Surprisingly touching moments from non-serious shows?

[vid87]

For a show that honestly doesn't give a lot of focus to character or loftier meaning, Vegeta's concession speech allowed him to let go of the destructive anger he's latched onto for 3 sagas. It was a thoughtful and mature re-examination of his goals and showed him as an evolving character who fulfilled an emotional arc. It's not groundbreaking, but for this show it was surprising.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4Fqeq1VWdE

Also, agreed with Adventure Time - it actually has a lot of mature, progressive themes and ideas. The two that stick out both after Finn and PB break up: one was the with the "living dolls" that he emotionally manipulates to satisfy his curiosity about what relationships would work, the other when he admits to PB that he loved her and was afraid he would be drawn back into a relationship and get hurt again.

 

[Cursed Frogurt]

Oh for the love of...

Jurassic Bark is NOT that sad and I am no demon. I even rewatched it recently to see if I had missed something. Nope. It's sad for sure but it's notoriety is totally undeserved.

Community has a lot of touching moments for a show that is so ridiculously silly. I was legit sad when Troy and Abed had the pillow wars and shared each others weaknesses with their troops. Troy's was that he is stupid and is ashamed of his stupidity. Abed's was that he will never make any friends, beyond Troy.

The Simpsons, when Bart cries after trying his hardest to pass the test so he doesn't repeat the fourth grade, yet he got an F anyway. Nostalgia Critic made a good point about that one - we're taught that never giving up is the key to success, but sometimes your best just isn't good enough, and you just have to deal with that. But, to be fair, this was VERY early Simpsons stuff, when they were more about values than straight up humor.

 

[Weaver]

Kirby of the Stars.
Episode 15.

The show is a kids show, and is super colourful and relentlessly positive. Then episode 15 happens. Kirby gets a pet robot dog and they both love each other (platonic love, you pervert). Everything up to this point in the episode is them having the greatest time in their lives. Then this happens:

 

[GonzoGamer]

You mean like that "very special episode" of Who's the Boss when Sam borrows Mona's dildo and finds out it's really a crack pipe. Then they have to confront her in an intervention and tell her how much she's loved?

Yea, I hate it when sitcoms get all pretentious and weepy.

 

[In Search of Username]

There's a lot of these in Community, ostensibly a comedy show but has a LOT of emotional character stuff too. First example that springs to mind is the episode where Abed makes that movie about his relationship with his father. That hurt, man.

Also, anyone watch That Mitchell and Webb Look? The final scene of the fourth season finale was just...

 

[TwiZtah]

Scrubs was intentionally dramatic at times but MAN did that show get me right in the feels sometimes.

My Lunch is heartwrenching.

 

[Lieju]

The Simpsons, when Bart cries after trying his hardest to pass the test so he doesn't repeat the fourth grade, yet he got an F anyway. Nostalgia Critic made a good point about that one - we're taught that never giving up is the key to success, but sometimes your best just isn't good enough, and you just have to deal with that. But, to be fair, this was VERY early Simpsons stuff, when they were more about values than straight up humor.

But didn't he pass anyway? Not that any of it mattered, because the characters never grew up, he is permanently on the 4th grade, but maybe it had a bigger impact back when it first aired.

 

[DirgeNovak]

Raj's reaction to being dumped by Lucy at the end of last season in Big Bang Theory was heartbreaking. Kunal Nayyar killed that scene. Of course, the audience reaction destroyed it because it's BBT, but still. That was tough.

 

[Cursed Frogurt]

The Simpsons, when Bart cries after trying his hardest to pass the test so he doesn't repeat the fourth grade, yet he got an F anyway. Nostalgia Critic made a good point about that one - we're taught that never giving up is the key to success, but sometimes your best just isn't good enough, and you just have to deal with that. But, to be fair, this was VERY early Simpsons stuff, when they were more about values than straight up humor.

But didn't he pass anyway? Not that any of it mattered, because the characters never grew up, he is permanently on the 4th grade, but maybe it had a bigger impact back when it first aired.

Yeah, he got a Deus Ex Machina and passed, but the moment itself is still hard to watch because he completely breaks down and stares at the 'F'.
Sorta like when someone reacts to a character dying, even if it was a fake-out, the reaction is just as emotional. I will always say that the saddest thing ever was Gurgi committing suicide in The Black Cauldron; even though I know he is brought back to life, it's still the most depressing death scene ever to me. Disney used to pull no punches - he straight up says he "has no friends" before killing himself.

 

[Mister K]

I'll take the easy answer;

Jurassic Bark; Futurama (Season 4; episode 7; the episode with Seymour the dog)

If you ever question if your friend is actually a demon, show him/her this episode and see if they cry at the end. If they do not, they do not have a soul and therefore are a demon.

I fully agree with this post.

As for my own example, I'll go with Futurama too, but different episode. I do not remember it's name, but it was about Fry's lucky clover.

 

[Battenberg]

or when Will asked why his father didn't want him the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Fresh Prince immediately sprang to my mind as well although they had some kind of touching moment every 5 episodes or so so I'm not sure you could describe it as a particularly non serious show.

Spoiler: OT (from Firefly)

The end of the episode 'Out of Gas' when Mal wakes up. The whole episode is pretty heavy on the feels compared to the rest of the series but that moment at the end after everyone came back to save Mal when he's resting and he asks if they're all going to be there when he wakes up.

Spoiler: ALSO (major spoilers from Serenity)

Shepherd Book's death scene. I was sadder about Wash dying but there wasn't a proper goodbye scene to get all choked up about unlike for Book.

 

[[Kira Must Die]]

Episode 22 of Lucky Star comes to mind, also the last 15 minutes or so of the K-ON! movie.

Also, the mini-Squid Girl segment in Episode 6 of Squid Girl. I know it was played off as a joke at the very end, but it was legitimately sad (while still being a funny joke). How is it that a short segment in a show about a girl who's part squid trying to take over the world give me more feels and made me more depressed than the entirety of Ano Hana, an anime about a group of friends trying to lay to rest the spirit of their deceased childhood friend?

 

[ExileNZ]

Good old fashioned surprise-emotional manipulation n______n. The standout one is of course in Fullmetal Alchemist with Nina.

I dunno, FMA started out with a hideously failed experiment, 2 deaths and an undeath. I don't think you can really say that show isn't supposed to be serious, even if it had its lighter moments.

[sub][sub][sub]Bloody thread title [/sub][/sub][/sub]

I guess you got me there. I was thinking more of a whammy moment but that's laziness on my part, I apologize.

In all fairness... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtpDwpRpCSg

(also: Goddammit, now even Captcha makes me lose the Game)

 

[blaqknoise]

The last episode of season 4 in Metalocalypse when Nathan appologized to Pickles.

 

[Lonewolfm16]

I'll take the easy answer;

Jurassic Bark; Futurama (Season 4; episode 7; the episode with Seymour the dog)

If you ever question if your friend is actually a demon, show him/her this episode and see if they cry at the end. If they do not, they do not have a soul and therefore are a demon.

I don't get why that episode is suppose to be so sad... I had heard it referenced as the saddest thing ever but I just didn't feel it. IDK, maybe I am a psychopath.

 

[spoonybard.hahs]

Is it safe to assume that the intent of this thread is also to discuss serious moments in non-serious shows? Not necessarily touching or tender, but down right serious?

If so... It wasn't touching, tender, or whoa-inducing. It was heart-stopping and terrifying and stopped everyone in their tracks.

That episode of All in the Family.

You know the one.

 

[Schmeiser]

I raise your Vegeta one and give you this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj1V24sLsE8

Personally i'm rather fond of Vegeta, i know DBZ couldn't live to todays standards but as a kid watching that show and then watching it now and seeing all the subtle things is quite heartwarming.

Uncle Iroh's story about his son teared me up aswell. And when the avatar gang finally accepts zuko as one of them is great. But avatar is like that, you watch the show and you feel like you're 10 again wrapped in a blankie and watching cartoons on TV and just forgetting everything. Immersing in that huge world and genuinely being afraid for the characters or overly happy when they are too.

How to train your dragon had me on the edge aswell a few times. I have no clue how receptive were people of that particular movie but every little scene almost got me.

 

[TakerFoxx]

Fucking Beast Wars, man. Yeah, I know it has more emotional depth than most of the comedies and sitcomes being mentioned, but it's still a show about robots that turn into animals blowing the bejeezus out of each other. But even so...

Spoiler

Dinobot's death. Part of it is due to him being my favorite character, but it still ranks as one of the, if not the best handled death scene I've seen, and even after all these years, it's still the only one that can bring me to tears.

And then the writers had to immediately follow it up with Transmutate! Curse you, you sadists!