Fox has made the decision not to air upcoming episodes of Family Guy and American Dad in light of the yesterday’s (14th December) school shooting in Connecticut.

The episodes, titled 'Jesus, Mary and Joseph' and 'Mistrel Krampus,' reportedly feature sensitive content, which might trigger negative reactions in viewers. Exactly what that content may be is unknown, however both shows have a history of treating topics like violence, sexual assault and substance abuse less than delicately, so this is probably a wise decision on Fox’s part. The network has also cancelled this week’s episode of The Cleveland Show.

Despite these being three of the network’s most popular shows, it looks like Seth McFarlane’s writing is proving too harsh in this delicate time for the American nation. Besides a period of mourning for the entire nation, Friday’s shooting has also sparked a re-boot of the heated gun control debate and, as the shows are known for their frequent, less-than-sensitive political commentary, this may have been another reason for the cancellations.

Family Guy and American Dad’s episodes will be replaced with reruns of previously aired episodes, while The Cleveland Show’s 7pm slot will be filled by a rerun of “Die Semi-Hard”. An odd coincidence that all three of this week’s episodes would prove potentially offensive, but any disappointed viewers would have to understand the network’s decision.