TV Tear Jerkers

[Lost Mercenary]

After welling up to a certain episode of Star Trek (Big wuss here) I'm curious as to what everyones favourite tear jerker moments in television are. Those moments that no matter how many times you see them have you holding back the tears, that no amount of manliness can prevent.

One of my favourites:



Your turn everyone.

[ShayMay]

I am NOT spoiling it here, but the ending to Pan's Labyrinth made me cry.

Edit: Sorry, that's a movie, is that allowed?

[The Stiv™]

[Retro]

You know, no matter how hard I think, I cannot say I've ever seen a single TV show that strikes that deeply.

Movies, oh yes. A good few. Stage shows...plenty. Games...one.

But TV?

Yet to find one.

[ShayMay]

If you don't at least well up at Scrubs, you don't have a soul.
Thus, I declare Stiv to be cheating.

Oh, and out of curiosity, which game was it?

Edit: Also, this.

[Alex]

God, the DS9 ep you listed was annoying as [censored].

Jake couldn't possibly have been more unlikeable if they tried. And that's saying something given how awful his character was both as a child and a teenager.

Anyways, Stiv used the example I'd have gone with for sure.

I remember also being quite sad at the death of most of the animals in Animals of Farthing Wood, but none more so than Bold. After running away from home and having a pretty rough time of it in the City, Bold tries to return home in terrible shape with his mate, but doesn't quite make it:

[Alex]

Oh yes. Pikachu's Goodbye and Bye Bye Butterfree got to me too. Bit hard not to, really, both were really sad - and long before we came to know that A) Pikachu was never going anywhere or B) that Ash was then going to unceremoniously drop his Pokemon all over the goddamned place from then on.

Edit:

I'm not just a crazy person, Robert did actually have a post before mine mentioning Bye Bye Butterfree. Seriously.

[Retro]

Aug 22, 2010 23:17:14 GMT ShayMay said:

If you don't at least well up at Scrubs, you don't have a soul.
Thus, I declare Stiv to be cheating.

Oh, and out of curiosity, which game was it?

If I had seen that episode and naturally led up to that but, probably. But I first saw it from Stiv linking it years back and knowing it was "a sad scene." So I didn't really get the build up, y'see.

Also, the game? Shadow of the Colossus.

[Arch_one_zero_one]

I remember that Animals of Farthing Wood bit used to make me well up a bit when I was a kid - the book too.

Not much has that effect anymore, because I have a heart of stone be it movies or tv, although there have been a couple of moments in Spooks (Colin's death in S5 comes to mind), and Lost (the end of the 'Ji Yeon' episode in S4, among others) do tug on the heartstrings.
Oh, and the graveside scene in the film 'Dead Man's Shoes'. Gets me every time.

[Mambo's Here! Look Busy!]

The Futurama one was the first I thought of... but the whole series has a few sad moments.

The end of Luck of the Fryrish made me well up, also the end of Leela's Homeworld. I hope they have some similar tearjerkers to come in the new series, although I can't think of any characters left that could have such a reveal... :s hmm...

The Animals of Farthing Wood was full of quite horrible death scenes, they wouldn't allow anything like that on TV these days... I think other than Bold, I think I cried the most at Badger's death.

In the book I think Bold refuses to enter White Deer Park, because of Fox... and chooses to die outside of his father's control.

[The Shad]

Made worse by how I never found out how it ended.



Bit of a story behind this one...

Years back, RTé had this thing, "Monday Night is Comedy Night." Mostly American shows, like Friends. But at 11, they'd show some British stuff. Monty Python and the like.

My favourite was Blackadder. I watched every single episode. But whenever this particular ep came up, something would always happen to keep me from watching it. We'd be away, or I'd have to go to bed early because of school. I never questioned it. Now I know why. First time I saw it was a few months ago, and I cried.

[Beeth]

There were two scenes in Fresh Prince that hit deeply; the final scene of the last episode (save for the jokey Carlton bit right at the end), and this one:



And a recent example, the final sketch from the most recent series of Mitchell And Webb caught me out completely with the way it ended.

[Retro]

Can I just make a quick request to the thread to prevent mass youtube embeds?

Stu may have a faster computer now, but he wasn't the only one asking to avoid such things.

[Mambo's Here! Look Busy!]

Sorry Retro, I'm gonna post one - but perhaps linking instead will be OK?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=phE8HifoQ-8

Anyways, Homer's Mom leaving... the end is very simple but also quite sad. It makes me wonder what Homer would have been like with him mom around, instead of being subjugated to Abe's obviously dreadful parenting skills...

[Spudiator]

Good point on the Fresh Prince clip, although the one that always got me was when Will is in hospital after being shot and discovers Carlton carrying a gun. Always seemed strange to me when cartoons were capable of conveying such emotion, particularly in the aforementioned Futurama episodes (though Futurama did seem to have a knack for bringing up such poignancy). Though another one that got me the first time I saw it was the "Kenny Dies" episode of South Park. Kenny dying had always been a bit of a novelty, but for once it seemed like such a serious thing the way they built it up, especially when Stan finally plucked up the courage to visit Kenny in hospital and then find he was too late.

[Juliett. Bravo. Alfa.]

Christ, Farthing Wood makes you into a man. If it was any more realistic the crow would come down and peck the eyes out.

Also yes at Seymour in Futurama. I cant actually watch Jurassic Bark because I start welling up.

I was balling throughout the whole of the Eddie Guerrero tribute on WWE but other than that I cant add much.

[madhair60]

Man, I remember when I did this thread.

The most I cried was when all your mothers were at my house for a big sex-have, and I switched off the TV (I was getting the lottery numbers) and briefly caught a glimpse of their collected reflection, and I just couldn't contain the joy anymore and wept openly

this display of sensitivity, of course, impressed them all and led to further copulation

then I got AIDS

i won't say whose off, as I am a gentleman

Edit:

Retro, there is literally nothing even remotely moving about Shadow of the Collossus. Explain in detail exactly what you felt and why, or I will dismiss it. Not that... not that you care. Or it matters.

[Ringo (2015 Edition)]

The episode of Only Fools and Horses where Cassandra has a miscarriage. That part gets me every time I see it.

[Devo DrakeFox]

Stupid computer that won't run stupid Java or stupid Flash properly so I can't watch stupid YouTube!

...Yeah, Fresh Prince could get pretty emotional sometimes. The one when Carlton accidentally OD'd on speed got me.

I also got teary-eyed when Neelix left Voyager near the end of the series.

"Live long and prosper, Mr. Neelix."

[madhair60]

Aug 23, 2010 19:56:58 GMT Ringo (2015 Edition) said:

The episode of Only Fools and Horses where Cassandra has a miscarriage. That part gets me every time I see it.

Ohhh, yeah, the part in the lift. Amazing episode, amazing show.

OF&H used to be blinding. The episode after Leonard Pierce's death, it destroys me. It is incredible, incredible writing and incredible performance. I can't find it on Youtube, but it's on Wikiquote.

After Rodney accuses Del of getting over Grandad's death too quickly.

Del Boy: Get over it?! What a plonker you really are, Rodney. Get over it. I ain't even started yet! Ain't even started, bruv! And do you know why? Because I don't know how to! That's why I've survived all my life with a smile and a prayer! I'm Del Boy ain't I!? Good old Del Boy - he's got more bounce than Zebedee! "Here you are pal, what you drinking? Go on! Hello darling, you have one for luck!!" That's me, that's Del Boy, innit? Nothing ever upsets Del Boy. I've always played the tough guy! I didn't want to, but I had to and I've played it for so long now, I don't know how to be anything else! I don't even know how to... Oh it don't matter! Bloody family! I've finished with them! What do they do to you, eh? They hold you back, drag you down, (on the verge of tears) and then they break your bloody heart!

Then on the last line he touches Grandad's empty chair and I am a wreck. I'll say it again, incredible. Really needs the performance to fully appreciate.

[Lost Mercenary]

Aug 23, 2010 19:59:28 GMT Devo DrakeFox said:

I also got teary-eyed when Neelix left Voyager near the end of the series.

And everyone else cheered only regretting it didn't happen 7 years earlier.

Babylon 5 Ending

Perfect end. Perfect series. Perfect tears.

[Devo DrakeFox]

Hey! Neelix was great! Kes, however, was... kinda meh. Glad they dumped her. :3

[Lost Mercenary]

Neelix was a [censored]head. To quote SFDebris

And Voyager was just god awful as a show. Its ruined potential could almost qualify as a tear jerker in itself.

[Nam]

Aug 23, 2010 19:33:23 GMT madhair60 said:

Retro, there is literally nothing even remotely moving about Shadow of the Collossus. Explain in detail exactly what you felt and why, or I will dismiss it. Not that... not that you care. Or it matters.

While I can't speak on behalf of Retro (primarily because he tends to think the opposite to me on a lot of things), I can guess why he thinks SOTC is a tearjerker of a game. It primarily concerns everything leading upto, and following the final boss, in particular

SPOILER: Click to show

starting with taking the horse to the final boss, then trying to make the leap to get to it and making it, only to see said horse ail to make the jump, and having to go the rest alone. You put the effort into beating that boss, as it's pretty much killed your only loyal companion on your quest, and it doesn't even care. The final boss sees you as nothing but an insect, it doesn't give a damn that in your efforts to kill it you've lost everything, or that you're desperate to beat it.

So you endeavor as hard as you can to beat him, giving it all you've got, and then it finally dies, and you collapse, relieved, and for the final time you watch it fall, accompanied by that post-boss music, an those black tentacles that pierce through your body. The scene then cuts away, and next thing you see is your loyal horse, approaching your unconscious body in the temple, hobbling as he does.

That incident didn't get to me really, but I can understand why it would affect some people (even though the writing here doesn't really properly describe it).

As for emotional TV, much of what's above covers it. The episode's of Futurama with Fry's septupal leaf clover, and his dog, several episodes of Scrubs (esp. the last one with JD), etc etc. I can't currently think of anything more to add.

[Adamis]

The movie "My sister' keeper". Especially the end.