# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![sulamith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@sulamith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sulamith)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/81 "2002-12-31T04:22:00Z")
John T, I don’t really know why Family Affair wierds me out so bad. I guess it is just that the kids all seemed so totally unaffected by the fact that their parents died. They were all so damn happy on the surface, but underneath you know there was major dysfunction. Buffy and that creepy-ass Mrs. Beasley, and goody-two-shoes Sissy who never acted out at all in her little matchy-matchy poo-poo ensembles. Don’t get me started on Mr. French. Just wierd. Also, the Brady Bunch does the same thing to me. How come the kids never mention their real father/mother? If Carol was divorced, where is her ex? And if Mike was a widower, why doesn’t he ever talk to his sons about their mother? Those sitcoms were so sanitized for public comsumption, and they put such motley crews of characters together, and then never mentioned WHY they were together. Freaks me out, man! ---
**Author:** ![sulamith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@sulamith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sulamith)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/82 "2002-12-31T04:26:12Z")
Oh, and sorry to double post, but something that gets me about one of my favorite shows of all time was how come in all the years of The Andy Griffith Show, did Andy only mention Opie’s mother once? And even then he didn’t even say her name. Call me odd, but all this family situational stuff that was never talked about is very disturbing to me. Even moreso than some of the expected stuff. ---
**Author:** ![sulamith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@sulamith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sulamith)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/83 "2002-12-31T04:34:43Z")
Last thing, I promise. John T, the kids didn’t live with their father, they went to live with their Uncle Bill in his Mahattan bachelor pad when their parents were killed, in a car wreck. Uncle was always having dates, trying to score a piece, and the kids would usually bound into the room and ruin it for him. Mr. French was Bill’s live-in bulter and had no life at all. I wonder if Social Services ever dropped by… ---
**Author:** ![LoN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cab0a1/32.png) [@LoN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LoN)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/84 "2002-12-31T06:11:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sulamith \* > \*\* > > Also, another movie - Does anyone else recall this movie Harold and Maude? It is about this young man obsessed with death. He drives hearse and has a mother who reeks toxicity. Anyway, he fall in love with Ruth Gordon, who is 80 years old, and the “sex scene” between them consisted merely of showing them in the bed together after the deed, and shit! The hairs on my arms are standing up right now! Disturbing, to say the least. > > . \*\* C’mon, that was a really romantic movie. 'Course, when I saw it was seeing it with someone really wonderful who really loved it, but it was just cool… gotta love that Cat Stevens soundtrack… ---
**Author:** ![Liakela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/58f4c7/32.png) [@Liakela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liakela)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/85 "2002-12-31T06:49:43Z")
With regards to **Sybil** : Yes. Totally freaked me out. But then, I went later to read the book, and got freaked out all over again, but worse. The book, of course, delves into lots more detail about the abuse and the woman who was Sybil. This, in turn, led me to a book called A Child Called ‘It’. Certainly one of the most disturbing books I think I may have ever read. I cried through most of it, and was furious through the rest. Not sure if it’s the sort of book you ‘recommend’ per se. It’s difficult. It’s painful to get through… And the only thing that kept me going is that I knew that the author had made it through that early childhood experience and not melted down, or ended his life, or gone on a killing spree. ---
**Author:** ![king\_of\_spain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7cd45c/32.png) [@king\_of\_spain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/king_of_spain)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/86 "2003-01-02T15:50:29Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by bristlesage \* \*\*Hey, thanks, **king of spain**! I just saw this question, and you’ve already answered it. And perfectly, might I add? Thanks! But actually, I just remembered I left out maybe the most disturbing part: When the therapist asks Josh “Did you wonder if you were suicidal?” And Josh replies, very softly, almost to himself, “I didn’t _wonder_ that.” ---
**Author:** ![bristlesage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@bristlesage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bristlesage)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/87 "2003-01-02T17:17:41Z")
Oh, **king of spain** , I had forgotten that completely. I just got a case of the running chills from that. They need to release that show on DVD, stat. I could do with some serious re-viewing. Of course, the most famously disturbing/upsetting thing that happened on that show was the first to second season cliffhanger. Asshats. I love them. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/88 "2003-01-02T17:59:00Z")
Jack’s wife being shot in the back in the first season of **24**. Jack’s wife willingly going off to be raped in the first season of **24**. Jack’s wife had a REAL bad day. In another scene from the first season, the bad guy played by Dennis Hopper shoots another guy’s daughter in the head right in front of him. That was pretty disturbing. In fact, the whole damned season was intense. And so is the first half of this one. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/89 "2003-01-02T18:13:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jinx \* > \*\*Hmm…I thought I saw all the episodes, but I missed this one. What happened, and how does it connect to WKRP? (Was “Johnny Fever” in this episode?) If you can bear to think about it, please share… - Jinx \*\* Gordon Jump played the molestor on the Different Strokes episode. I vaguely remember that one… And although it’s cool to slam _Friends_…the episode where Ross and Rachel break up and the rest of the gang overhears everything from Monica’s bedroom…very touching. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/90 "2003-01-02T18:20:12Z")
I’m sorry…I forgot there were two pages to this thread. I apologize for repeating a previous poster’s info… ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/91 "2003-01-02T19:12:32Z")
I remember what I think was an Alfred Hitchcock, about a guy escaping from prison. He makes a deal with one of the trustees so he can slip into a coffin the next time someone dies, then the trustee will dig him up later. Someone dies, the guy slips into the coffin, and is buried. As he’s waiting to be dug up, he lights a match to check out the corpse and sees that it’s the trustee! :eek: That one disturbed me as a kid. After that, it totally freaked me out eveytime I was accidentally buried alive. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/92 "2003-01-02T19:49:00Z")
What the hell do you people have against lizard people? The entire series _Lexx_ is disturbing, from beginning to end. It’s actually a relief when the Earth (well, the _Lexx_ version of Earth) is finally blown up. In _Babylon 5_, it was revealed that the entire personality of a well-liked character was an artificial construct to cover her subconsciously-buried identity as a spy – in other words, her true nature was not only a mole in the group of characters, but a mole in her own brain. When her cover was blown, the personality that people had come to know and care about simply ceased to exist. That’s worse than having a character get killed. In _Wonderland_, a show set in a psychiatric hospital (modeled after Bellvue, I think), there’s a struggle with an insane man who’s just killed several people because the Titans of Greek mythology told him to. It ends with a visibly pregnant doctor looking at a quite large hypodermic which is stuck in her abdomen. (I believe that show lasted all of two episodes, even thoug hit had been heavily promoted by the network. My guess is that they asked for an edgy, provocative drama and were unprepared to get what they asked for.) ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/93 "2003-01-02T19:49:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mahaloth \* > \*\*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. \*\* **The Body** only works if you’re more or less familiar with the characters and plotlines on Buffy. It was one of the first episodes I saw, and it wasn’t that big of a deal. (A lot of it was “who are these people, and why are they acting so strangely?” questions.) Later on, when I re-watched it in it’s appropriate sequence (after having watched the buildups so I knew who was who & why) it had the intended impact. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/94 "2003-01-02T21:58:19Z")
I’m surprised no-one has mentioned the scene from ER where Mark Green was unexpectedly, viciously attacked and slashed when some unknown assailant jumped him in the men’s room. It was brutal, shocking and intense. It was also very brave of the writers not to tidy it up with a neat investigation / arrest. We never did find out for sure who did it or why. Some of the inserted computer graphics sequences on CSI, illustrating whatever jargon they’re reciting that week, can be quite disturbing and yet captivating at the same time. Call me weird, but I find explicit, close-up, slow-motion, computer-enhanced reconstructions of a bullet rupturing an artery faintly disturbing. For UK viewers, the fact that ‘Eurotrash’ gets made at all is very disturbing, and the fact that it’s been going for over 10 series makes it even worse. And there are many scenes from ‘The Office’ which are just too accurate, and provoke too many hideous shudders of recognition, to be funny. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/95 "2003-01-02T22:25:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lost4life \* > \*\*I remember what I think was an Alfred Hitchcock, about a guy escaping from prison. He makes a deal with one of the trustees so he can slip into a coffin the next time someone dies, then the trustee will dig him up later. Someone dies, the guy slips into the coffin, and is buried. As he’s waiting to be dug up, he lights a match to check out the corpse and sees that it’s the trustee! :eek: > > That one disturbed me as a kid. After that, it totally freaked me out eveytime I was accidentally buried alive. \*\* I think I saw that one as an updated version. In in, a female inmate seeks help from a elderly trustee with very thick glasses. The trustee is hoping the prison will approve new glasses for him. He asks the felon to read a letter he got from the prison. In it, they approve his new glasses, but the woman lies, telling him if he helps her escape, she’ll get him new glasses. The ending is the same, and the woman realized the trustee died from despair over not getting new glasses. ---
**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:** [January 2, 2003, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/96 "2003-01-02T22:28:42Z")
I like the first story better. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/97 "2003-01-02T22:52:09Z")
I have no idea what show this was, _Amazing Stories_ or something like it, but there was one story about a Shadowman that freaks me out to this day. There was a guy who discovered that everyone had a Shadowman living under their beds and he met the one living under his bed. Turns out that the Shadowmen hate humans and want to kill them, however they can’t kill the person whose bed they live under. The guy started tormenting his Shadowman, making it his personal servant. At the end of the episode, he goes out for a hot date when he meets a Shadowman on the street. He starts taunting it until it tells him “I am the Shadowman from somebody else’s bed.” Then the show ended. Cue 4-year-old **SpazCat** running down the hall screaming. Cue the oldest sister of **SpazCat** getting into major trouble for letting me watch that show. Does anybody have any idea what show this was so I can avoid it for all time? I’m still scared of the dark underneath my bed. And **The Sixth Sense** didn’t help that fear either! ---
**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:** [January 2, 2003, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/98 "2003-01-02T22:57:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SpazCat \* > **I have no idea what show this was, _Amazing Stories_ or something like it, but there was one story about a Shadowman that freaks me out to this day…** That was from the _New Twilight Zone_. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/99 "2003-01-02T23:25:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr. Blue Sky \* > \*\*That was from the _New Twilight Zone_. \*\* I will never watch that show again. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761/100 "2003-01-02T23:34:08Z")
Which new Twilight Zone? The one playing now, or the one from the 80’s? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-upsetting-moments-in-tv-shows/144761.md?page=6)