I don't know about any 'real' controversies in the press or on this board (I would need to do some searches for that), but I can imagine that making fun of racial issues (which happened with Abe Kenarban on several occasions as in Poker #1 and Baby #2), Stevie's physical handicap (Poker #2 and I guess throughout the series) and defiling Thanksgiving with sex with drunken teenagers and condoms and puking into a turkey could be called 'edgy'.
I'm thinking also of 'Reese's Party' with lots of jokes about Lois' final stage of pregnancy and Hal's would-be sterilization. I think Hal says: 'Lois, leave my balls alone', right?
Then there were other jokes about gays, whores, strippers, inflatable sex dolls, drug abuse and sundry which sometimes involved young children, and a prime example when Lois says to naked Hal: 'Stop playing with yourself' in the Pilot, in front of her young teen and pre-teen children.
Rich
P.S.
I found this nice illustrative tidbit from the AFA (American Family Association) TV reviews, which advises concerned Christian parents to send complaints to the series' sponsors and advertisers. This is how they formulate their own goals:
The American Family Association represents and stands for traditional family values and exists to motivate and equip citizens to reform our culture to reflect Biblical truth on which it was founded. We believe that God has communicated absolute truth to man through nature and the Bible, and that all men everywhere and at all times are subject to His authority.
Malcolm in the Middle P6 TVPG-L
(P6 = 6 profanities counted)
Fox, 1/11--In this debut episode the mother shaves dad's back in the kitchen while he stands completely naked in front of his children; and mom has to tell Reese, the youngest boy, to stop "playing with yourself" at the table. Later, mom also walks around the house bare-breasted, and when she opens the door and finds the school counselor shocked about her half-nakedness, the mother snaps, "They're just boobs."
Advertisers: MCI, Volkswagen
Malcolm in the Middle H P4 S TVPG-LV
(H = promotes homosexual agenda, P4 = 4 profanities counted, S = sexual content)
Fox, 3/19--At military school, Francis makes crude suggestions to girls practicing for a talent show. Later, he pretends to be a homosexual in order to help the girls in the dressing room. When Francis asks Tanya to help him change into a heterosexual, she takes him to hear a preacher. In an obvious parody of ex-gay ministries, the preacher rails at the young men to "pray out the gay."
Advertiser: Disney