shadowhawk2020

Scrubs
"My Screw Up"


I think this is the best half hour of television I have ever seen...

RKillgore

I would say the intention of this thread is not trying to achieve a global definition, but to engage in the discussion of non-news, non-sports emotional moments in television. As should be the objective of most threads of an interesting message board. If I pop in and say so-and-so moment on such-and-such show, and that's it, I might get a few nods in agreement, if someone else is aware of the moment I refer to. But if I explain why, that makes a more interesting post.

You're absolutely right, Ayre, that the majority of posts here refer to shows that aren't drama, but action/adventure or comedy. The proliferation of mentioning those emotional moments is because those instances are exceptions, not the rule. And the unexpectedness of those moments give them more impact. Not many people are going to post a moment from, say Party of Five, where week after week it was tragedy after tragedy. You tune into a drama expecting drama. But if you tune into a comedy and you're expecting some laughs, but get hit with something serious, it's going to affect you more. Plus, I'll gladly defend that not only is Babylon 5 one of the best science fiction shows, but because of the writing and characters, one of the best TV shows ever. That's because it's run a full gamut of experiences, exhilirating to insightful, tragic to comedic and those emotional experiences are so well done, you have to admit it moves you on a personal level.

If you're wanting a "global" opinion, I would say one of the most emotional moments in TV history is the Sesame Street episode dealing with Mr. Hooper's death. I can only imagine what the show's staff and actors were going through, wrestling with the options of what to do about it. Even though I didn't see it firsthand, having long outgrown Sesame Street, I totally admire the result, not only being respectful and realistic, but even educational.

But to give a personal contribution and to buck the trend of the usual death and tragedy plotlines, I'd like to offer a happier emotional moment.

In an episode of Northern Exposure, Joel finds that the cabin he lives in had a previous resident die there and not be discovered for some time. Despite the man being educated and sophisticated, he was a social recluse. After he died, he wasn't discovered because he had no friends to check on him. Joel identified with the man, realizing how the same could easily happen to him. At the end of the episode, he throws a party and gets a group camera shot. The end of the episode pans over the still shot, with the sounds of the party, the voices of the characters and of course, an appropriate song playing over it. Being somewhat of a social misfit myself, I can identify with that episode and what it can mean to have the people around you care about you.

ShallowHal

I second that. I was a bit disappointed with the way they did the finale overall, but I think the last 20 minutes were great. Cheers was a good show with a good finale, but you can only do so much with the season finale of a comedy. SFU was a great show that really developed all the characters, so they way they ended it was excellent.

JimmySRU

Do you believe in miracles........................YES

Gil Jawetz

I would say that anyone who made it to season 5 of Buffy had no reason to be surprised by an honestly emotional episode. Just because the basic plot description fell into "genre" territory doesn't mean that it was mindless pap and that an emotional episode was unexpected. If anything, viewers expected to be engaged and challenged emotionally. The story - and the way it was portrayed - of both The Body and The Gift was worthy of some viewer emotion. Sure, if you jump right to those episodes you might not appreciate them, but so what. Same is true of MASH etc... There are no excuses to why Buffy (and some other genre shows) earned listing in this thread. They earned it plain and simple.

Brent L

One of the most emotional moments in TV history, if not my pick for the most emotional moment:

conscience

Sidenote: She didn't get raped, but that was a tense, emotional moment to say the least.

dugan

Well, it was released direct-to-video in the West but it's a TV series, and what I'm talking about is the entire second half of Neon Genesis Evangelion. All the characters start breaking down mentally and emotionally. The tough characters lose their battles and the weak ones are forced to make painful choices. Every episode has at least one major tragedy. This is doubly powerful because the first half of the series is escapist and comedic.

I'm watching my way through Buffy, starting with Season Three, these days and "Amends" was almost too powerful for me to take. When I get to the episodes that have been mentioned in this thread, well, I don't know how I'll react.

Xbox69

The "Happy Days" Christmas eve episode (scene) where Richie sees Fonzie spending it alone heating a can of ravioli on the stove.

raven56706

never watched the show but what happened there

raven56706

Another episode that made me cry was the ending of Family Ties

Brent L

The first and second episodes of the second season on the All In the Family spin-off show, Archie Bunker's Place, were about Edith passing away.

http://www.allinthefamilysit.com/ediths_death.shtml

http://www.allinthefamilysit.com/Arc...anscript.shtml

kitkat

Ack! I hope you mean you're now on Season Three. If you're actually starting with Season Three go back right now and watch the second half of Season Two!

Slayer2005

I second that. Why would anyone start on the third season of a series? Boy that would take away from the impact of the second season.

rw2516

About the closest thing to a tearjerker for me is Lonesome Dove. Several moments.
The look on Augustus'(Duvall) face the moment he hangs one of his best friends.
Deets funeral. "I've seen your daddy bury many a man, but I've never known him to speak words before."
Augustus spent 20 years pining over his lost sweetheart and then finally meets up with her again. When he is astride his horse and tips his hat in farewell to the two women he loves before riding off.
When Captain Call gives Newt his watch.
Call's use of the remains of the Latin sign as Augustus's grave marker.(The novel goes into greater detail about Augustus driving Call nuts over the years with Latin.)

riley_dude

Another one I remember that brought me to tears was an 8 is Enough Episode where Tommy gets a Christmas present from his Mom that she had bought for him months earlier, before she passed away.

Norm de Plume

Yes, especially how they added tearful comments from dedicated fans over the closing credits. Great ending to a wonderful show.
Another "Family Ties" mention concerns the episodes with Alex speaking with a shrink about the death of his friend. Surprisingly harrowing and moving for a comedy show.

cdoug57

Mick Belker having Christmas alone, Mick's emotions when he gets the news of his mother's death. The death of the wannabe super hero. Almost any continuing story line with Mick Belker on Hill Street Blues lead to an emotional scene.

Dr. Craig on St. Elsewhere reciting line from "Green eggs and Ham' when hearing of his son, Stephen's death.

Babylon 5's "Sleeping in the Light".

Detective Frank Pembleton's meltdown leading to his stroke.

Captain Kirk allowing Edith Keeler to die in "City on the Edge of Forever" so time would be as it was.

Charles Winchester realizing the Korean musicians were gone and the single musician playing that haunting tune.

Bobby Simone's death.

Clare Kincaid's death on Law & Order.

Deep Space Nine's "What you Leave Behind" series finale.

Richard Kimble finally catching the one-armed man and realizing the run is over.

Roots - the mini-series.

There are many great emotional moments from all of television. I must have to much time on my hands to have seen all of these moments.

lordwow

Quantum Leap Finale:

PaperStreetSoapCo

It's hard for me to look back right now and think of moments that emotionally grabbed me as a kid, although I know there were at least a few. But I'm going to break the rules of this thread and talk about a sports-related moment. (I say "sports-related" because it wasn't live, but a documented retelling of the event) It was shown not long ago, but the effect it had really stuck with me.

If you frequent the Sports Talk forum, you probably saw the story there, but Sportscenter did a story about a kid with autism who helped out his high school basketball team. He would get them water and towels, and was a positive attribute to the team. In his senior year, the coach decided to make the kid's dream come true and let him suit up for the last home game of the season. Many kids from the school hyped it up and supported him by holding paper cut-outs of his face while sitting in the bleachers. I don't know what the score of the game was, but with about 4 minutes left in the game, the coach was decided to sub the kid in to play. At that moment, everybody was on their feet in the gym with raging applause as he walked onto the court. (This was all videotaped from behind the team's bench, so you got a good view of everything that happened) After missing his first shot, the kid came back down court and sank a three-pointer, and the crowd went absolutely nuts. But then something unexpected happened. He kept shooting and couldn't miss! Shot after shot was falling into the basket, followed every single time by everybody in the gym cheering like crazy. Even the person holding the camera couldn't stop shaking from excitement. It was like an explosion whenever a shot was made. He went into the game with 4 minutes left, and was the leading scorer by the end. When the clock hit zero, everybody rushed onto the court and swarmed the kid. I remember wondering if it was possible to imagine how happy that kid was at that moment.

It rarely happens in television these days for me, but that moment was very touching.

Big Dave

Six Feet Under - Last episode montage.

D.Zero

That's the one for me. I was pretty young when it aired and it was the first time the concept of death and leaving people behind ever connected with me in a way I really understood. If I'm channel surfing and I come across that episiode I'll sit there and watch it and well up with tears.
The Letterman show post-9/11 was powerful stuff. The "real life" thing that has also stuck with me was the late ABC News anchor Frank Reynolds yelling at his staff on-air to get the facts right on the day Reagan was shot.

dom56

WKRP Cincinnati

The Who concert tragedy. Eleven young people dead.

GCS

Gotta throw at least one Farscape moment in here.

When JC dies in Aeryn's arms in Infinite Possibilites Part 2.

There were many more but this one hurt a lot.


Don't forget Newsradio after Phil Hartman died. Another ep that hit very hard.

Greg

The Cow

Great episode, and very well done, I agree. (the one about the Tornado was sorta emotional around here at the time also).

Get this series on DVD already! Yeah, I know they probably have a bunch of music rights issues, but I really liked this show, and therefore, I should win.