Ah, Saturday. A good
day to have a good cry, no? Today, I’m
going to look back at my favorite weepy moments in sitcoms. Several of these are ‘a very special episode,’
but most are attempting ‘whiplash poignancy,’ with varying degrees of success.
And now, without further ado, get ready to cry!
First, some honorable mentions:
Too many Scrubs
episodes to note
Full House-Papuli
passing away
Blossom-just about
every episode here too
10
8 Simple
Rules-John Ritter
dies
Yes, this one was forced by real life circumstances, but
dang if I don’t get misty-eyed every time.
A pre-BBT Penny, Katey Segal and the other kids really nailed it with
the emotion of the scene. Of course, the
show didn’t hold up well after that, but what can you expect when the main
focus of the show unexpectedly dies?
9
Saved by
the Bell-Jesse’s so
scared!
Jesse feels like she needs to take caffeine pills to keep up
with her multitude of activities and school, and her friends are all terribly
concerned. It eventually culminates with
her trying to convince Zach she can do it all, and collapsing into a heap. Yes, it’s terribly cheesy, but honestly? SBTB was a Saturday morning show. I’m surprised it’s held up as well as it has.
8
Full House-“A door named Dad.”
Stephanie gets paired up with the jerky boy from her class,
and has him over to get their project done.
When she gets in a fight with her dad, and her partner gives her advice
on how to survive a beating, Stephanie learns more than she bargained for. He comes to class the next day with a black
eye, from “a door named Dad,” and Stephanie tells Uncle Jesse, and her new
friend is taken out of the abusive home.
Steph’s little meltdown after the fact is what gets me every time, at
least a little.
7
The
Office-Jim and Pam
get married
Aww, they are soooo freaking cute. It’s the couple you wanted to get together
since the show first came on the air, and after 5 seasons of shenanigans, they
finally do. From Jim cutting his tie to
make Pam feel better about a torn veil, to everyone dancing down the aisle, the
waterworks are going through practically this whole episode.
6
HIMYM-Marshal’s dad dies
Here is the first instance of whiplash poignancy. The entire episode is focused on getting Lily’s
fertility test results, when BAM! she steps out of a cab, and tells Marshal his
dad had died. Marshal is such a teddy
bear, you REALLY feel for him when he is hurting, and that is thanks in no
small part to the excellent work Jason Segal does. This isn’t higher on the list only because
the showrunners though it would be a good idea to have a countdown to the
announcement. You think it’s going to be
this good thing, but no. Terribly
macabre, and really out of place, I think, in an otherwise emotional episode.(Sorry for the crappy video quality)
5
Boy Meets
World-Another child
abuse episode
Cory is jealous of Shawn when he sees a girl staying the
night at Shawn’s house, thinking Shawn is having her over for romantic
reasons. Shawn breaks the news to Cory,
and Cory does what he can to help. When
it becomes unfeasible for her to stay at Shawn’s house, she spends the night at
Cory’s where her parents discover her, and finally make them contact the authorities. Even though you don’t know the girl, the
emotions the boys go through can really get to a person, and by the end, you’re
rooting for her to be running through fields in Vermont with a favorite Aunt.
4
Futurama-Jurassic Bark
I don’t really watch this show. I’ve never even seen the full episode of this
weeper. But here’s the kicker: you don’t
need ANY prior knowledge to be weeping like a baby through that clip. Fry, the main character who was frozen for a
thousand years, had a dog. And the dog
waited for him to come back. Even with
that brief description, I’m tearing up just thinking about it, so if you are not
in a place where crying would be an acceptable thing, I would suggest NOT
watching that clip.
3
Boy Meets
World-Shawn joins a
cult
I’ve already spoken of this one briefly, but it needed to be
on here. I feel like Troy-“Why are you
making us feel these emotions,” show?
You’re supposed to be a quirky, fun little show that makes us laugh, not
weep uncontrollably. Ok, I don’t fully
believe that. BMW didn’t have to work
very hard in the fourth and fifth season to make me get all weepy. I love the characters, and anytime they are
not happy, I get all empathetic and whatnot.
And since conflict moves the story forward, I was misty a bunch during
BMW’s run.
2
Fresh
Prince-Deadbeat Dad
strikes again
Will’s dad comes into town, making promises, and generally
trying to actually be a good dad. But as
soon as it’s not in his best interest anymore, he bolts. And Will Smith gives the monologue of a
lifetime, which I will cry at over and over again, even if I’d seen it several
times in a row. It is just that good.
And now, my number one pick is...
1
Scrubs-Ben
Scrubs, the once and future champion of whiplash poignancy,
I dare you to watch this episode two times in a row. So, Ben, Jordan’s brother, and Cox’s best
friend, has leukemia, and when he makes an appearance at Sacred Heart after a
couple of years of not being checked out, Dr. Cox insists he be seen. Now here’s the trick of the episode: Ben died about five minutes in, but Cox still
sees him in and around the hospital, all 6th sense-like. Unless you know what to look for, you don’t
realize he’s dead until you get to his funeral at the end of the episode, then
BOOM! Whiplash every time, and me, a sobbing mess on the floor because, dang,
this episode gets me every time.
And there we have it!
Now, dry those eyes, and have fun with the rest of your Saturday! It’s not like I ruined it with 10 of the
cryingest sitcom moments, now, is it?
Did I miss any? Put
one too high, or too low? Let me know in
the comments!
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