http://www.pajiba.com/guides/the-most-heartbreaking-television-episodes.php
Really good list here. That episode of Futurama just destroys me every time, as you keep waiting for the wacky punchline and it never comes, and it’s just so sad. I’d also have to nominate:
- Bill’s funeral on Newsradio. Who could be so evil and heartless as to rob the world of Phil Hartman’s genius?
- The finale of Blackadder IV. The march up the stairs for the “big push” and Blackadder’s resignation to his fate, followed by the fade into the overgrown fields…gut-wrenching. They made a lot of jokes about how pointless and futile that the first World War was on that show, but that one shot of the battlefield turning into a grassy acre sums it up brilliantly.
- The ending of the first season of 24. The first of many bad endings to a bad day for Jack Bauer, and the sign that this was a show that wasn’t going to pull punches with “favorite” characters.
I remember that futurama episode well… My wife was pregnant at the time and I had snuck away (For the first time in months) one Sunday night to a local watering hole where they were showing a WWE PPV… Not sure which one, I do remember it was the first Elimination Chamber match… Well I came home to find my pregnant wife sobbing uncontrollably when I asked her what was wrong all she could get out between sobs was… “Futurama… was so sad..” Confused, I realized that’s what I get for going out…
A few years later I finally caught a re-run of the infamous episode and I had to admit, it was pretty heart breaking… Definitely not to be viewed by a hormonally charged pregnant woman!
Totally with you guys on this one. I felt just like Scott and waited for the punch line. In fact, I remember actually yelling at the screen with disbelief that they would do that. Great episode.
List was decent. Needed The Wire though.
Mine is from The Wire (best TV show of all-time) and SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER ALERT…
The death of Bodie Broaddus. It still breaks me up every time I watch that episode, especially after the conversation he has with McNulty right before it all goes down.
What a great fuckin’ show.
MAJOR MAJOR SPOILER ALERT IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE WIRE DON’T READ THIS SHIT, DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND BUY THE GODDAM DVDS ALREADY.
What’s really amazing about that scene is how Bodie, if you think about it, isn’t really a sympathetic character. I mean, remember Wallace? But he looks good because Marlo is so evil, and you want so badly to see him fall.
Other than the Futurama episode, nothing on that list can hold a candle to Dukie trying to hold on to his childhood just a few moments longer while saying goodbye to Michael, or Randy calling out to Carver in the hospital hallway.
Right, I think that’s why it hit me so hard. Bodie’s not sympathetic, but over the course of 4 seasons we watched him grow up from a punk-ass cocky kid to a wise old man of the street.
And I very nearly put “Where’s Wallace?” on here, that shit sucked (in a good way) too.
Agreed, The Wire is the best show ever and, as the spoiler alert posted above mentioned, I was really touched by that scene.
Incredible that, despite all the critical praise The Wire gets, and the fact that it’s so original, I know quite a few people who BY CHOICE sleep on this series.
That scene with Randy where he tells Carver he doesn’t blame him and that Carver tried his best. That scene just slaughters me every time.
Of course, that part has to be packaged in with Carver pounding on his steering wheel in helpless rage. That’s the real gut-shot for me.
Randy was easily my favorite of the 4 kids. Seeing him put into that group home was horrible, especially when that pissant Namond got to go live with Bunny Colvin.
But the real heartbreaker for me was when Bunk interviewed him in season 5 after he’d hardened up and lost everything that was innocent and childlike about him.
Honestly, I think the reason why a lot of people don’t check it out is the hip hop/gangsta element to it. It’s a lame reason as the show is superbly written but some people would rather enjoy the bland drama of Grey’s Anatomy instead.
Oh yeah, and my heartbreaker of The Wire is Dookie’s fate as he had such a tragic upbringing and ended up a scavenging crack fiend like Bubbles.
Someone mentioned how horrid Marlo was… I remember talking to my brother about how I disliked Marlo, as opposed to how I’d felt about Avon and Stringer. He pointed out that they probably did the same shit as Marlo, but we’d caught them later in the game.
I took five classes last semester at college: two of my film professors (one of whom wrote a book on screenwriting) said that the Wire was the best show ever and that season four was the greatest 13 episodes of television ever, and another professor who said it was the best show of all time.
Am I the only one not in love with the “Body” episode from Buffy? It’s my favorite series ever and I still say that I don’t want my gritty real-world death in the family shit to happen on a TV show about a magical bimbo who kills vampires. Fuck Joss Whedon. Fuck him right in his goddamn pretentious fucking face.
The beauty of Buffy was that it mixed the real world in with the fantasy. I was always more partial to Angel though and lost it during the season finale, as well as the episode “A Hole in the World”.
Also, the fifth season finale got me.
I loved Buffy, but “The Body” really? I did not think it was that strong of an episode at all. I realize they were shooting to finally pick up some awards with that, but to me “Becoming Part 2″ was easily the series at it’s best and most heart wrenching.
After all Buffy had been through to have to kill the person she loved was just too much.
As she was leaving town with “Full of Grace” playing in the background, I was as distraught as a TV viewer can be by a show.
Also, a few people mentioned the Shield. I don’t know if it was ever heart breaking…more like emotionally devastating. What a incredible show that was.
The Body was by no means my favorite episode of Buffy (I think that Becoming Part II gets that honor, or Innocent or Passion), but I still liked it.
The Shield’s series finale definitely deserves a spot on there. I still haven’t been able to wash off Shane’s “family meeting.”
Although I thought the series finale was one of the best wrap ups to end a show that I’ve seenI, months later and I’m still saying, “Why Shane, why?”
Then again the entire series was a roller coaster ride.
I absolutely say Shield is #1. I know Shane did some bad shit including killing Lem…but I understood why he did what he thought he had to do. He just wanted to get away from all the shit with his family…but the walls were just slowly closing in around him…until he felt he was out of options.
Futurama has had some many sad moments – the one mentioned in the other sites comments is my favorite too, “The Luck of the Fryish” … the end of that episode is so touching. runner-ups are episodes like “The Sting” and “Times keeps on slipping”.
The Wonder Years also had its fair share of great moments, I mean that WHOLE SHOW was built on being “nostalgic” (in quotation marks because it works even if you weren’t even born back then).
if we’re talking recent shows I would like to mention Pushing Daisies as well. that show has had so many scenes that made me cry like a baby.
I’d toss in a comment about the lack of “The Shield” on said list of heartbreaking moments. Especially the finale and the fate of one particular character who ends up suffering, thanks to Vic’s complete monsterdomness, the closest thing imaginable to “Irreversible Damnation to Hell”.
Two important moments missing to me (and will contain spoilers):
1) LOST where Locke finds out his dad stole his kidney and when he drives up there. That just knifes me every time.
2) Firefly where the former rebel soldier dies and has his body returned to his family.
There are a lot of Scrubs moments to list: when Cox loses the three patients and the 8th season finale were great moments.
Besides the final Shield episode, I also found the end of Season 5 to be pretty heartbreaking. Lem was the one character who was a “good guy”, and didn’t deserve what he got.
Man, almost forgot the long drawn out death of Jimmy Smits on NYPD Blue… it was agonizing.
Gotta go with the Futurama ep with Fry’s brother as well.
When Ned Flanders’ wife Maude gets killed by the t-shirt gun at the NASCAR show. Most powerful TV death ever.
Haha. Seriously, I really was touched by the Simpsons episode with Homer’s mom’s return. When she leaves him at the end of the show and he stares up at the stars while sitting on his car was heartbreaking.
Um…. DINOSAURS, ANYONE??!!?????
Earl (the main character) was basically responsible for the END OF AN ENTIRE SPECIES, and the show ended with them stuck in their houses, on their way to starving/freezing to death, with ZERO hope….
SADDEST TV MOMENT EVER!!!!
Sorry about the double post, but… here’s the link of that final scene.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPTUA_wdp78
There was a DS9 episode that made me weep. Looking over an episode list, I think it was The Visitor.
Great list. I can’t think of too many shows that have actually brought me to tears but the Six Feet Under finale is one of them (not to mention the episode with Nate’s funeral.)
The West Wing episode isn’t as sad as the one before it where Mrs. Landingham actually dies. The episode where Leo dies is just heartbreaking…even worse because you know John Spencer is dead and so you’re just expecting Josh and Donna to hear the news.
Agreed on “The Wire.” I forgot (and agree with) how awesome season four was but how about some love for season two. Frank Sbotka has to be one of the most tragic characters on television in recent memory.
Other candidates:
- “American Dreams” when they find out JJ is missing in Vietnam and they get the tape he made for them. I still get goosebumps. What a great and criminally underappreciated show.
- “Battlestar Galactica” when Roslin and Adama are reunited aboard the baseship after he sits in the raptor waiting for her to come back. (”The Hub” I think)
Ya know, it’s funny, season two was my least favorite of the run of the Wire. My list goes: 4,3,5,1,2. I just didn’t dig it as much.
I always thought I was weird because my least favorite season was 3. Cutty’s story and trying to take down the Barksdale organization again just didn’t intrigue me as much as the school stuff.
I’m trying to think, when was the last time a show had their best season with their lead character essentially gone?
I loved Season 3. The rift between Avon and Stringer (two of my favorite characters in any show) was beautifully written and performed, and I was pretty into Cutty’s story arc too.
I didn’t like 2 that much the first time I saw it, but after a few watches I’ve come around on it. Ziggy still kind of annoys me, and I think the guy who played Nick is a terrible actor, but the whole storyline with the docks is great. I’d rate them 4, 3, 1, 2, and 5 being the weakest.
The M*A*S*H episode where Lt. Col Henry Blake’s plane was shot down, over the sea of Japan..
-The episode of Fresh Prince of Bel Air when Will gave up hope of having a real relationship with his father. The statue they show at the end of a father holding his son cradled in his lap ALWAYS gets me whenever I see it.
-The Simpsons episode where Homer’s Mother comes back. The part at the end with Homer on the trunk of the car watch the sky.. – sigh
-Wallace getting it in The Wire.
-The first Newsradio after the murder of Phil Hartman. I can’t watch it, because none of them can hold the tears inside more than 43 seconds at a time.
Agreed on Futurama. I watched that episode, and it totally blindsided me at the time.
Some lesser known sad moments in episodic television.
GROWING PAINS:
* Carol’s boyfriend, Sandy (played by future Friends star Matthew Perry) succumbs to injuries sustained in a drunk-driving accident.
* Maggie’s dad (the late Gordon Jump) shows up unexpectedly at the Seaver household to announce he is dying. Joanna Kerns breakdown at the end of the episode is amazing stuff.
THE WONDER YEARS:
* Kevin’s kindly math teacher, whom he argues with through the duration of the show, dies on the eve of a big exam.
* The series concludes with the familiar Daniel Stern voice-over, which mentions, among other things, Wayne taking over the family furniture business after Jack passes away.
HOME IMPROVEMENT:
* The Taylors are shocked to discover that Randy may have cancer.
ROSEANNE:
* The series concludes with Roseanne narrating a sequence in which she reveals that Dad did not run off with a young nurse, but instead died of a heart attack at Darlene’s wedding reception.
FAMILY TIES:
This show had many tear-jerking moments, but none so poignant as the hour-long, Emmy award-winning special in which Alex comes to terms with the death of his close friend.
my favorite *sigh*-Roseanne moment: Darlene and David get back together.
Sad as Jurassic Bark is, it hasn’t had the same punch for me since it was retconned in Bender’s Big Score.
Luck of the Fryrish and Time Keeps on Slippin have always had more of an impact for me.
I don’t wish to sound like a jerk, but I HATED the last episode of Roseanne. The show should have ended with the episode in which they win the lottery.They should have just wrapped up all the storylines within that season and ended it, because aftery they got rich the show kind of lost it’s meaning. It was supposed to be a show about blue collar folks working their butts off at menial jobs for low pay while raising their kids. It was so true to life, which is ONE of the reasons why it was so popular. After they had money, it was almost like “what’s the point in keep watching, when they don’t really struggle anymore?” it was really hard to relate to them.
I get that it was only a show.. but still..
yeah i hated the last episode of Roseanne too. It made no f’in sense. So we are suposed to believe that all of the drama surrounding Marc and Becky dating in secret, running off to get married, etc. was just fiction? Darlene was with Marc? Becky with David? The timeline’s don’t even work. Just a stupid, stupid way to end a show. Probably the worst last episode ever, only because the last 10 minutes. The last season was pretty bad all around, with the fantasy crap such as Roseanne as Rambo and with poor Dan being treated as a jerk who cheated “emotionally” on Roseanne, but at least the characters were still who they were.
Homicide–”Crosetti”
Pembleton’s been trying to prove Steve’s death was a suicide all the while Lewis is doing his best to disprove it. The funeral comes up, and as the procession passes by the station, there’s Pembleton in dress uni saluting.
Firstly, the ones that have been mentioned that I agree with :
The Wonder Years – Goodbye. This is the one where Mr Collins dies. The bit at the end where Kevin tells the assistant principal “You don’t need to grade it. Its already an ‘A’ ” kills me every time.
Futurama – Jurassic Bark. My wife (major dog person) and I both struggle with this one.
The West Wing – Two Cathedrals. President Bartlet’s latin monologue in the church is mind-blowing.
M*A*S*H – Abyssinia, Henry. A devastating finale.
Scrubs – My Screw-up – Brilliantly done, with a twist that I didn’t see coming. Honourable mention SPOILER WARNING to the episode where the staff all deal with Laverne’s upcoming death.
And a few that I don’t think were mentioned :
Forever Knight – Last Knight. I don’t know how many reader of this blog remember this show, but it went for three (3) years in the mid-90s. Unusually for that era, they knew it was history before they finished making episodes, and were able to wrap up plot threads. Suffice to say they did so in the most heart-breaking way possible.
City Homicide. This is an Australian cop show, the equivalent of Law and Order. In a recent episode, the female superintendent (equivalent of lieutenant) had her young son kidnapped. They frantically search for him the whole episode, only for him to be brutally murdered just before the police burst in.
That list is definitely missing some important ones (mostly stuff too non-mainstream for most people to know I guess).
Glad to see some people up above mentioned The Wire, as that’d be my vote. The end of season 4 is probably the most heartbreaking episode of a fictitious TV show I’ve ever watched.
More recently, Breaking Bad would get my other vote – particularly the event at the end of the penultimate season 2 episode (you’ll know what I mean if you’ve seen it) and then the entire last episode of season 2. Poor Jessie.