Taboo (2002 TV series)


Taboo is a documentary television series that premiered in 2002 on the National Geographic Channel. The program is an educational look into "taboo" 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

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.
SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
Specials[|6]
[|1]122002
[|2]122003–2004
[|3]152004–2005
[|4]132007
[|5]152008
662010
[|7]62011
[|8]42012
[|9]182012
[|10]112013

Season 1

  1. "Food" - Sep. 30, 2002
  2. "Healers" - Oct. 7, 2002
  3. "Tattoo" - Oct. 14, 2002
  4. "Voodoo" - Oct. 21, 2002
  5. "Witchcraft" - Oct. 28, 2002
  6. "Marriage" - Nov. 4, 2002
  7. "Drugs" - Nov. 11, 2002
  8. "Evil Spirits" - Nov. 18, 2002
  9. "Sexuality" - Dec. 2, 2002
  10. "Death" - Dec. 9, 2002
  11. "Test of Faith" - Dec. 23, 2002
  12. "Blood Sports" - 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

  1. "Justice" - Oct. 6, 2003
  2. "Delicacies" - Oct. 13, 2003
  3. "Creature Cures" - Oct. 20, 2003
  4. "After Death" - Nov. 3, 2003
  5. "Body Perfect" - Nov. 10, 2003
  6. "Sacred Pain" Dec. 8, 2003
  7. "Rites of Passage" - Dec. 30, 2003
  8. "Child Rearing" - Jan. 12, 2004
  9. "Extreme Entertainers" - Jan. 19, 2004
  10. "Blood Bonds" - Jan. 26, 2004
  11. "Marks of Identity" - Mar. 15, 2004
  12. "Initiation" - Mar. 23, 2004

    Season 3

  13. "Outcasts" - Jun. 14, 2004
  14. "Extreme Living" - Jun. 30, 2004
  15. "Spirit Worlds" - Jul. 07, 2004
  16. "Extreme Cuisine" - Jul. 14, 2004
  17. "Extreme Childhood" - Jul. 21, 2004
  18. "Body Cutters" - Jul. 28, 2004
  19. "Body Art" - Aug. 04, 2004
  20. "Gross Grub" - Sept. 13, 2004
  21. "Rites of Manhood" - Sept. 20, 2004
  22. "Possessed" - Oct. 4, 2004
  23. "Altered States" - Oct. 4, 2004
  24. "Gender Benders" - Oct. 18, 2004
  25. "Blood Rites" - Nov. 8, 2004
  26. "Crime Scene" - Jan. 27, 2005
  27. "Gross Work" - Jan. 27, 2005

    Season 4

  28. "Initiation Rituals" - Aug. 5, 2007
  29. "Skin Deep" - Aug. 5, 2007
  30. "Sexual Identity" - Aug. 8, 2007
  31. "Signs of Identity" - Aug. 15, 2007
  32. "Proving Ground" - Aug. 22, 2007
  33. "Body Modification" - Aug. 29, 2007
  34. "Nudity" - Sept. 5, 2007
  35. "Trials of Faith" - Oct. 3, 2007
  36. "Pets" - Oct. 10, 2007
  37. "Gross Food" - Oct. 31, 2007
  38. "Extreme Performers" - Nov. 11, 2007
  39. "Jobs" - Nov. 14, 2007
  40. "Mating" - Nov. 21, 2007

    Season 5

  41. "Touching Death" - Aug. 6, 2008
  42. "Extreme Kids" - Aug. 6, 2008
  43. "Supreme Devotion" - Aug. 13, 2008
  44. "Body Extremes" - Aug. 20, 2008
  45. "Extreme Healing" - Aug. 27, 2008
  46. "Trial by Fire" - Sept. 3, 2008
  47. "Extreme Eats" - Sept. 10, 2008
  48. "" - Sept. 17, 2008
  49. "Drugs" - Oct. 15, 2008
  50. "The Third Sex" - Oct. 22, 2008
  51. "Extreme Punishment" - Oct. 29, 2008
  52. "Bizarre Bodies" - Nov. 10, 2008
  53. "Extreme Rituals" - Nov. 24, 2008
  54. "Spilling Blood" - Dec. 1, 2008
  55. "Sex" - Dec. 8, 2008

    Season 6

  56. "Prostitution" - Jan. 17, 2010
  57. "Fat" - Jan. 20, 2010
  58. "" - Jan. 27, 2010
  59. "Narcotics" - Feb. 3, 2010
  60. "Strange Love" - Feb. 10, 2010
  61. "Beyond the Grave" - Feb. 17, 2010

    Season 7

  62. "Beauty" - May 2, 2011
  63. "Fantasy Lives" - May 2, 2011
  64. "Addiction" - May 9, 2011
  65. "Hoarders" - May 16, 2011
  66. "Prison Love" - May 23, 2011
  67. "Forbidden Love" - Jun. 12, 2011

    Season 8

  68. "Secret Lives" - Jan. 3, 2012
  69. "Odd Couples" - Jan. 10, 2012
  70. "Extreme Fighting" - Jan. 17, 2012
  71. "Freaky Remedies" - Jan. 24, 2012

    Season 9

  72. "Living With the Dead" - Jun. 17, 2012
  73. "Strange Behavior" - Jun. 24, 2012
  74. "Booze" - Jul. 1, 2012
  75. "Teen Sex" - Jul. 8, 2012
  76. "Extreme Collectors" - Jul. 15, 2012
  77. "Ugly" - Jul. 22, 2012
  78. "Nasty Jobs" - Jul. 29, 2012
  79. "Weird Weddings" - Aug. 5, 2012
  80. "Strange Passions" - Aug. 19, 2012
  81. "U.S. of Alcohol" - Sept. 2, 2012
  82. "Extreme Bodies" - Sept. 23, 2012
  83. "Changing Sex" - Sept. 30, 2012
  84. "Weird Collections" - Oct. 2, 2012
  85. "Private Passions" - Oct. 9, 2012
  86. "Old Enough?" - Oct. 16, 2012
  87. "Strange Syndromes" - Oct. 23, 2012
  88. "Bizarre Burials" - Oct. 30, 2012
  89. "Devils and Demons" - Nov. 19, 2012

    Season 10

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

    Specials

  12. "Sex Swap" - 2007
  13. "Marked for Life" - March 2, 2008
  14. "Quest for Acceptance" - March 26, 2008
  15. "Ritualized" - Dec. 5, 2014
  16. "New Shades of Sex" - Dec. 5, 2014
  17. "Express Your Body" - Dec. 5, 2014

    Featured individuals