

Misfits Misfits or The Misfits may refer to: Film and television * ''The Misfits'' (1961 film), a film starring Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, and Montgomery Clift * ''The Misfits'' (2011 film), a Mexican film * ''The Misfits'' (2021 film), an American ...

" - Jan. 27, 2010 # "

Narcotics The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "to make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...

" - Feb. 3, 2010 # "Strange Love" - Feb. 10, 2010 # "Beyond the Grave" - Feb. 17, 2010

Season 7

# "

Beauty Beauty is commonly described as a feature of objects that makes these objects pleasurable to perceive. Such objects include landscapes, sunsets, humans and works of art. Beauty, together with art and taste, is the main subject of aesthetics, o ...

" - May 2, 2011 # "Fantasy Lives" - May 2, 2011 # "

Addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use o ...

" - May 9, 2011 # " Hoarders" - May 16, 2011 # "Prison Love" - May 23, 2011 # "Forbidden Love" - Jun. 12, 2011

Season 8

# "Secret Lives" - Jan. 3, 2012 # "Odd Couples" - Jan. 10, 2012 # "Extreme Fighting" - Jan. 17, 2012 # "Freaky Remedies" - Jan. 24, 2012

Season 9

# "Living With the Dead" - Jun. 17, 2012 # "Strange Behavior" - Jun. 24, 2012 # " Booze" - Jul. 1, 2012 # "

Teen Sex Adolescent sexuality is a stage of human development in which adolescents experience and explore sexual feelings. Interest in sexuality intensifies during the onset of puberty, and sexuality is often a vital aspect of teenagers' lives. Sexual int ...

" - Jul. 8, 2012 # "Extreme Collectors" - Jul. 15, 2012 # "Ugly" - Jul. 22, 2012 # "Nasty Jobs" - Jul. 29, 2012 # "Weird Weddings" - Aug. 5, 2012 # "Strange Passions" - Aug. 19, 2012 # "U.S. of Alcohol" - Sept. 2, 2012 # "Extreme Bodies" - Sept. 23, 2012 # "Changing Sex" - Sept. 30, 2012 # "Weird Collections" - Oct. 2, 2012 # "Private Passions" - Oct. 9, 2012 # "Old Enough?" - Oct. 16, 2012 # "Strange Syndromes" - Oct. 23, 2012 # "Bizarre Burials" - Oct. 30, 2012 # "Devils and Demons" - Nov. 19, 2012

Season 10

This "season" consists of episodes from a spin-off series: "Taboo USA". # "Secret Passions" - Jun. 04, 2013 # "Strange Bonds" - Jun. 11, 2013 # "Odd Jobs" - Jun. 18, 2013 # "Forever Young" - Jun. 25, 2013 # "Strange Obsessions" - Jul. 02, 2013 # "Inked, Pierced & Hooked" - Jul. 09, 2013 # "Extreme Obesity" - Jul. 16, 2013 # "Strange Medicine" - Jul. 23, 2013 # "Body Shock" - Jul. 30, 2013 # "Home Strange Home" - Aug. 06, 2013 # "Strange Medicine" - Dec. 17, 2013

Specials

# The original Taboo pilot aired as a special in 2002. # "Sex Swap" - 2007 # "Marked for Life" - March 2, 2008 # "Quest for Acceptance" - March 26, 2008 # "Ritualized" - Dec. 5, 2014 # "New Shades of Sex" - Dec. 5, 2014 # "Express Your Body" - Dec. 5, 2014

Featured individuals

* Miss Plus America, Steph DeWaegeneer; Ms. Plus America 2009, featured in the episode "Fat". *

The Lizardman Reptilian humanoids, or anthropomorphic reptiles, are fictional creatures that appear in folklore, fiction, and conspiracy theories. In folklore In South Asian and Southeast Asian mythology, the Nāga are semi-divine creatures which are ha ...

, Erik Sprague, featured in the episode "Outcast".

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taboo 2002 American television series debuts 2014 American television series endings 2000s American documentary television series 2010s American documentary television series Cultural anthropology English-language television shows National Geographic (American TV channel) original programming