When TV Shows get Serious

[syxx2001 0]

Nah, Moesha was just about a spoiled teenager. There was one about date rape in like the 3rd season. Um, Miles got kidnapped on the last episode. And on one of the episodes in the last season Hakeem's girlfriend had AIDS.

[humanoid92 0]

I think there's a Facts of Life episode where Tudy befriends some girl, only to find out she's a hooker.

 

Also, there's an episode of the Cosby Show where Vanessa gets drunk. I'm not sure if that qualifies... the end is hilarious, as Cliff and Claire make her "drink" with them, and trick her into thinking they're making Rudy drink.

[Darthtiki 0]

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

Hey it lasted longer than "Homeboys in Outer Space"

[KingPK 0]

Anyone mention the Family Matters when Urkel got drunk off spiked punch at a rooftop party? Didn't he almost fall off the roof?

 

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

 

It started right after Drew and Kate broke off their engagement. Then Drew got a job at that Amazon.com type-business and I lost total interest in that show. Drew himself even said that he didn't like the writing of the show at the time. The episodes with Drew in a coma were pretty good, though.

[syxx2001 0]

I remember that Family Matters episode.

[Guest Arnold_OldSchool]

Am I crazy or was there a episode of Family Matters where Laura runs down the stairsand her random boyfriend of the week says "Dang girl, you bounce more than a basketball team"

 

I swear I remember this as a youth, but If it made the air, it was probably removed in the syndies

[Hawk 34 0]

The oft-mentioned episode of Will's father episode of Fresh Prince, was on eariler this afternoon. It was quite the emotional monolouge there from Smith. Anyone who doubted his ability to work a dramatic scene, didn't see Six Degrees of Seperation, years before the episode occured.

[Dr. Zaius 0]

This thread has proven to me that my choice to never watch a single episode of "Saved By the Bell" was the right one.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

lol at the IM SO EXCIIITTED! IM SO EXCIIIITTED! IM SO.......scared.......... Saved by the Bell episode. Is there ANYBODY who doesn't remember that episode? Classic.

 

Shawn from Boy meets world beat up his gf??? wtf what was that all about??

[JJMc 0]

Shawn from Boy meets world beat up his gf??? wtf what was that all about??

 

He didn't really, he just shoved her agianst the door when he was drunk or something.

[Gary Floyd 0]

Shawn from Boy meets world beat up his gf??? wtf what was that all about??

 

He didn't really, he just shoved her agianst the door when he was drunk or something.

Every episode that somehow centered around Shawn was a very special episode. The guy was a walking Myspace/Livejournal entry.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

shoved her against the door? Bah what a pussy women-beating episode that is.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

I know "Step by Step" had to have had a couple "special episodes." One I can think of is where one of the girls has bad stomach pains and the dad assumes she's faking, but the mom figures out she has to go to the hospital, and she ends up having appendicitis. Not sure if that qualifies, though.

[Vyce 0]

I know "Step by Step" had to have had a couple "special episodes." One I can think of is where one of the girls has bad stomach pains and the dad assumes she's faking, but the mom figures out she has to go to the hospital, and she ends up having appendicitis. Not sure if that qualifies, though.

 

I can't have been the only one hoping it was due to a miscarriage. What a wasted opportunity.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

Step by Step - The evil fraternity guys recruit Cody since he is apparently the only guy on Earth who can talk to girls, and they're secretly a bunch of losers since their fraternity guys.

 

He rushes, and the fraternity guys get all raw-talkin' to Dana. He stands up for her, and all the other girls at the party leave!

 

Not so special. But one of the more ridiculously biased-against-anyone-who-has-ever-dranken-a-beer episodes in TV I've seen.

[Slayer 0]

...there were quite a few episodes of Step by Step where the stoner cousin and Bobby Ewing would bail one or more of the girls out of some trouble by kicking everyones' ass

[iliketurtles 0]

I remember a Simpsons episode where Homer's mom finds him and then takes off or something. I just remember the end with the credits to Homer on his car looking up at the moon in the stars in the night and thinking it was the fucking saddest thing I've ever seen in my life.

[Vampiro69 0]

I remember there was supposed to be a "Very Special Episode" once on Mad About You that dealt with the issue of infidelity. In the end all it meant was that Paul Reiser was taking a walk around New York with another woman.

 

This was the one chance to make the show interesting. However we got no gun shots, no dishes being thrown, nothing. This is why Very Special Episodes in the 90's sucked. The exception being the Spin City episode where Michael J. Fox left the show.

[MDH257 0]

I remember there was supposed to be a "Very Special Episode" once on Mad About You that dealt with the issue of infidelity. In the end all it meant was that Paul Reiser was taking a walk around New York with another woman.

 

This was the one chance to make the show interesting. However we got no gun shots, no dishes being thrown, nothing. This is why Very Special Episodes in the 90's sucked. The exception being the Spin City episode where Michael J. Fox left the show.

 

I remember around the last season of Mad About You they hyped a very special episode where Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt were going to let their baby cry in order to try and get it to learn how to sleep through the night. I remember they hyped it as the most dramtic thing ever and went all out, NBC let them go about twenty minutes without cutting to commercial and those twenty minutes were just one shot, Paul and Helen sitting outside their baby's door agonizing over wether or not to go in there and help their baby.

[Guest Big_Jay101]

Roseanne had the worst series finale...they changed the whole show with it.

 

What was Full House's finale about?

[MillenniumMan831 0]

Michelle fell off her horse, hit her head, and had amnesia. Lucky for her, her memory was restored by the end of the ep and everyone lived happily ever after.

 

On the flip side, what was Roseanne's finale about? Never saw it.

[Downhome 0]

Most of the series was just Roseanne writing a book (it started when Dan built the room in the basement for her to write in), so it was all like a dream. From Wikipedia:

 

Series finale

 

The final episode ended on an unusual note, with a 15-minute closing monologue by Roseanne revealing that after she was given a writing room (referencing a story thread from a few seasons beforehand), the entire series was merely a fictional story written by the character of Roseanne Conner and based on her family life and experiences. She also revealed that whatever she hadn't liked about her real life, she'd changed in the story; for instance, it was her sister Jackie - not her mother - that had come out as a lesbian.

 

Becky and Darlene actually ended up with the opposite Healy brother (Becky with David and Darlene with Mark). And following his massive heart-attack (due to his morbid obesity) at the end of season eight, Dan had actually passed away.

 

The surrealism of season nine was explained as the "real" Roseanne Conner's way of dealing with the tragedy, which she snapped out of as a result of Darlene giving birth. The Conners living room then returns to the way it was for the first eight seasons of the show (as they had never won any lottery), and Roseanne embarks on a career as a writer. The episode ends with a wide aerial shot of Roseanne sitting on the living room sofa, and text is displayed on the screen:

"Those who dream by night, in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that all was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, and make it possible."

T.E. Lawrence

(Lawrence of Arabia)

 

Roseanne's trademark laugh is then heard, in a manner similar to the opening of nearly every episode, and the scene fades to black.

 

It is actually said by Roseanne in the finale that the entire series was just part of her book. What's meant is that many parts of the series from seasons 3-9 were just fantasy and a part of her book that she had started to write in the end of season 2. You can tell this because Mark makes his first appearance in season 3. The last season and the last episode of season 8 was entirely fantasy based and none of it happened.

 

Much of this is because the series was supposedly going to be cancelled after the eighth season due to falling drastically in the ratings that eighth year, but ABC decided to renew the show based on Roseanne's wish of having a ninth season but having major pay roll cuts, however nothing could disguise the sinking quality of the once great series, which had simply run on too long, a mistake Mary Tyler Moore and Bob Newhart did not make with their respective series.

 

Dan's heart attack was supposed to be the finale (the second to last season 8 episode) but after the show was picked up for one last season they introduced a plot revolving around Dan not taking the hospital's orders after the heart attack and Roseanne and Dan having their worst fight yet, the second part to the episode being the first episode of the ninth season.

 

This episode was never intended to be part of the series, nor was the ninth season. This episode was set half in the eighth season and half in the ninth, in the hope of carrying viewers into the final season.

 

In fact, the last season stayed around #35 in the ratings the entire year. The series finale came in around #9, helping the season stay in the #30's and not the #40's.

 

Storyline of the season Roseanne Conner's "real life"

Dan Conner survived his heart attack

Darlene married David

Becky married Mark

Roseanne's mother, Bev, was a lesbian

The Conner family won the lottery

 

 

Roseanne Conner's "real life"

 

Dan Conner died after his heart attack at Darlene's wedding

Darlene married Mark

Becky married David

Roseanne's sister, Jackie, was a lesbian

The Conner family did not win the lottery

 

 

 

I've always wanted Family Guy to do a "very special episode". It starts off, and they almost instantly dive in to the major storyline (Peter has cancer, Chris kills someone, Meg is raped, Lois has a miscarriage, Stewie is kidnapped by a child killer, etc...). People would keep expecting some sort of crazy comedy bit to make fun of the situation, but it never comes, and the episode just ends without anything of the normal Family Guy type of show. Most would hate it, but to me it would be funny as hell.

 

Then again, I was a big fan of the South Park deal where they fucked with the fans with that cliffhanger episode.

[Guest Arnold_OldSchool]

Did we touch on the episode of Full House where "Duckface" - Walter is getting beating by his dad??

[bob_barron 0]

Duckface wasn't beaten by his dad.

 

Duckface was a character in the first couple of seasons. The child abuse episode didn't happen until around Season 7. It's probably my favourite episode too, since Stephanie rips Michelle a new one.

[bob_barron 0]

Step by Step had an episode where Dana went to a frat party and got completely plastered.

 

There was also an episode where Carol went off on Karen for being a superficial bitch.

 

Also, Al did some modelling that ended up being for some sleazy service and Frank had to take care of business.

[bob_barron 0]

Michelle fell off her horse, hit her head, and had amnesia. Lucky for her, her memory was restored by the end of the ep and everyone lived happily ever after.

 

On the flip side, what was Roseanne's finale about? Never saw it.

 

You forgot that Steve showed up to take DJ to the prom, which was awesome.

 

I was always pissed that Stephanie got the shaft, with a lame C-level storyline.

[Guest Hadley]

6 pages without mentioning the phil hartman tribute ep of "newsradio"? For shame (IMO, THAT should have been the series finale, the jon lovitz season does not exist in my world).

WKRP- The ep where herb sells ad time to some diet pill manufacturer, and he then has to read on the air about a kid who took them, and then collapsed.

Night Court did a number of serious eps as well (Dan supposedly dying, harry meeting someone who may or may not have been the grim reaper, bull becomes a prophet).

[slimm44 0]

I'm surprised it took 4 pages to bring up the Phil Hartman death episode of Newsradio..that's what i thought of when reading the topic

 

And for fans of Dinosaurs (sorry if already mentioned) the first two seasons come out on DVD May 2nd

[Jericholic82 0]

I'm surprised it took 4 pages to bring up the Phil Hartman death episode of Newsradio..that's what i thought of when reading the topic

 

And for fans of Dinosaurs (sorry if already mentioned) the first two seasons come out on DVD May 2nd

AWESOME!!!!!!

[2GOLD 0]

I know "Step by Step" had to have had a couple "special episodes." One I can think of is where one of the girls has bad stomach pains and the dad assumes she's faking, but the mom figures out she has to go to the hospital, and she ends up having appendicitis. Not sure if that qualifies, though.

 

The hell? Family Matters used the exact same storyline. Steve comes in, complaining of "pains in his tum tum" and tells Laura if she doesn't go out with him that he'll surely die. She says no, Steve grabs his tummy, she tells him stop faking so he says he's really in pain. Takes a few steps, falls to the floor. Everyone thinks he's joking till Carl goes over and checks him, tells the family to call 911.

 

Later in the episode, Carl gets shot in the ass I think and ends up in the same room as Steve. Guy who shot him comes in to finish the job and Steve saves Carl's life. Steve was in line to get the pity fuck from Laura but turned her down cause he didn't want it to go down like that. Carl thanks Steve, apologizes for how he treated him, they hug and credits roll.

 

Interesting little episode that was.