When TV Shows get Serious

[syxx2001 0]

Smart Guy - TJ gets drunk at a party.

Parent Hood - Nick gets kidnapped

Wayans Bros - I think they had one that dealt with adoption

Jamie Foxx Show - The little kid (Orlando Brown) had a problem with a bully and bought a gun to shoot him (the kid from Coach Carter; One on One)

 

I dont think Sister Sister or Steve Harvey had a special episode.

[Guest LooneyTune]

Sister Sister I think had someone beng threatened by Loan Sharks, but thats all I can think of.

[syxx2001 0]

Ray's pop? Sherman Helmsley? Well, the only "special episode" I can think of is when Jordan doesnt want to go to church because he thinks its full of hypocrites. Guest starring Kirk Franklin.

[Ripper 0]

Parent Hood - Nick gets kidnapped

 

This show falls under the "every episode is a special episode" catagory.

 

Like when Rob gets shot by the "GANGSTA" ass group that had Tyrese in it after they took Nicks coat and jumped TK.

 

 

OR the time that fine ass Thelma from goodtimes played TK's mom and she had just gone through rehab and was getting her life together and TK was going to move in with her but she showed up at the house drunk.

 

AH...that show was something.

 

 

Question though, did they ever acknowledge the brother with the gay ass braids anymore after he went to college. I mean he didn't even show up after rob got shot and was in a coma and in heaven with the white dude from 227. What a dick.

[Brett Favre 0]

Smart Guy: TJ buys some games from some guy he met online, and the guy gets him and his friend to his house and is about to take pictures of TJ and his friend naked. TJ knows what's happening and gets the fuck out of there.

[Guest LooneyTune]

Is it safe to say Child/Spousal Abuse and Pedophilia ranks high on the "most often done" serious episodes?

[syxx2001 0]

Nah, they never acknowledged him. Another episode is when some movie comes out and Rob and Jeri wont let Nick see it or something and they are in the kitchen under the sink and Rob goes "Nick, what did I tell you about wearing my shirt?" and he goes "N____ please".

[strummer 0]

Not really a clear example of getting real serious, but the Drew Carey Show took a drastic change in direction towards the end. The show shifted from a light hearted portrait of a working common man to a fat guy trying to get laid all the time. The shift was mirroring Drew's real life changes at the time, and it just KILLED the show. They didn't get as serious as Roseanne did, but the show lost its "let's just have some fun" vibe

[syxx2001 0]

Am I the only one who doesnt mind or likes drama on sitcoms? I think Roseanne was a good mix because it wasnt serious all of the times and showed the little things NORMAL families go through, like a horrible boss, losing a job or something. Like Family Matters, how many of you have tried to hook your sister up on a date and she ends up having 3 and one is a nerd?

[Guest LooneyTune]

That was the best thing about Roseanne. The family ALMOST seemed real with average problems and not always having those stupid 20 minutes of garbage to drive a point home and then end with 1 minute of happiness. 99% of sitcom families are too perfect.

[strummer 0]

One of my problems with Roseanne was how Dan would be cracking jokes one minute and then be steaming mad the next. There was never any in between. Also, towards the end they just made Jackie a complete neurotic mess. At the beginning of the show, she actually was a stable working woman looking for commitment and as the show went on, they just turned her into a complete psychological mess.

[MooreMark 0]

I forgot about Degrassi TNG and Junior. I can only comment on TNG. Most of the episodes were trying to be serious or trying to teach something. But there were a bunch of filler ones.

Yeah, every single bad thing that can happen to a person happens on Degrassi: The Next Generation. Those poor kids. They've been through hell in only 4 seasons. Although, I think that's part of the reason why I watch that show. That, and there are some pretty damn attractive girls on it.

 

Emma wants to earn those bracelets all the girls have. She gives a couple blowjobs and gets a disease.

 

I'm probably missing some.

 

Wait, what?! When did this happened? Is that another episode that is banned in the U.S.A. along with the Craig/Manny abortion episodes?

Oh yes, you guys in America don't get the episodes as fast we do or all of them for the matter. This is an episode in season 4, it's called Secret 1 and 2. I think it's around mid-season.

[Black Lushus 0]

I forgot about Degrassi TNG and Junior. I can only comment on TNG. Most of the episodes were trying to be serious or trying to teach something. But there were a bunch of filler ones.

Yeah, every single bad thing that can happen to a person happens on Degrassi: The Next Generation. Those poor kids. They've been through hell in only 4 seasons. Although, I think that's part of the reason why I watch that show. That, and there are some pretty damn attractive girls on it.

 

Emma wants to earn those bracelets all the girls have. She gives a couple blowjobs and gets a disease.

 

I'm probably missing some.

 

Wait, what?! When did this happened? Is that another episode that is banned in the U.S.A. along with the Craig/Manny abortion episodes?

Oh yes, you guys in America don't get the episodes as fast we do or all of them for the matter. This is an episode in season 4, it's called Secret 1 and 2. I think it's around mid-season.

we don't get those episodes period...so ellaborate will ya?

[syxx2001 0]

Well, normal people do do that. One minute I can be happy and then if something pisses me off enough, I will be mad. Most of the time Dan is cracking jokes with Roseanne to make her feel happy again and once he realizes that she isnt budging and just keeps getting loud he has to get loud as well.

[Ed Wood Caulfield 0]

I was just thinking, did "Spin City" or "Friends" or any of the other million sitcoms set in New York do a 9/11 show? I don't remember hearing anything at the time, but i don't see how they could just not comment on it.

Well, I can't speak for Spin City, but no, Friends never did a 9/11-related episode. Infact, I think that's one of the reasons why the ratings for Friends shot up in the 8th Season, because the terrorist attacks never happened in their universe, and people could watch a show where New York will still the same. The only references to 9/11 were the Twin Towers being cut out of the opening and in the exterior shots, and that in Joey and Rachel's apartment, an American flag hung on the door.

 

Another Parent Hood "special episode": Nick's school is doing a presentation on famous black people, and Nick chooses Buckwheat from The Little Rascals. Nick's parents then talk about racial stereotypes, and how for many years the only roles black people got in films in Hollywood were degrading, racist, stereotypical roles. In the end, Nick still dresses up as Buckwheat, but he then removes the wig, and talks about the racism blacks had to deal with in Hollywood. Then, Robert Townsend does a segment which shows a bunch of black actors from the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, and says that this episode is dedicated to all the black actors who had to do stereotypical roles in Hollywood.

[MooreMark 0]

I forgot about Degrassi TNG and Junior. I can only comment on TNG. Most of the episodes were trying to be serious or trying to teach something. But there were a bunch of filler ones.

Yeah, every single bad thing that can happen to a person happens on Degrassi: The Next Generation. Those poor kids. They've been through hell in only 4 seasons. Although, I think that's part of the reason why I watch that show. That, and there are some pretty damn attractive girls on it.

 

Emma wants to earn those bracelets all the girls have. She gives a couple blowjobs and gets a disease.

 

I'm probably missing some.

 

Wait, what?! When did this happened? Is that another episode that is banned in the U.S.A. along with the Craig/Manny abortion episodes?

Oh yes, you guys in America don't get the episodes as fast we do or all of them for the matter. This is an episode in season 4, it's called Secret 1 and 2. I think it's around mid-season.

we don't get those episodes period...so ellaborate will ya?

Ever since the school shooting Emma has been distancing herself from her friends and everyone else, then she makes a shocking discovery at what kids really do down at the ravine, but will she tell or participate? Craig becomes prejudice of the discovery of his illness and with the help of Ash tries to get helpin a support group only to find that Ellie belongs to the same one.

 

Emma has been having a dreadful secret about what she does with Jay down in the van in the ravine, but will she tell someone or keep to herself? Also Jimmy has been in the hospital forever now and is tired of being treated with sympathy and just wants to continue his daily life and decides to do that by planning to get as far away as possible from the rehab center with the help of Craig and Marco to see his all-time favorite band.

 

That's the stuff for Secret 1 and 2. Basically, she gives Jay brains for the bracelets that the girls are always brag about. She earns them in a ravine a few times before Alex (Jay's Girlfriend) finds out Amy (Jay's Ex and One of the girls that brags) has been also doing stuff with Jay's boyfriend. They fight and everything and coincidentally Emma sees it all and takes off her bracelets. At the same time in school there learning about STDs and diseases you can get from not actual sex. Emma gets scared and tells her mom that she might have the disease. It ends like that.

[syxx2001 0]

I was just thinking, did "Spin City" or "Friends" or any of the other million sitcoms set in New York do a 9/11 show? I don't remember hearing anything at the time, but i don't see how they could just not comment on it.

Well, I can't speak for Spin City, but no, Friends never did a 9/11-related episode. Infact, I think that's one of the reasons why the ratings for Friends shot up in the 8th Season, because the terrorist attacks never happened in their universe, and people could watch a show where New York will still the same. The only references to 9/11 were the Twin Towers being cut out of the opening and in the exterior shots, and that in Joey and Rachel's apartment, an American flag hung on the door.

 

Another Parent Hood "special episode": Nick's school is doing a presentation on famous black people, and Nick chooses Buckwheat from The Little Rascals. Nick's parents then talk about racial stereotypes, and how for many years the only roles black people got in films in Hollywood were degrading, racist, stereotypical roles. In the end, Nick still dresses up as Buckwheat, but he then removes the wig, and talks about the racism blacks had to deal with in Hollywood. Then, Robert Townsend does a segment which shows a bunch of black actors from the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, and says that this episode is dedicated to all the black actors who had to do stereotypical roles in Hollywood.

I never saw that episode. I might have seen the beginning but I never saw the end.

[BUTT 0]

That Degrassi episode is going to air in the US.

[Anakin Flair 0]

I haven't red through all of these yet, but here's a couple I haven't seen yet-

 

The 'Death of Mr. Hooper' episode of Sesame Street. I remember the big controversy about this ep was that people swore they saw Mr. Hooper in the big crowd shot at the end.

 

Not sure if this counts as a 'special' episode, but how about "The Body" from Buffy's 5th season was a pretty powerful episode about death, especially in a show where people (even the main character!) died often. Buffy's reaction (They said not to move the body!) and Dawn's reaction (her collapsing outside the art room, and the camera slowly pans back to her painting of the figure), and of course the first lesbian kiss in the history of televison that wasn't super-hyped beforehand. This is one of the few times a TV show had me in tears.

[Vyce 0]

Not sure if this counts as a 'special' episode, but how about "The Body" from Buffy's 5th season was a pretty powerful episode about death, especially in a show where people (even the main character!) died often. Buffy's reaction (They said not to move the body!) and Dawn's reaction (her collapsing outside the art room, and the camera slowly pans back to her painting of the figure), and of course the first lesbian kiss in the history of televison that wasn't super-hyped beforehand. This is one of the few times a TV show had me in tears.

As much as I've grown to detest Joss Whedon over time (in part due to Whedon fanboys & girls), that episode really did hit on all cylinders.

 

Best moments, IMO, were Anya trying to express grief but not being able to understand exactly how to do it, and the final shot, with Dawn slowly extending a hand to touch her mother's body.

 

That was the show's peak. It was all downhill from there.

[Vern Gagne 0]

Buffy doesn't really fall into the "very special episode" category. It's an hour long drama. These are sitcoms, who most weeks don't have a serious tone to them.

[Ripper 0]

I think Michael J. Fox's last shows on Spin City could fall under the "special episode" thing because of the teary eye'd-ness of the cast members and you knowing the real reason he was leaving the show.

[syxx2001 0]

Another one, Moesha when Miles was caught smoking weed.

[Guest LooneyTune]

People watched that Moesha (or whatever) show? That reminds me, also one episode I think was based around date rape or something.

[The Czech Republic 0]

People watched that Moesha (or whatever) show? That reminds me, also one episode I think was based around date rape or something.

You just questioned that anyone would watch it and then supplied information about it.

[Guest LooneyTune]

It was the only time I saw the show... I don't know why I did, maybe I was high or something.

[{''({o..o})''} 0]

You know, you always manage to be worse than I thought was possible.

[Skywarp! 0]

There was a 90210 where the cowboy-hat-kid died from playing with a gun he found in a drawer. But that show was always a drama, so I don't think it counts for this thread.

[Gary Floyd 0]

Another one, Moesha when Miles was caught smoking weed.

It's probably just me, but just like "Punky Brewster", just about every Goddamn episode of "Moesha" was a VSE. Someone was always a junkie, or pregnant, or something.

[Alro 0]

The 'Death of Mr. Hooper' episode of Sesame Street. I remember the big controversy about this ep was that people swore they saw Mr. Hooper in the big crowd shot at the end.

I've never heard this. Can you provide any more info or is that pretty much it?