# TV Moments That Scarred You For Life **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 9, 2006, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051 "2006-05-09T12:30:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Shockaholics](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Shockaholics](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shockaholics)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/241 "2016-08-10T15:26:53Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > John Carradine telling some little boy (10–12 years old) that if he dug deep enough in a certain spot he’d get a “big surprise.” > > It turned out there was a doorway under the ground. The door opened and Carradine came out with a big grin on his face, while the kid pissed his pants in absolute terror. _“Surprise!”_ Okay that is absolutely hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/242 "2016-08-10T15:47:50Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > In the '70s t.v. movie **Trilogy of Terror** , the scene at the end of the story with Karen Black and the voodoo doll. You all know the one I mean, right? > [@Omar\_Little](#): > > This was mine as well. Nightmares for weeks. I was probably 6 or 7 when I saw it. Found it on Youtube: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/aLFqtrm2R1s/hqdefault.jpg "Trilogy of Terror. The one with the doll. Part 3.") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLFqtrm2R1s) ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/243 "2016-08-10T16:12:50Z")
When I was a kid, the scene in the Star Trek episode, “The Lights of Zetar,” in which the librarian dies convulsively after the attack of the energy-creature, gave me nightmares and haunted me for a long time. It was particularly bizarre-looking on a black-and-white TV set. Today, though, I consider that to be the most ridiculously bad episode of the series, even worse than “Spock’s Brain.” (Although “The Alternative Factor” runs a very close second.) ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/244 "2016-08-10T16:23:46Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > The episode was titled “Earthbound,” and was one of the few I liked in the series. Commissioner Simmonds was the A-hole who forced his way onto the alien spacecraft. The selection of who would go was left to the computer, whose decision he wasn’t willing to accept. At the end, of course, the irony of the situation was revealed: > > Simmonds was the one the computer chose. > > A synopsis of the episode is **here:** > > [Earthbound (Space: 1999) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthbound_(Space:_1999)) > > Christopher Lee was the leader of the aliens. Cool! 🆒 I remember the episode, and agree about the creepiness factor. What bothered me more, though, was this: Why would the alien ship (which presumably had an FTL drive) take so long to get to Earth that the passengers needed to be put into suspended animation, while the moon (which was accidentally blasted out of orbit by an atomic explosion) left there only a few weeks earlier? Of course, that was the major problem with the whole series. Every week, the rogue moon would wander into a new solar system (meaning it had to have been traveling much faster than light), slow down long enough for the crew to have some sort of adventure, then apparently speed up again in order to escape the gravity of that sun and head for a new one. ---
**Author:** ![Shockaholics](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Shockaholics](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shockaholics)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/245 "2016-08-10T17:07:21Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > When I was a kid, the scene in the Star Trek episode, “The Lights of Zetar,” in which the librarian dies convulsively after the attack of the energy-creature, gave me nightmares and haunted me for a long time. It was particularly bizarre-looking on a black-and-white TV set. Today, though, I consider that to be the most ridiculously bad episode of the series, even worse than “Spock’s Brain.” (Although “The Alternative Factor” runs a very close second.) And you had no reaction to the creepy alien in the credits? ---
**Author:** ![Brodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cc9497/32.png) [@Brodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brodi)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/246 "2016-08-10T17:44:10Z")
The [animated opening](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAmGsM4Dids) to PBS’s “Mystery” series. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/247 "2016-08-10T18:04:42Z")
A show I saw as a child in the seventies, an animated special called _The Devil and Daniel Mouse_. I was raised a Baptist and believed in hell and the devil. Besides, just [look at him!](https://67.media.tumblr.com/f3dce9284d244ed0ecad519fffaf4fa8/tumblr_mveq17FN2w1qc730io4_r1_400.gif) ---
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/248 "2016-08-10T18:24:31Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > There was a made for TV movie set on a ship carrying a sarcophagus that supposedly contained the infant son of Satan that had been born the same time as Jesus. I think maybe he’d been killed when King Herod commanded that all male children under 2 be executed. There was a supposed biblical passage that prophesied that there would be a number of people on a ship with this deceased demon spawn (the biblical book that supposedly contained the passage was non-existent, IIRC). None of this scared me. However, at some point the sarcophagus started looking like it was breathing, as the Beelzebub baby was about to be resurrected. Whatever followed must have been either anticlimactic or very cheesy, because it never stuck in my mind. The breathing coffin creeped me out, though. I remember this one, too. The ship was prophesied to have a specific number of people on it, but the number was off. Until someone pointed out that the prophesy specified a certain number of \*souls \*aboard. And then someone surmised that one of the passengers didn’t have a soul and was there to accompany the sarcophagus. As an innocent young Catholic school girl at the time, this creeped me the hell out! \ And that breathing sarcophagus was just nightmare-inducing! ---
**Author:** ![Shockaholics](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Shockaholics](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shockaholics)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/249 "2016-08-10T18:31:03Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > A show I saw as a child in the seventies, an animated special called _The Devil and Daniel Mouse_. I was raised a Baptist and believed in hell and the devil. Besides, just [look at him!](https://67.media.tumblr.com/f3dce9284d244ed0ecad519fffaf4fa8/tumblr_mveq17FN2w1qc730io4_r1_400.gif) That was animated by Nelvana, who also did the animated sequence of the Star Wars Holiday Special. The part that DOESN’T suck. I have a small crush on Boba Fett personally. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/250 "2016-08-10T19:29:14Z")
It really shocked me that elected Republican politicians were pointing at Jack Bauer of _24_ was some kind of role model for CIA agents and operations. It shocked my that _30 Rock_ was apparently so popular among liberals, because … why? Tina Fey, maybe? I dunno, I hated it. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/251 "2016-08-10T19:41:33Z")
Scrolling through here and seeing **Mijin’s** name reminds me of being a kid of six or seven and watching the Japanese horror movie featuring [this guy](http://www.badmovies.org/movies/daimajin/daimajin8.jpg) (Daimajin). That still is from the scene where he impales one of the bad guys with that spike. I wasn’t particularly interested in and definitely not afraid of monster movies but damn if that didn’t traumatize me. There I was, not alone in the house but there was no one around and they certainly didn’t know what I was watching, my parents away on vacation and me just sat there frozen with horror. I kind of forgot about it until several years ago and I asked about it here. I didn’t have any of the details right except for the stabby scene and the fact that he’s a giant statue, and sure enough one of you smart cookies knew what I was talking about. I actually purchased the dvd. It was quite boring but when it got to the killing parts I can see why it freaked a six year old me out. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/252 "2016-08-10T20:49:17Z")
Rescue 911 hosted by William Shatner, which aired in the late 80s and early 90s. Real 911 calls with reenacted scenes of people getting into accidents or injured in terrible ways. I vividly remember one kid getting several fingers cut off when his buddy carelessly chops an ax or hatchet down on a log without looking, and people running around on fire after mishandling gasoline. Really shocked me and made me realize that bad shit can happen if you’re not careful. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/253 "2016-08-10T22:36:06Z")
It’s recent and I was more than an adult, but the episode of _Sons of Anarchy_ where Damon Pope killed Tig’s daughter made me want to crawl under the couch. Still bothers me, especially Tig’s reactions. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/254 "2016-08-10T22:49:19Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > Whatever twit it was (Katie Couric or someone like that) who made Gary Dotson and the “alleged” rape victim(Cathy someone) hug on national TV. What was your objection to this? ---
**Author:** ![tenacious\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tenacious\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tenacious_j)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/255 "2016-08-10T23:47:54Z")
How have I never seen this thread? I still cringe when I even think about Emergency!, which my normally protective, overcautious mom considered appropriate family viewing with the kindergartner. In The Girl on the Balance Beam, a gymnast takes a nasty spill that shattered my Olympic aspirations. I was so hopeful until then. 😉 On my next birthday, I got gymnast Barbie with her own balance beam, and I was even scared to let her use it! The Election episode is just a laundry list of things I never should have seen. A man gets his arm stuck, I think, in a garbage disposal, someone gets stuck in a plaster body cast, and the scene I’ll never forget, a man chokes on an old-school pull tab\* – the kind you could pull off a beer can and then throw them into the can before you drank the beer, because it was safer than throwing them on the ground where they might get stepped on – \* Thank god the safety tab cans came out soon after that. [http://www.tv.com/shows/emergency/the-girl-on-the-balance-beam-131070/](http://www.tv.com/shows/emergency/the-girl-on-the-balance-beam-131070/) [http://www.tv.com/shows/emergency/election-131056/](http://www.tv.com/shows/emergency/election-131056/) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/256 "2016-08-11T01:36:59Z")
> [@tenacious\_j](#): > > a man chokes on an old-school pull tab\* – the kind you could pull off a beer can and then throw them into the can before you drank the beer, One would be an idiot to put the tab in the can. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/257 "2016-08-11T01:40:39Z")
In my area, growing up (I’m 43), that was a trend with sodas. Tear off the tab and drop it into the can. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/258 "2016-08-11T01:52:49Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > In my area, growing up (I’m 43), that was a trend with sodas. Tear off the tab and drop it into the can. I realized that was a stupid thing to do when I was 12. ---
**Author:** ![tenacious\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tenacious\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tenacious_j)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/259 "2016-08-11T02:08:13Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I realized that was a stupid thing to do when I was 12. I learned when I was 5 from educational TV 😉 I just saw that Emergency’s greatest-rescues-so-far clip show is on tomorrow. I didn’t even know they were showing reruns. I’ll have to see if these are in the top 10. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/260 "2016-08-11T02:29:48Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I realized that was a stupid thing to do when I was 12. If you sipped the drink there was no way of getting it in your mouth. I guess those who chugged beer were in some danger. The earliest TV event that gave me the willies was the Johnny Quest episode with the invisible monster and you could see the outline of it against the force field. I think they stole the idea from Forbidden Planet. Advance to young teenage years and it was a black and white movie about a haunted house. The director used every trick in the book to ramp up fear of the unknown. At one point there was “something” on the other side of a door tearing into it like an 800 lb Grizzly. The hinges were buckling. The noise of the scraping against wood. The way the director steered the viewer into focusing on it was outstanding. I ended up jumping out of the living room chair and landing on a 70 lb black dog. Coincidentally he didn’t like 90 lbs of kid landing on him and woke up howling viciously and gnashing his teeth. That TV monster was real. As an adult I’d have to give it to the ER episode “Love’s Labor Lost” about a pregnant woman and a non-stop cascade of things going badly. I was completely sucked into it and upset by it. You couldn’t pay me to watch that again. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051.md?page=14)