History Main / MissingEpisode

Often overlaps with KeepCirculatingTheTapes, which is when a work cannot be obtained easily and/or legally (and that's ''if'' it can be obtained at all). Can overlap with DenialOfDigitalDistribution if specific episodes are missing from the digital release. For an episode that never actually existed in the first place, see {{UnInstallment}}. See also CanonDiscontinuity, for something that isn't recognized as part of the series, usually due to how out of place it is. See also BannedEpisode, which is a Missing Episode that already aired at least once or twice, but was pulled due to complaints over content, legal issues, or needing to be DistancedFromCurrentEvents. See also UnfinishedEpisode, which is a Missing Episode that was in the middle of production, but for various reasons was never completed. Some supposed "missing episodes" are actually false PopCultureUrbanLegends.

** The Dethklok movie "Blood Ocean" was lost forever when a fire started on the oil rig the movie premiered at, burning the only copy of the film. It was no big loss, as what was shown was DarthWiki/SoBadItsHorrible and would have ruined Dethklok's reputation (and Grisnak was happy to do that, too, just to make a quick buck).

* If it's an episode of an show that has been imported, usually it's skipped over due to translation issues, the aforementioned content issues (often due to ValuesDissonance as something benign in one country can be offensive in another), or the fact that it's {{filler}} and, therefore, considered a waste of time to show since it has nothing to do with the running story arc.

* It's ''literally'' missing. There are no surviving copies left. This applies to a lot of old films, radio shows and TV shows, as few people actually cared about preserving the works for future audiences at the time — often due to the high costs of magnetic tape and film at the time -- which led to copies being either destroyed by the ravages of time, junked or taped over. This ''also'' tends to happen a lot with internet content, as most things in the Internet exist in only one copy and many internet users don't bother to archive content, hence why initiatives such as Archive Team and the Website/InternetArchive exist. In addition, a lot of films in the silent film era have fallen victim to this, due to the high flammability of the nitrate film used at the time; many films from the silent era were lost in fires.

* Some {{Creepypasta}}s are based on a fictional lost episode of a show that only aired once or hasn't aired at all because it contains very disturbing and horrific content. Some examples include ''Fanfic/DeadBart'' (about a lost episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' where Bart dies, a photorealistic shot of his corpse is seen and the rest of the family spend the next year grieving Bart's loss and wasting away), ''WebOriginal/SuicideMouse'' (about a lost ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse'' short where Mickey walks past buildings while oblivious of frightening noises playing in the background), ''FanFic/SquidwardsSuicide'' (about an unaired episode of ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' involving Squidward killing himself and featuring photographs of disemboweled children hidden in the animation frames), ''FanFic/AxisPowersHetaliaEpisode235'' (about a lost episode of ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' where Germany and Japan resort to committing cannibalism and eating Italy to avoid starving to death), and ''Literature/CandleCove'' (which is technically a lost ''series'' rather than a lost episode).

* ''WesternANimation/TheBoondocks'': "[[Recap/TheBoondocksS3E9ADateWithTheBootyWarrior A Date with the Booty Warrior]]" opens with footage of an fictitious unaired 2005 episode of ''[[Series/{{Dateline}} To Catch a Predator]]'', which is quickly revealed to have been because Chris Hansen was assaulted by the eponymous Booty Warrior during filming.

* Some {{Creepypasta}}s are based on a fictional lost episode of a show that only aired once or hasn't aired at all because it contains very disturbing and horrific content. Some examples include ''WebOriginal/DeadBart'' (about a lost episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' where Bart dies, a photorealistic shot of his corpse is seen and the rest of the family spend the next year grieving Bart's loss and wasting away), ''WebOriginal/SuicideMouse'' (about a lost ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse'' short where Mickey walks past buildings while oblivious of frightening noises playing in the background), ''FanFic/SquidwardsSuicide'' (about an unaired episode of ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' involving Squidward killing himself and featuring photographs of disemboweled children hidden in the animation frames), ''FanFic/AxisPowersHetaliaEpisode235'' (about a lost episode of ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' where Germany and Japan resort to committing cannibalism and eating Italy to avoid starving to death), and ''Literature/CandleCove'' (which is technically a lost ''series'' rather than a lost episode).

* BuryYourArt: the people involved realize that the episode isn't as good as they thought it was (whether the audience agrees with them or not) and decide to pull it from reruns. The episode may come back on DVD, but either with no commentary or commentary about how audiences didn't like it or the creators didn't like it.
* A show is canceled (be it short-lived or long-running) and has some episodes that have never been aired (cf. ''Series/{{Dinosaurs}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'') or, in the case of ''WesternAnimation/MissionHill'', the episodes were [[UnfinishedEpisode in pre-production and incomplete]] and had to be scrapped when news hit that the show has been canceled.

* If it's an episode of an anime or an overseas import, usually it's skipped over due to translation issues, the aforementioned content issues (often due to ValuesDissonance as something benign in one country can be offensive in another), or the fact that it's {{filler}} and, therefore, considered a waste of time to show since it has nothing to do with the running story arc.