In a Reddit post shared on Oct. 6, a discussion about the saddest episode in an otherwise funny TV show began. The post, shared in r/AskReddit, received 1,700 views and was titled, “What is the saddest/most gut-wrenching episode in an otherwise funny/light hearted TV Show?”
The first show mentioned in the comments was “Futurama.” One commenter mentioned the episode about Fry’s dog; however, someone else wrote about the season three episode featuring Fry’s brother and the seven-leaf clover, which the commenter found particularly emotional.
Another commenter wrote, “Everyone always brings up Fry’s dog and brother and mom, but the other guy punches for other characters are pretty heavy too. The Inspector 5 sequence is also a good one, but what about Leela’s Homeworld, where we find out Leela’s backstory and see that her parents have been watching out for her behind the scenes the whole time.”
The second show mentioned in the comments was “Dinosaurs.” One commenter wrote that the final episode was the saddest. Another wrote, “The real ones remember this. This kids show about an anthropomorphic dinosaur family literally ends with a bleak acceptance of their inevitable doom.”
The commenter added, “That being said, what they were going for was to make a real, poignant, and hard-hitting point about how important it is to be good custodians of the Earth (because the dad dinosaur wasn’t, and inadvertently caused the end of his world). This is a message that was important to have landed with their target audience.”
Another show mentioned was “Scrubs.” Someone mentioned the death of Ben; another wrote about the episode in which Cox arranged organ donations from a woman who had rabies.
Other shows mentioned in the comments included the final episode of “MAS*H,” “8 Simple Rules” following John Ritter’s death, “The Golden Girls: 72 Hours,” the countdown episode in “How I Met Your Mother,” Will’s dad leaving in “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” the last episode of “The Good Place” and others.
The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the identities or experiences described by the Reddit users. The details above reflect accounts posted by individual users on r/AskReddit.
