# Disturbing/upsetting moments in TV shows **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 24, 2002, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761 "2002-12-24T20:30:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/1 "2002-12-24T20:30:26Z")
A lot of movies give us disturbing, upsetting, and/or disgusting moments. TV has a lot more limitations due to censorship. Still, sometimes, truly unnerving moments will arise: 1. _Twilight Zone_: Lots of 'em here, but the one that got me the first time I saw it was the epsiode “Eye of the Beholder” when the doctors and nurses were revealed. 2. _Twin Peaks_: Second season episode “Demons” in which Laura-lookalike cousin Maddie meets her untimely demise at the hands of Leland/BOB. This STILL creeps me out ten years later. 3. _Archie Bunker’s Place_: First show of the second season where Archie finally breaks down and comes to grips with Edith’s death. We were so used to him being an obnoxious bigot that we forget he really did love his wife. Name some of your favorites. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/2 "2002-12-24T21:36:13Z")
The Larry Sanders Show: When the cue card man, Sid, died. Paraphrasing “Cue Card men never die, they just get whited-out.” Well said Mr. Sanders ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/3 "2002-12-24T22:10:05Z")
The eulogizing of “Bill McNeil” on _Newsradio_ after Phil Hartman’s murder. ---
**Author:** ![Jabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@Jabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jabba)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/4 "2002-12-24T22:16:26Z")
At a young age, I was very disturbed by the “nightmares” episode of MASH, especially the one in which Hawkeye had his arms pulled off for falling asleep during a demonstration. ---
**Author:** ![scablet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@scablet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scablet)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/5 "2002-12-24T22:19:19Z")
Every single moment of every _Friends_ episode, ever. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/6 "2002-12-24T22:20:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by scablet \* > \*\*Every single moment of every _Friends_ episode, ever. \*\* YES. Especially the parts with Rachel. _grin_ ---
**Author:** ![Roadwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@Roadwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadwalker)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/7 "2002-12-24T22:50:29Z")
_Battlestar Galactica_ when Apollo was “killed” by this evil devil character. My sister cried for Boxy. My mother said we shouldn’t watch the show any more. I guess the network heard her? ---
**Author:** ![Alias](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@Alias](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alias)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/8 "2002-12-24T22:57:58Z")
The nightmares episode of MASH freaked me out too. . . BUT, nowhere near as much as the last episode of MASH. Thw whole ordeal with the chicken that turns out to be a baby etc (I don’t want to give too much away if you’ve never seen it). IS HORRIBLE!!! I felt personally wronged when I saw it for the first time. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/9 "2002-12-24T23:22:12Z")
Finding out that Kevin Arnold’s father died a few years after the final episode of the Wonder Years. My father had died a year earlier, and I realized Kevin and I would have been the same age at that point. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2002, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/10 "2002-12-25T00:03:52Z")
The episode of All In The Family when Edith got raped. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2002, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/11 "2002-12-25T00:05:57Z")
When Buffy’s mom died. The whole episode was pretty upsetting, but the worst part is when Buffy goes to her sister Dawn’s school. She pulls Dawn out of class, and the scene is shot through a window, so we can’t actually hear what is said, but we can see Dawn’s reaction. It’s very sad. Going back to my childhood, when Mr. Hooper died. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2002, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/12 "2002-12-25T00:14:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kyla \* > \*\*When Buffy’s mom died. The whole episode was pretty upsetting, but the worst part is when Buffy goes to her sister Dawn’s school. She pulls Dawn out of class, and the scene is shot through a window, so we can’t actually hear what is said, but we can see Dawn’s reaction. It’s very sad. > > \*\* Oh, yeah. This episode of the show is worth watching even if you haven’t ever seen a single episode of Buffy. The opening when Buffy finds her mom’s body is amazingly well done. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2002, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/13 "2002-12-25T00:56:40Z")
Last season’s final episode of JAG, when Bud Roberts gets his leg blown off in Afghanistan, and they cut to an overhead view of him lying there mangled. Hell of a scene to leave us with for the summer. ---
**Author:** ![NotWithoutRage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NotWithoutRage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotWithoutRage)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2002, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/14 "2002-12-25T01:51:54Z")
Can I post one from a soap opera? On “General Hospital” When Sonny found out that the love of his life, Brenda, had been wearing a wire for the police to spy on him. ---
**Author:** ![torben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@torben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torben)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2002, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/15 "2002-12-25T03:52:16Z")
The most disturbing thing I ever saw on televison was a sketch on “Kids in the Hall” where one of the castmembers was seen making love to himself dressed in drag. I thought I was gonna puke. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2002, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/16 "2002-12-25T07:17:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hastur \* > \*\*The episode of All In The Family when Edith got raped. \*\* She didn’t get raped!? Did she? I thought she got away. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2002, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/17 "2002-12-25T07:32:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MyFootsZZZ \* > \*\*She didn’t get raped!? Did she? I thought she got away. \*\* She did. But that didn’t remove the trauma. It was attempted rape. It just has still stuck with me, and thus I didn’t think of the attempted part. ---
**Author:** ![presidebt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c37758/32.png) [@presidebt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/presidebt)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2002, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/18 "2002-12-25T07:34:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by torben \* > \*\*The most disturbing thing I ever saw on televison was a sketch on “Kids in the Hall” where one of the castmembers was seen making love to himself dressed in drag. I thought I was gonna puke. \*\* That was my understanding as well. She was _almost_ raped. Scary enough though. How about that episode of Law and Order where the wife and two daughters are kidnapped by a Serbian um…erm…_collection_ agent and the elder daughter is raped by him while the other two were blindfolded and forced to listen? I think that was SVU, but heck, with so many L&O flavors out there, who can remember? ---
**Author:** ![presidebt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c37758/32.png) [@presidebt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/presidebt)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2002, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/19 "2002-12-25T07:35:42Z")
Well, sorry, meant to quote the post below that. Still new, still learning. ---
**Author:** ![NightRabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbce88/32.png) [@NightRabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NightRabbit)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2002, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/20 "2002-12-25T09:14:29Z")
How about the one on ER where the guy’s arm gets hacked off by the helicopter blade? He just falls to the ground and starts shaking… Yech. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761.md?page=2)