TheaterFire

What “very special episode” stuck with you after all these years?

Posted by bigt197602@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 396 comments

Mine for sure was the bike shop episode of Different Strokes. Damn that was some dark shit

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396 Comments

ndorox@reddit

I feel like I remember the death of a Mom on the Hogan family
View on Reddit #73685108

UnicornFarts1111@reddit

Probably. The mom left the show, so they had the character pass away. I don't recall the episode, but they did take her off the show. I don't know why she left whether she wanted to leave or they made her.
View on Reddit #73685625

wraithsonic@reddit

She wanted to move on, so they rebranded the show as The Hogan Family. Rosanne followed this playbook when Barr was fired.
View on Reddit #73686445

UnicornFarts1111@reddit

It was always The Hogan Family, they never changed the name.
View on Reddit #73686977

UnicornFarts1111@reddit

I stand corrected. Thank you everybody! :)
View on Reddit #73837952

wraithsonic@reddit

What they said LOL. [For reference](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090540/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk)
View on Reddit #73701898

Boomersgang@reddit

It was Valerie, then Valerie's Family, then the Hogan Family.
View on Reddit #73690292

PocketFullOfPie@reddit

It was "Valerie," then "Valerie's Family." Whether it was a "spin-off" or a "sequel" series is semantics.
View on Reddit #73688863

Clear-Calligrapher69@reddit

It was originally called Valerie after the original mom character (and the actress Valerie Harper). Changed to The Hogan Family after she left.
View on Reddit #73687932

1981denver@reddit

Was it in a fire?? I feel like I remember a lamp shorting out in the attic and catching fire. I remembered being freaked out about a house fire starting because of that. Then again, I can totally be misremembering it.
View on Reddit #73689311

patrisage@reddit

When Devo played on Square Pegs.
View on Reddit #73689961

baycenters@reddit

That was amazing. I don't know what my life would look like today if it wasn't for Devo.
View on Reddit #73693228

patrisage@reddit

Dad took me to them as my first concert when I was 12. And I took my daughter to them for her first concert when she was 12.
View on Reddit #73717568

baycenters@reddit

When I was 12, growing up in the PNW, I sat my dad down at the kitchen table, played Gates of Steel on my tape recorder and told him that if I didn't get an electric guitar, I would die. He did not share my sense of urgency. Instead, I did yardwork for my grandparents all summer and saved up seventy dollars to buy an old Harmony semi-hollow. A year later, I was working for the store that sold me the guitar, doing sales and repairs. In HS, I was the kid with the key to the music store, which had a stage. In my late 20's, I moved to Los Angeles to make records, have engineered both live and in the studio, played in bands, and I design audio gear for the pro audio industry, working with some of the best producers in the world. When my wife and I saw Devo live in October 2023, they tore the building down. Everybody in the arena was on their feet the whole time. It was very emotional when they played Gates of Steel.
View on Reddit #73729840

Cozy_Minty@reddit

There was an episode of charles in charge where the kid kills charles by shooting him in the head with a slingshot which gave me nightmares for months
View on Reddit #73684299

BridgestoneX@reddit

no you didn't- that sounds familiar and it also gave me a remembered mental image of a guy w (bangs? shaggy hair?) going down w eyes open
View on Reddit #73684970

Cozy_Minty@reddit

i have a really vivid memory of a little boy camping in a tent, maybe in the backyard? and he gets angry and shoots charles (or someone) right in the forehead. He goes down with his eyes open just like you said. lol i wonder what im remembering
View on Reddit #73685421

ResearcherGlum106@reddit

I think you are thinking of Who’s the Boss? Jonathan shot Tony with a slingshot in a dream.
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Cozy_Minty@reddit

Omg yes that's it, it was Tony Danza and not Scott Baio! Thanks for solving my childhood mystery
View on Reddit #73721466

Trekgiant8018@reddit

The sheer horrendously terrible, misguided, bizarre, and just WTAF of the Star Wars Holiday Special that was burned into my eyeballs November 1978.
View on Reddit #73685296

tooslow_moveover@reddit

A few days ago, there was a post here asking what movie we saw that we were too young for. I was too young for whatever the hell was going on between Diahann Carroll and Chewbacca’s dad in the Star Wars Holiday Special
View on Reddit #73686541

my-coffee-needs-me@reddit

>whatever the hell was going on between Diahann Carroll and Chewbacca's dad *Stuff You Should Know* did an episode about the *Star Wars Holiday Special*. The writers of the special admitted that they wanted to sneak in some soft-core porn.
View on Reddit #73708196

tooslow_moveover@reddit

Well, let me tell you:  the Force is strong with Chewbacca’s dad
View on Reddit #73720868

Thrashbear@reddit

Half the flick was announcing their ALL STAR CAST!
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wharpua@reddit

The How Did This Get Made? Podcast just released an episode on the Holiday Special, and as much as I’d like to hear them ridicule it I’m not sure that I can stomach watching it again before giving that a listen.
View on Reddit #73686130

RootHogOrDieTrying@reddit

That was the very first Star Wars project I ever saw. I was kinda confused.
View on Reddit #73685380

Mr-Hoek@reddit

Geraldo Rivera's "big reveal" of Al Capone's vault. Hilariously dissapointing.
View on Reddit #73688761

Thrashbear@reddit

At least he was chill about it and roasted himself on Nurses a few years later.
View on Reddit #73691787

Mr-Hoek@reddit

Oh, I think he was chill about it in the moment as well. He couldn't have known, and despite finding nothing, he got the ratings anyways. Which is all that matters in corpo-tv land anyways. It was the absurd buildup in TV Guide, on the news, conversations with people, and in the advertising culminating in a few glass bottles and old newspapers that really was the funny part to me. Also, my Italian grandfather was over the moon about this special, and I remember him making a huge deal about us all watching this together.
View on Reddit #73720626

Sweetness_Bears_34@reddit

![gif](giphy|dLyfT21xFdwpG)
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Plug_5@reddit

Dammit, I came to comment this and it was the last one!!!
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Sweetness_Bears_34@reddit

LOL: When I posted, nobody had posted on this thread yet
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Sweetness_Bears_34@reddit

For some reason it shows my post was removed?
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OrlandoOpossum@reddit

Same here lol
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itsareverseharem@reddit

This was my first thought! 🤣
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HezFez238@reddit

Clone high.
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_Lane_@reddit

I loved that episode! The very special one!
View on Reddit #73701659

HezFez238@reddit

“My friends cal me Pun Dog.”
View on Reddit #73714442

MistressPaine666@reddit

The Little House on the Prairie episode where the little girl was raped by that guy in the super creepy mask. It traumatized me as a child!
View on Reddit #73709527

Tough_Friendship9469@reddit

Why was this post removed?
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Tough_Friendship9469@reddit

Duplicate post? Who cares? It has 382 comments! It’s a wonderful conversation! ![gif](giphy|Ifrm2PB25hiiMFI6kN|downsized)
View on Reddit #73707147

Cool-Coffee-8949@reddit

The one where what’s her name (the sister, played by Dana Plato) on Diff’rent Strokes is stalked a by a literal older man in a trench coat, with a weird Frank Sinatra fetish. The episode of Webster (what was with the 80’s and little tiny black people adopted into white families? ) where everyone thinks Webster’s uncle or godfather or whatever is a heroin addict, but really he’s diabetic. The episode of the Walton’s where the oldest girl is abusing pills. The episode of the Incredible Hulk where the drunken old man sings “Ol’ Dan Tucker” all the time. All the after-school specials, of course.
View on Reddit #73687002

AmazingGrace911@reddit

Don’t forget The Incredible Hulk episode where Hulk beats the abuser father
View on Reddit #73689599

Cool-Coffee-8949@reddit

That one was very special indeed. There’s Nothing quite like a revenge fantasy.
View on Reddit #73706891

jdewith@reddit

Webster’s uncle was Ben Vereen.
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KLLR_ROBOT@reddit

All in the Family / Archie Bunker Show - Edith’s death Good Times - James’ death
View on Reddit #73687461

AmazingGrace911@reddit

And All in the Family rape scene
View on Reddit #73689523

museedarsey@reddit

Wait, what??!??!
View on Reddit #73692910

AmazingGrace911@reddit

Complete with laugh track- https://youtu.be/P4JqTkaEEzc?si=wPAjadWQiuS0YENA
View on Reddit #73704975

RebaKitt3n@reddit

Freaked out my mom.
View on Reddit #73693345

blackbird24601@reddit

too soon
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LauraLand27@reddit

I was plodding along just fine tonight. Emphasis on WAS. Thanks 😭
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aethelberga@reddit

When I hear "very special episode" I think "episode that awkwardly highlights some burning social issue". There was a Facts of Life about acid rain, with a convoluted series of circumstances, that started with a copper bowl and ended with someone's hair turning green. It was a Very Serious Lesson about the dangers of acid rain (which I guess we must have sorted, because you never hear about it anymore).
View on Reddit #73702345

Tea_Earl_Grey_HotXXX@reddit

I think that was Diff'rent Strokes, and it was Kimberly's hair that turned green because she got some beauty tip that said to wash your hair with rain water and she collected the rain water in a copper bowl.
View on Reddit #73703298

aethelberga@reddit

You're right. My first instinct was to put Diff'rent Strokes, but in my head I saw Mrs Garrett in that scene.
View on Reddit #73703835

JoshuaAJones@reddit

You're in luck... it's on the rise again. 🙃
View on Reddit #73703038

thanx_it_has_pockets@reddit

Good Times with Penny's abuse. The iron burn is still in my head
View on Reddit #73689661

Not_On_Socials@reddit

This episode made me love my mother more, in my childhood was of thinking, because she was 100% the opposite. I remember thinking “my mommy would never!”
View on Reddit #73703737

alsoyoshi@reddit

This!!! I just scanned this whole thread in hopes this had already been called out. That episode gave me nightmares for a decade. I suppose it forced me to grow up and open my eyes to the world, but that feels like a particularly twisted and masochistic way to portray child abuse. The vast majority of real abuse suffered by children requires no fancy tooling.
View on Reddit #73695930

thanx_it_has_pockets@reddit

I have thought of this episode many times, and I think about why it affected me so much as an impressionable preteen for two reasons. up until then, most shows would have child abuse shown as 'Look, Johnny has a black eye' or a broken arm after something behind closed doors with a father figure. The possibility that a mother could abuse her child never crossed my mind as a child. (I imagine that other shows or movies might have aired during my childhood had a mother abusing her kid, but that one episode was the first time for me) The other was that Penny hid a lot of what was going on at the beginning, and it opened my eyes that you don't really know what is happening in someone's home life and that anyone near you can be going through something silently.
View on Reddit #73701486

coolmommytm@reddit

OMG I can’t forget that scene.
View on Reddit #73690296

Lute_Low@reddit

The Different Strokes "The Bicycle Man" episode sticks out to me. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bicycle_Man
View on Reddit #73693456

bloodpriestt@reddit

Bicycle Man has been with me for 42 years and will unfortunately continue forever
View on Reddit #73693703

Not_On_Socials@reddit

Every time I saw that man in another show, I was scared.
View on Reddit #73703601

WHowe1@reddit

Goodbye, Farewell and Amen M*A*S*H: Season 11, Episode 16
View on Reddit #73701610

ResoluteCaution@reddit

Shut that chicken up!
View on Reddit #73703513

Happy_Cat_3600@reddit

The Doobie Brothers guest starring on What’s Happening!! was very cool.
View on Reddit #73701431

Not_On_Socials@reddit

FAVORITE episode. “Taking it to the streets” 🎶🎤
View on Reddit #73703504

BERTHA77@reddit

X Files - Home. Big yikes!
View on Reddit #73698772

lehsmit888@reddit

Came here for this. Man what a terrifying episode
View on Reddit #73703337

1971stTimeLucky@reddit

I remember reading (back in the day) that Chris Carter wouldn’t use that episode in re-runs, how happy was I to see it on Netflix!
View on Reddit #73700671

SillyBillyCrazyDazy@reddit

Cherie in a freezer
View on Reddit #73703219

GenX-ModTeam@reddit

Repost, Duplicate or Similar Posts - Posts may be removed if they are a recent repost (within three months), duplicates, or similar to existing posts. Please make an effort to look through current posts to avoid duplication.
View on Reddit #73703214

Visual_Owl_2348@reddit

I’m never getting into a fridge that is being thrown out thanks to Punky Brewster.
View on Reddit #73692334

albertmw@reddit

Had to scroll too far to find this!
View on Reddit #73703156

WaldoZEmersonJones@reddit

Bravestarr- the Choice. Your fairly basic "Don't do drugs" cartoon episode woth one substantial difference. Usually, the heroes intervene, the character doing the drugs learns drugs are bad and life goes on. Bravestarr didn't do that. https://preview.redd.it/lpkqmj6p3r7g1.jpeg?width=502&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b5082b3e133acf21e75e370ab3f9744f123eb45a
View on Reddit #73703025

nochickflickmoments@reddit

Family Ties, where Alex cries and asks why wasn't it him. Broke my heart.
View on Reddit #73687179

JoshuaAJones@reddit

"Do you believe in God?" Stuck with me, as I related to Alex so much.
View on Reddit #73702785

trackaghosthrufog@reddit

"*Was that a funeral, or what?!"* \- okay, Alex is fucked.
View on Reddit #73688120

Sweetness_Bears_34@reddit

“My name is Alex” two part episode
View on Reddit #73687290

davster99@reddit

The [Home Improvement special episode promo](https://youtu.be/66eaxlXkJ4A?si=ay8LR7mZB4xNPd_h)is its own kind of funny. But as far as episodes go, the Family Ties where Alex loses a friend and goes to see a psychiatrist.
View on Reddit #73700739

Designer-Sir2309@reddit

Omg lol. I remember that Home Improvement episode. Dude had a goiter. 🤣🤣
View on Reddit #73702626

wharpua@reddit

There was a two part episode of Family Ties where Alex P. Keaton processes the death of one of his best friends (who died in a car accident)!by talking to an off-camera therapist while he wanders in and out of vignette scenes all shot like it was a black box theatrical stage show.
View on Reddit #73685556

Maximum-Tomatillo743@reddit

A Is For Alex still makes my eyes well up even on reruns
View on Reddit #73702096

bitteralabazam@reddit

That was one of the few times I recall everyone at school was talking about it the next day.
View on Reddit #73689564

TripMaster478@reddit

God I do remember that one.
View on Reddit #73688183

Petrostar@reddit

A, My name is Alex. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KWH0pNJaI8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KWH0pNJaI8) Watching it again now still hits hard.
View on Reddit #73686325

PushTheButton_FranK@reddit

Well that was really good! Thank you. I don't think I've ever seen that episode. MJF is an underrated actor in hindsight.
View on Reddit #73687551

HeavyTea@reddit

Amazing!
View on Reddit #73686906

dlsc217@reddit

is that the same one where they drop change at one point and he identifies each coin from the sound?
View on Reddit #73685967

NatashaMuse@reddit

Yes! Though the only actual part I remember was that he knew how the value of the assortment of coins that the therapist dropped from his pocket?
View on Reddit #73685860

Tinderboxed@reddit

The two-part "Little House on the Prairie" episode "Home Again" (Season 9, Episodes 16 & 17), where Charles and Caroline's adopted son, Albert Ingalls, becomes addicted to morphine after falling in with a bad crowd in Chicago and stealing it from Doc Baker in Walnut Grove for pain relief and to fit in. The episodes show his severe withdrawal as Charles tries to help him, highlighting the harsh realities of addiction, with Matthew Labyorteaux's performance earning praise.
View on Reddit #73702055

_Lane_@reddit

The Golden Girls — Rose gets an HIV scare from a blood transfusion.
View on Reddit #73702038

northfall98@reddit

Diff'Rent Strokes when Arnold and Dudley were molested by the bicycle shop owner.
View on Reddit #73696200

RoyalPuzzleheaded259@reddit

I have no memory of ever watching Diff’rnt Strokes other than this one episode.
View on Reddit #73697158

SurpriseDesperate156@reddit

The one where Willis buys a “lid of pot”
View on Reddit #73701956

jbrc89@reddit

Stayed out of bicycle shops unless I had my parents with me for my whole childhood over that episode.
View on Reddit #73701333

ResponsibilityOk5171@reddit

When Molly died on A Country Practice. Devastating. Also Scott and Charlene's wedding on Neighbours.
View on Reddit #73692115

imrzzz@reddit

I'd forgotten about Molly until just now! She was so lovely, that was heartbreaking
View on Reddit #73701288

nowandnothing@reddit

Scott and Charlene's wedding was massively popular in the UK, everyone was watching Neighbours at the time!
View on Reddit #73693365

Green_Aide_9329@reddit

We were on holidays overseas when Scott and Charlene's wedding was on. I had to rely on Grandma recording it, and wait weeks to see it. I was soooooo nervous that she would muck it up. I should have had faith. This was the same Grandma that recorded Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music every school holidays, pausing to not record the ads. My grandma was a legend.
View on Reddit #73692929

Komaisnotsalty@reddit

Mr. Hooper dying on Sesame Street. Won't ever forget that one. There's another episode on Sesame Street, but earlier, and therefore more faded in my mind. I think it was maybe Halloween? There was a witch that came in to Sesame Street - I think David saw her and had to duck? And the sound she made when flying in scared the absolute shit outta me and I ran away screaming from the TV. I wasn't that old - maybe 4 or 5. Really vague memory. Mr. Hooper's death though? Yeah, that's stuck pretty hard.
View on Reddit #73688287

ExcentricaGallumbits@reddit

[Sesame Street: episode 847](https://youtu.be/21btSNc6tIU?feature=shared) Margaret Hamilton reprised her wicked witch of the West role from the Wizard of Oz. The senior talking about starts at one minute 30 seconds.
View on Reddit #73690782

davster99@reddit

Damn… Elphaba was on Sesame Street?
View on Reddit #73700406

Komaisnotsalty@reddit

Oh wow, not exactly how I remembered it but yep, that's it. Thank you so much!
View on Reddit #73691193

ExcentricaGallumbits@reddit

I had a vague memory of it a while back and searched it out on YouTube. When you mentioned it, I thought oh I know what they’re talking about. It is a spooky sound.
View on Reddit #73691259

Komaisnotsalty@reddit

It is, and the flip to negative for a second too. Not so scary now. I enjoyed seeing the rest of the episode though. I'm Canadian so our version was a teeny but different back then but pretty much the same. Really fun to watch, so thanks for digging it up.
View on Reddit #73691416

Realistic_Minimum196@reddit

Mr hopper. Introduced me to death and realized this was just a dumb tv show and these people were real. Like seeing your teacher in public. Mind blown.
View on Reddit #73692825

JennJoy77@reddit

I had a stuffed dog I had named Mr. Hooper, so needless to say I took it about as hard as Big Bird. 😔
View on Reddit #73688386

opinionatedhugger@reddit

The daughter on Different Strokes binge eating in the kitchen late at night.
View on Reddit #73690434

heretik77@reddit

Digging her two fingers into the jar of peanut butter and then cramming it into her mouth. That was a fucked up image that’s been burned into my brain.
View on Reddit #73695262

davster99@reddit

Didn’t she eat an entire sheet cake as well?
View on Reddit #73700236

pettybettyIMaSHORTIE@reddit

Hush... Buffy the Vampire Slayer
View on Reddit #73691846

elysiumstarz@reddit

That was a *really* good episode. I just watched it - for the first time - last month.
View on Reddit #73698427

davster99@reddit

Once More With Feeling and The Gift - both never fail to make be cry
View on Reddit #73700196

FarceMultiplier@reddit

I can't find which episode, but it was Facts of Life when they were stuck in a walk-in freezer and Tootsie wanted to go to sleep.
View on Reddit #73693308

zaxxon4ever@reddit

Tootie. Tootsie was a cross-dresser.
View on Reddit #73698597

FarceMultiplier@reddit

Funny enough, it autocorrected to that.
View on Reddit #73700064

AnotherBaldWhiteDude@reddit

not a special episode but that movie with a young Helen Hunt, she drops acid and throws herself outta school window.
View on Reddit #73697598

Hepkat98@reddit

Desperate Lives with the PCP! I can still picture her jumping out of the window.
View on Reddit #73699579

InOurBlood@reddit

Final episode of MASH
View on Reddit #73698225

Big_Midnight_9400@reddit

Every time I hear that intro, I'm transported back to the 70's . Suicide Is Painless
View on Reddit #73699363

cheesegirl72@reddit

I think I've seen this post every few days. Why are we still talking about this?
View on Reddit #73699360

Medeamama@reddit

The final episode of St Elsewhere with the snow globe
View on Reddit #73698720

Big_Midnight_9400@reddit

Forgot all about this good program. Had a catchy tune as well if I remember correctly.
View on Reddit #73699264

escargotini@reddit

Diff'rent Strokes, where the ginger kid gets kidnapped in the final season Gimme a Break, where the girl does blackface Silver Spoons, where Ricky has a dream about starting a nuclear war with Russian Facts of Life, where Natalie loses her virginity Cosby Show featuring Stevie Wonder "j-j-jammin on the one"
View on Reddit #73685805

SarcasticGirl27@reddit

I remember the episode of Facts of Life where Natalie gets attacked & almost raped on her way back to campus.
View on Reddit #73699233

KLLR_ROBOT@reddit

I don’t remember that Facts of Life episode
View on Reddit #73686762

escargotini@reddit

It was after Mr. Drummond married a woman with a little kid. Pretty sure it was the final season. Gary Coleman was still around, but the other kids had left the show
View on Reddit #73687546

1981denver@reddit

Along the lines of Facts of Life...when Natalie and Tootie buy a bong and Mrs Garrett knows what it's actually for. I wanna say they thought it was a candy dispenser or dish of some sort.
View on Reddit #73689194

Duckonaut27@reddit

Hahahaha! I remember that jammin on the 1. I think about that strangely often.
View on Reddit #73687953

milehighgayguy@reddit

"What do you say at a party?"
View on Reddit #73686601

duke5572@reddit

With *zero* hesitation
View on Reddit #73686804

bigwomby@reddit

Blossom
View on Reddit #73687826

RebaKitt3n@reddit

Which one?
View on Reddit #73693325

SarcasticGirl27@reddit

Did it matter? Wasn’t every Blossom episode a Very Special One?
View on Reddit #73698963

KOMpushy@reddit

Does anyone remember the episode of Growing Pains when Carol almost bangs that carney?
View on Reddit #73688404

SarcasticGirl27@reddit

Or the episode where Carol & Sandy (Matthew Perry) drive drunk & he ends up in the hospital & he dies from internal bleeding? And of course Mike is the one to tell her so she thinks he’s playing one of his stupid jokes before she realizes it’s true.
View on Reddit #73698894

Moody_GenX@reddit

The creepy clown mask rapist on Little House on the Prairie. I was 9 and had no idea rape existed.
View on Reddit #73687739

hexboundthrall@reddit

I'm massively relieved that I have no recollection of that. We watched Little House on the Prairie and the Waltons all the time.
View on Reddit #73687945

Soylent_Milk2021@reddit

Seeing the picture someone provided, I’m very glad I missed that one. LHOTP was a heavy show on the regular.
View on Reddit #73696603

Busy_Paint_5680@reddit

https://preview.redd.it/ki29r3fblp7g1.png?width=612&format=png&auto=webp&s=5ac54955eaf54e2ab5630868e74be6dfb764a82c
View on Reddit #73691620

Soylent_Milk2021@reddit

Little House 2 parter where Charles helped some kid detox off opiates. Family Ties with Tom Hanks as the alcoholic uncles drinking all the vanilla in the house. Last episode of M*A*S*H. Gimme A Break, when the dad died.
View on Reddit #73685199

_herenorthere66@reddit

I swear to god I think about Tom Hanks slamming vanilla extract almost every time I use it.
View on Reddit #73685764

Swear_to_Swear_More@reddit

Was it vanilla or almond extract? In any case seeing tom hanks go “oh I’m sorry did you want some” to Alex cracked me up.
View on Reddit #73691525

Soylent_Milk2021@reddit

My wife and I both remember it as vanilla. Shouldn’t be too hard to check if you’re really curious.
View on Reddit #73696527

TheNextMrsDraper@reddit

I think it was the Ingalls’ adopted son, Albert, that became a morphine junkie on Little House.
View on Reddit #73686611

Longshanks123@reddit

“Some kid” that was his adopted son Albert lol
View on Reddit #73686501

Poultrygeist74@reddit

I had to buy vanilla extract from behind the counter the other day, thanks to Tom Hanks for playing Uncle Drunky in Family Ties
View on Reddit #73696238

heretik77@reddit

Yup. Thats the one. And didn’t Kimberly and Sam get kidnapped at some point? That show was the fucking ruler of the “very special episode” universe. Runners up: the episode of Mr. Belvedere where Wesley gets molested at summer camp by his counselor Perry. And that episode of Small Wonder where Jaime’s friend is such a chaw addict at the age of 9 that he gets mouth cancer. #justicefordudley
View on Reddit #73694969

heretik77@reddit

Also want to add the Sylvia episodes from Little House on the Prairie and also when Albert gets addicted to heroin. That show had all kinds of fucked up shit.
View on Reddit #73695071

Disastrous-Sir4501@reddit

The Sylvia eps were traumatizing. Still can’t watch them.
View on Reddit #73696064

jasoncb123@reddit

Home Improvement. Wilson’s chin
View on Reddit #73695928

AnarchiaKapitany@reddit

When [Duck Tales was interrupted because the PM died.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_interruption_of_DuckTales_in_Hungary) It's a generational anchor point for us.
View on Reddit #73694955

avec_serif@reddit

Wow, never heard of that but sounds intense.
View on Reddit #73695732

RTVGP@reddit

When Ricky Schroeder shot the deer on Silver Spoons (and the disclaimer at the end that “no animals were harmed in the filming of this program”).
View on Reddit #73695542

airbag11@reddit

The boy in the bubble
View on Reddit #73695385

LBravo6@reddit

The one where Kevin kissed winney ( spelling ). My ears got so dam hot for some reason.
View on Reddit #73694825

Summerie@reddit

When Jessie Spano is overwhelmed by her schoolwork and the pressures of being a straight a student, and she turns to abusing (gasp!) *caffeine pills* to keep up the pace!
View on Reddit #73694161

redboe@reddit

![gif](giphy|U4dU4fKm3xAchkygZB)
View on Reddit #73694599

echobase_2000@reddit

Folks, we’re not talking about amazing episodes of shows we love, we’re talking “very special episode” which is how the promo ran, letting you know the normally family friendly show was suddenly going to talk about drugs or eating disorders. Like Jessie on Saved by the Bell taking pills or every fourth episode of Blossom. I’m probably wrong about that since I didn’t watch but I remember the promos.
View on Reddit #73687306

Summerie@reddit

And the Different Strokes episode where the man who runs the bike shop is a child molester!
View on Reddit #73694554

museedarsey@reddit

Wow. I never realised as a kid that’s what “a very special episode” meant. I can hear the faceless announcers on the various channels saying it, but I never pieced it together.
View on Reddit #73692987

Content_Annual_7230@reddit

Jessie was the one that came to my mind just from the title of the post.
View on Reddit #73687459

queenamidallface@reddit

I'm so excited....
View on Reddit #73690954

TheFamilyJulezzz@reddit

I'm so scared
View on Reddit #73691875

Wm_of_Orange@reddit

Buffy “The Body”
View on Reddit #73689966

Confident_Luck2359@reddit

“…Mom? Mommy?”
View on Reddit #73690423

pettybettyIMaSHORTIE@reddit

Thats ranked #2 for me #1 was the episode HUSH
View on Reddit #73691879

Confident_Luck2359@reddit

Hush was definitely the best, most amazing episode. But The Body was the gut-punch, traumatizing episode.
View on Reddit #73692858

pettybettyIMaSHORTIE@reddit

Yea it was... made me cringe to think how would i react if that was myself, finding my mother that way
View on Reddit #73694357

Summerie@reddit

Ugh, that still hurts.
View on Reddit #73693935

Listlessyoungold@reddit

When they finally revealed Bob on Twin Peaks! I was aghast
View on Reddit #73694120

Tough_Friendship9469@reddit

21 Jump St. AIDS episode. Johnny Depp - “Oh,… uh,… I don’t like chocolate milk.” AIDS student - “No one ever does…”
View on Reddit #73687305

Accurate-Bumblebee14@reddit

I immediately thought of this one
View on Reddit #73694085

LithiuMart@reddit

The last episode of "The Good Life", at the moment when they get back to Tom & Barbara's house to find the place has been ransacked. Heartbreaking.
View on Reddit #73694064

r1Rqc1vPeF@reddit

Last ever episode of Black Adder - nothing more needs to be said.
View on Reddit #73693634

Inc-Roid@reddit

When the bully kid on Degrassi Junior High got aids
View on Reddit #73693600

Danny_Mc_71@reddit

Zammo overdosing on heroin in Grange Hill. Grim stuff for a kid's show.
View on Reddit #73688504

BubbhaJebus@reddit

There was an episode when a kid drowned in the pool too.
View on Reddit #73688624

AnyaSatana@reddit

I remember that one. The image of the pool is seared on my brain.
View on Reddit #73693415

trackaghosthrufog@reddit

I remember the first couple of seasons of that show was uncharacteristically very serious and quite heavy for a kid's show. I liked it a lot, but it was deep stuff compared to others.
View on Reddit #73690723

Grigori_the_Lemur@reddit

Futurama - Iron Chef WKRP - Thanksgiving MASH - Finale Just Shoot Me - Wacky Hello Talk Radio - Joey Buttafuoco
View on Reddit #73692125

RebaKitt3n@reddit

Commas would help or skip a line. 💜my first thought was the WKRP episode.
View on Reddit #73693235

Grigori_the_Lemur@reddit

Thank you for catching that. On the phone app it does look correct but I keep forgetting you need another new line for it to format it that way in a reply. Terrible "feature".
View on Reddit #73693326

bishpa@reddit

John Astor as the desert island hermit in the hurricane episode of the Love Boat (S1E1-2). Barbi Benton and Mrs Roper too!
View on Reddit #73686313

KLLR_ROBOT@reddit

Oh Barbie Benton 😍
View on Reddit #73686661

museedarsey@reddit

She was always on those shows
View on Reddit #73693244

baycenters@reddit

[Bob Newhart ](https://youtu.be/ZgdUWXf8jJk?si=urI7wkCI-rd4G2Tc)
View on Reddit #73693123

CaydeTheCat@reddit

Much more recent but *My Screw Up* from Scrubs. Just hearing *Winter* by Joshua Radin will wreck me no matter where I am or what I'm doing. "Where do you think we are?" 😭😭😭😭😭
View on Reddit #73690350

Realistic_Minimum196@reddit

Masterpiece.
View on Reddit #73692756

Realistic_Advisor_82@reddit

Cherie getting stuck in the old freezer on Punky Brewster
View on Reddit #73691023

A-EFF-this@reddit

The Halloween episode doesn't fall under "very special" but jfc
View on Reddit #73692424

Artistic_Half_8301@reddit

When Monroe got SA'd on Too Close for Comfort.
View on Reddit #73692019

A-EFF-this@reddit

The way they played it for laughs somehow scared me even more. Definitely not something that aged well!
View on Reddit #73692382

Thrashbear@reddit

The final episode of Dr. Mark Greene on ER.
View on Reddit #73692099

HissTankDriver@reddit

This Different Strokes was the first thing I thought of. That and when the burglars broke into Webster’s house.
View on Reddit #73691961

Swear_to_Swear_More@reddit

Was that the one where Arnold and Kimberly got kidnapped or the one where Sam was kidnapped? Damn….You’d think as rich as Drummond was he could manage some personal security for his kids.
View on Reddit #73691270

Not-a-Kitten@reddit

Was that the molester one? I remember the creepy guy scenes.
View on Reddit #73691641

Swear_to_Swear_More@reddit

So there were basically THREE kidnappings and two involved Arnold….doubling down on the Drummonds needing security guards lol
View on Reddit #73691920

HeyItsJustDave@reddit

Futurama - the dog episode Frasier- during the original run there was an episode when Woody Harrelson guest starred, and the ending where they looked at each other and said “Cheers” to each other always felt genuine. The Expanse - Tom Jane’s final episode
View on Reddit #73691669

EricAntiHero1@reddit

Before my time but Good Times “Damn, Damn, Daaamn!”
View on Reddit #73688169

Busy_Paint_5680@reddit

Yes
View on Reddit #73691557

stlredbird@reddit

There was a very special Small Wonder where a kid did chewing tobacco and got mouth cancer after like a week.
View on Reddit #73685644

Trees_are_cool_@reddit

That's just stupid.
View on Reddit #73688314

Swear_to_Swear_More@reddit

Small wonder was pretty stupid in all actuality
View on Reddit #73691441

Trees_are_cool_@reddit

That's for sure
View on Reddit #73691475

AMGRN@reddit

Uncle Ned drinking the vanilla on family ties.
View on Reddit #73684533

EricAntiHero1@reddit

I had an alcoholic “friend” who was on the wagon, but she went through a lot of vanilla extract, soy sauce, listerine, and cough syrup. All that but no actual alcohol. Gave herself stomach cancer.
View on Reddit #73688108

marauderingman@reddit

As a teenager, the local shopkeep I worked for sold lots of Aqua Velva, to people who usually didn't smell very nice.
View on Reddit #73690994

AMGRN@reddit

Oof, jeez I’m so sorry that’s terrible!
View on Reddit #73688322

EricAntiHero1@reddit

Oh don’t be. She was cool once but she was mentally unstable to extreme levels and no amount of care or interventions deterred her. I cut her out of my life when she threw a flaming drink on my face when we tried to stop her from stealing peoples drinks at a concert. Melted a contact lens into my eye. Terrible person.
View on Reddit #73689355

LetEdgarIn@reddit

I think of it every time I make cookies.
View on Reddit #73684959

AMGRN@reddit

It’s actually how I learned vanilla has alcohol in it
View on Reddit #73685144

dustin91@reddit

Tom Hanks!
View on Reddit #73684642

IFeelFineFineFine@reddit

The Falcon has landed The fat man walks alone
View on Reddit #73684911

lovelyb1ch66@reddit

Who shot JR
View on Reddit #73690946

shakeyjake@reddit

Gordon Jump from WKRP on Different Strokes. He played The Bicycle Man who was a molester. He also played the eternal angel Peter in the film shown in Mormon temple ceremonies. It was weird casting as a Mormon kid.
View on Reddit #73690149

benyovo@reddit

Came here to say this!
View on Reddit #73690920

caarmygirl@reddit

Oh. Mah. Gawd. YES. Thanks for that.
View on Reddit #73690263

VermouthandVitriol@reddit

That phrase always makes me think of Clone High ending every episode with “Next week, on a very special episode of Clone High…”
View on Reddit #73690672

RunnySpoon@reddit

That one X-Files episode, IYKYK. There was also an episode of The Twilight Zone (I think) in a prison; a prisoner makes an agreement with the undertaker to escape in the next coffin that leaves the prison, the undertaker is to let him out once they’re away from the prison. He lights a match to see who he’s in the coffin with and it’s the dead undertaker.
View on Reddit #73686249

KLLR_ROBOT@reddit

You mean “Home”?
View on Reddit #73686729

echobase_2000@reddit

Super disturbing but it’s not exactly a “very special episode”. It wasn’t a teen or family show awkwardly shoehorning a social issue into a “very special episode” about adoption, bullying, drug abuse, eating disorders, etc.
View on Reddit #73687161

KLLR_ROBOT@reddit

I agree, but it’s the only episode I could think of that was pretty distinct from the others
View on Reddit #73688046

seahawk1977@reddit

A "Very Special Episode" means an episode of a TV show that was a veiled PSA about drugs, alcohol, etc, not a just memorable episodes.
View on Reddit #73689511

marauderingman@reddit

To be fair: > At the time of its airing in 1996, the episode was accompanied by a TV-MA warning and a viewer discretion warning.
View on Reddit #73690528

marauderingman@reddit

Mother under the bed? Mother under the bed.
View on Reddit #73690484

Trees_are_cool_@reddit

Who is "he"?
View on Reddit #73688255

LauraLand27@reddit

Well, I don’t know. Or don’t remember. Which X-files episode?
View on Reddit #73687907

PushTheButton_FranK@reddit

I'm pretty sure that was from Alfred Hitchcock Presents, not the Twilight Zone. I remember it because of the intro where they outlined Hitchcock's face and nose.
View on Reddit #73687053

DC55449@reddit

Omg - I had forgotten about that episode - and it all came flooding back. Thank you for posting! Such a memorable moment.
View on Reddit #73690499

SugarMag1976@reddit

Punky Brewster and the refrigerator.
View on Reddit #73686607

garygnu@reddit

Yes! It was also about CPR.
View on Reddit #73687426

Snackypants@reddit

Yes! Never go inside a refrigerator, kids!
View on Reddit #73688020

Charming_Resist_7685@reddit

Apparently, the entire run of Punky Brewster was supposed to be "very special" episodes. According to Mental Floss, Punky "was created to help satisfy a Federal Communications Commission mandate that early-evening programming be either news-oriented (*60 Minutes*) or somewhat educational. As a result, Punky’s adventures often involved the perils of sleeping pill addiction, missing kids on milk cartons, child molestation, or a rampaging serial killer."
View on Reddit #73690374

coolmommytm@reddit

Punky Brewster and the empty fridge episode
View on Reddit #73690355

pemart22@reddit

The Fresh Prince episode where Will’s dad basically abandons him and Uncle Phil steps up and they hug it out.
View on Reddit #73690316

hatechef@reddit

"Which Doobie you be?"
View on Reddit #73690280

marauderingman@reddit

Hunter, the episode when his female partner is brutally raped in her own home. One Diff'rent Strokes episode sticks out - the one where one of the boys forgot about a screwdriver in his pocket - probably the same episode referenced by OP. Family Ties, with Tom Hanks as the drunk uncle who drank an entire bottle of vanilla extract.
View on Reddit #73690267

Agent7619@reddit

Damn, I must not have been an impressionable kid. I recognize lots of these that have been mentioned, but never would have remembered any of them myself.
View on Reddit #73685323

Willlll@reddit

The Home Improvement "Very Special" episode is the only one I can remember and that's just because of the Dana Carvey show. https://youtu.be/NfDjnAdczQI?si=6bAiC9CH78S1qSl8
View on Reddit #73690180

aogamerdude@reddit

TV wasn't that important to you as a youngster, compared to checking out a cave or lake with friends I take it. 
View on Reddit #73685393

Agent7619@reddit

Actually, yeah. I did spend far more time playing in the woods.
View on Reddit #73685429

CulturalAssistance67@reddit

Wherever the first episode was of dukes of hazard i saw... daisy
View on Reddit #73690005

LucilleLooseSeal123@reddit

Dude fucking Mr Belvedere where the kid is molested by the swim teacher (I think? Admittedly I’m an elder millennial so I was VERY young)
View on Reddit #73689758

bdiddy621@reddit

When Cherie got stuck in the fridge on Punky Brewster. When Mary’s baby died in the fire in Little House. When Wheels’ parents got killed on Degrassi Junior High. And not a show but a book. Sweet Valley High’s #40 On the Edge when Regina tries cocaine and dies
View on Reddit #73684318

mmm_skyscraper@reddit

I swear to god Regina is what kept me from ever trying cocaine 😂
View on Reddit #73685375

Efficient-Career-829@reddit

Yes same.
View on Reddit #73689459

_herenorthere66@reddit

SAME!
View on Reddit #73685818

bdiddy621@reddit

Same here! That book was so shocking to us in middle school. I remember we kept passing it around. But it definitely stuck with me over the years!
View on Reddit #73685663

AMGRN@reddit

The little house episode “Sylvia” was a fun little childhood trauma for me.
View on Reddit #73685338

ElectricalYellow1180@reddit

THE FRIDGE!!!
View on Reddit #73684624

EricAntiHero1@reddit

![gif](giphy|8Nr2sk9ok2oda) Only because of how idiotic it was.
View on Reddit #73685446

garygnu@reddit

Fresh Prince did the same thing around the same time, too.
View on Reddit #73688048

EricAntiHero1@reddit

I knew girls who lived of dexatrim during finals weeks because they still had amphetamines.
View on Reddit #73689423

Star_shine2001@reddit

Yep. This. 😵‍💫
View on Reddit #73686241

cabin-porch-rocker@reddit

My so called Life Christmas episode
View on Reddit #73685975

Efficient-Career-829@reddit

💔
View on Reddit #73689365

Leading-Fly-4597@reddit

I can hear the song
View on Reddit #73686995

pit_of_despair666@reddit

Roseanne's domestic violence episode
View on Reddit #73687592

Quiet_Internal_4527@reddit

Poor Crystal.
View on Reddit #73688934

sandwiches-are-good@reddit

And Jackie
View on Reddit #73689135

Hilandr234@reddit

I think you mean Jackie
View on Reddit #73689066

Olderbutnotdead619@reddit

After school special with Marlo Thomas about being free to be you and me. And if I'm remembering correctly, it was about sex.
View on Reddit #73685171

PocketFullOfPie@reddit

Intercourse? Not at all. Gender roles, absolutely. As groundbreaking as it was then, it's completely tone-deaf now
View on Reddit #73687474

Olderbutnotdead619@reddit

50 years can do that to anything, everything
View on Reddit #73688928

Miss_take_maker@reddit

Punky Brewster, when Cherie gets stuck in the old refrigerator. I’ve been traumatized since.
View on Reddit #73688833

Freightshaker000@reddit

The Edith attepted rape episode from All In the Family.
View on Reddit #73685692

Tired_o_Mods_BS@reddit

Yeah that was crazy.
View on Reddit #73686009

1BiG_KbW@reddit

One? I thought there were two episodes.
View on Reddit #73686948

Freightshaker000@reddit

It was a 2-parter.
View on Reddit #73688826

EricAntiHero1@reddit

It wasn’t attempted. It happened and it got played for laughs.
View on Reddit #73688150

pcadv@reddit

"A My Name is Alex" - Family Ties.
View on Reddit #73684259

Petrostar@reddit

I still remember the one where Alex and his friends snuck off to West Virginia to drink. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTjn9iFnn9Q](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTjn9iFnn9Q)
View on Reddit #73688724

dustin91@reddit

That’s what I was going to post. Happened a year after a good friend of mine was killed in a drug deal gone wrong, and I could not watch it with my family. Had to watch it alone.
View on Reddit #73684807

OolongGeer@reddit

Very good one. I'd add the Uncle Ned episodes.
View on Reddit #73684351

Kimba26@reddit

The WKRP where the people get trampled at the concert because of a stampede in General Admission seating. Which[did happen.](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/december-3/eleven-people-killed-in-a-stampede-outside-who-concert-in-cincinnati-ohio)
View on Reddit #73686499

tigers692@reddit

As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.
View on Reddit #73688675

Trees_are_cool_@reddit

Which came first?
View on Reddit #73688163

mslass@reddit

https://preview.redd.it/n1qy0a5yzo7g1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=15d11693bacf5f25cf61b59e74ab769c52a03952
View on Reddit #73687302

Cool-Coffee-8949@reddit

And in Cincinnati too.
View on Reddit #73686635

Brass_Bonanza@reddit

When a creepy dude stole nakey photos of Loni Anderson on WKRP.
View on Reddit #73688568

MelodyRaine@reddit

Family Ties, the episode about Skippy's adoption.
View on Reddit #73686695

Dear-Silver9491@reddit

I remember that one so well. It was so sad!!!
View on Reddit #73688507

laborinthequarries@reddit

The final episode of MASH. My dad let me watch it with him when it aired. That scene with Hawkeye on the bus has never left me.
View on Reddit #73685060

Soylent_Milk2021@reddit

There were lots of MASH episodes that were tearjerkers, but that Hawkeye bus scene shook me to the core of my kid self.
View on Reddit #73686084

LauraLand27@reddit

The audible gasp and inability to breathe
View on Reddit #73688477

Blerkm@reddit

I’m choking up just thinking about it.
View on Reddit #73688132

Tough_Friendship9469@reddit

Albert’s addiction to heroin!! “Make ‘em stop, Pa!! Make ‘em stop!!”
View on Reddit #73687169

Trees_are_cool_@reddit

Opium. Heroin hadn't been invented yet, I don't think. It was a Bayer trademark, I think.
View on Reddit #73688107

Tough_Friendship9469@reddit

I think it was morphine, but yes, not heroin. Just what my child brain labeled it.
View on Reddit #73688140

Trees_are_cool_@reddit

Yep, you're right! It **was** morphine.
View on Reddit #73688400

Rave-Doctor@reddit

Season 6 episode of ER (Be Still My Heart) where Carter and Lucy are stabbed at the end, with Battle Flag playing in the background. 🫣
View on Reddit #73684134

AMGRN@reddit

Or when Mark Greene lost the baby and they played lightning crashes by Live. Ugh. Heartbreaking.
View on Reddit #73685588

EruditeKetchup@reddit

I remember it was the mom that died. The baby survived and I think the dad sued Greene later.
View on Reddit #73688279

AMGRN@reddit

Yes!! That’s it! (It’s been a loooooooong ass time since I watched it lol)
View on Reddit #73688356

Nacho_Sunbeam@reddit

I refused to watch that show ever again because I was so mad they killed off Lucy.
View on Reddit #73684715

Rave-Doctor@reddit

Yeah I was pretty distraught about it.
View on Reddit #73685040

GotchUrarse@reddit

The episode of ER where George Clooney saves the kid. There are very few TV shows that draw tears. This is one of them.
View on Reddit #73685472

OpheliaMorningwood@reddit

The one where Dr Green loses a new mother, Loves Labor Lost
View on Reddit #73685971

ChaosAside@reddit

Was this the one where they identify the preeclampsia too late and there’s nothing they can really do to stop it?
View on Reddit #73686482

OpheliaMorningwood@reddit

That’s the one. He couldn’t get any of the specialists to help him. He cried on the train home. SO heavy.
View on Reddit #73686525

ChaosAside@reddit

Yeah, I still think about this one occasionally. Especially when people talk about at what point a woman’s life is really in danger due to her pregnancy.
View on Reddit #73686798

LauraLand27@reddit

I’m going off strictly memory here, so I could be totally wrong. ER was early-mid 90’s, yeah? I cried at every episode. Can’t remember a one. I just remember the feels. I was about to be a single parent, became one, then tried to navigate the court stuff without it affecting my child. Lots of mental gymnastics. ER was cathartic for me. That’s all I got.
View on Reddit #73688345

PocketFullOfPie@reddit

I remember the ads leading up to it were making it sound positively riveting. I was all pissy and "don't dare me like that" and... I was positively riveted.
View on Reddit #73687375

hexboundthrall@reddit

Growing Pains coke party
View on Reddit #73688248

BigRefrigerator9783@reddit

Growing Pains where Carol's boyfriend dies
View on Reddit #73687352

Calista189@reddit

Sandy!! Never forget
View on Reddit #73688246

mraza9@reddit

RIP Chandler.
View on Reddit #73687853

jackherzog33@reddit

When we "meet" Tony Arcaro at the ending of "Out Where The Buses Don't Run. " Miami Vice, season 2, third episode
View on Reddit #73685776

KLLR_ROBOT@reddit

With “Brothers in Arms” by Dire Straights playing through that scene. Great stuff
View on Reddit #73686816

jackherzog33@reddit

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSARDlHh-Mg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSARDlHh-Mg)
View on Reddit #73688204

HeavyTea@reddit

Jesus. The best.
View on Reddit #73686888

Harkonnen_Dog@reddit

90210 Gun Episode 21 Jump Street AIDS episode
View on Reddit #73684921

Clear-Calligrapher69@reddit

Walker Texas Ranger AIDS episode.
View on Reddit #73688161

Brkthom@reddit

The gorilla on Gilligans Island.
View on Reddit #73687428

Brkthom@reddit

To be fair, it was probably a man in a gorilla costume. At least I’m 99% sure it was.
View on Reddit #73687503

Brkthom@reddit

That’s why I felt like the Professor was highly suspect in this one. He was the only one with the skills to make a gorilla suit.
View on Reddit #73688086

Ghengis_Khans_PR_Guy@reddit

And where are they going to find a gorilla suit on a desert island? 
View on Reddit #73687981

KOMpushy@reddit

The CPR episode of Punky Brewster
View on Reddit #73688022

RootHogOrDieTrying@reddit

The Wave!
View on Reddit #73685481

garygnu@reddit

My history teacher at my first high school played this one. Then after I moved mid junior year a few months later, my history teacher at my second high school played it.
View on Reddit #73687998

RetiredEelCatcher@reddit

Seems oddly appropriate nowadays.
View on Reddit #73686369

negcap@reddit

Fonzie jumping the shark in 2 parts. Brady Bunch in Hawaii, too.
View on Reddit #73685669

LauraLand27@reddit

Hence the etymology of “jumping the shark.”
View on Reddit #73687955

beebs44@reddit

Vincent Price was da bomb Also when they go to Grand Canyon and get locked up
View on Reddit #73685821

Stefgrep66@reddit

The last episode of Blackadder goes forth. Poignant, funny and the over the top final scene has become iconic
View on Reddit #73687948

LeisureSuiteLarry@reddit

The ones I care about I see often enough. The others I don’t need to see again. And none of them are worth flying 4 hours to be around.
View on Reddit #73686427

BigRefrigerator9783@reddit

r/lostredditor
View on Reddit #73687218

LeisureSuiteLarry@reddit

Right sub, wrong topic
View on Reddit #73687802

Lucky_the_pig_mouse@reddit

It wasn't a chicken.
View on Reddit #73685075

Tough_Friendship9469@reddit

Yup. This, this, and always this. ![gif](giphy|RrVzUOXldFe8M)
View on Reddit #73687647

wraithsonic@reddit

MASH had some serious mind fuck episodes.
View on Reddit #73686475

HelpEmpty7231@reddit

1000 percent. This one stuck with me for a long time.
View on Reddit #73685671

Kaedryl@reddit

Diff’rent Strokes where Arnold and friend meet the pedophile
View on Reddit #73687604

RandomNumberHere@reddit

[Hewitt’s Just Different](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0123888/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk). They made us watch it in school. Probably because we had a kid in our class who was… different.
View on Reddit #73687568

cromulenttapeworm@reddit

The Bicycle man- Diff'rent Strokes.
View on Reddit #73684587

Harkonnen_Dog@reddit

![gif](giphy|FCNCHPW2twn8A)
View on Reddit #73684688

security-six@reddit

It was a ballsy career choice for Gordon Jump to play that character
View on Reddit #73685394

FujiKitakyusho@reddit

Other than this character, I only remember him as Mr. Carlson on WKRP, and (I think?) as the Maytag repair man.
View on Reddit #73687451

Haunting-Whereas-868@reddit

That episode is so gross, yeah. But it got the point across!
View on Reddit #73685215

Harkonnen_Dog@reddit

Stranger danger. Not today, bicycle man.
View on Reddit #73685801

Sweetness_Bears_34@reddit

WKRP in Cincinnati: the who concert
View on Reddit #73685573

PushTheButton_FranK@reddit

Honestly, pretty ballsy of them to reference an actual real tragedy and talk about it. I'm struggling to think of another example from that time that was handled on the same way.
View on Reddit #73687214

Tough_Friendship9469@reddit

Greg and the pack of cigarettes!!🚬
View on Reddit #73687117

Leading-Fly-4597@reddit

Raised by TV. ✌️
View on Reddit #73687091

PowerNinja5000@reddit

The Roseanne about Crystal's dead husband has always stuck with me.
View on Reddit #73686835

Own-Contribution-478@reddit

Arnold and Dudley at the bike shop.
View on Reddit #73685561

wraithsonic@reddit

Poor Dudley
View on Reddit #73686210

Derfargin@reddit

Diddly
View on Reddit #73686549

Mr_Stike@reddit

Every time I saw "This week on a very special episode of..." I knew I should just skip it.
View on Reddit #73686304

Agent564@reddit

Futurama: Jurassic Bark ![gif](giphy|VCxeOahhet6wg|downsized)
View on Reddit #73685048

HelpEmpty7231@reddit

Nope, can't watch this one.
View on Reddit #73685701

Agent564@reddit

It gets harder to watch as I age and my dog ages faster. (as he snores next to me 😂)
View on Reddit #73686282

Illustrious_You_6210@reddit

![gif](giphy|YPz4LRDTXKWloIp4Wl|downsized)
View on Reddit #73685763

pej69@reddit

Stop. Now.
View on Reddit #73685207

Lazy_Tell_2288@reddit

Punky Brewster - hide and seek and the refrigerator
View on Reddit #73685234

Star_shine2001@reddit

1000000% this one. Ughhh
View on Reddit #73686273

_drumtime_@reddit

Oh 100%. We don’t play in refrigerators, thanks Punky.
View on Reddit #73685336

Lazy_Tell_2288@reddit

It’s traumatized me SO MUCH that I check to make sure refrigerators at the curb for big trash day (bulk pick up) have the doors removed.
View on Reddit #73685412

CommanderAmander@reddit

Yes! I came here to say this
View on Reddit #73685333

flipzyshitzy@reddit

Malcolm In The Middle where the family beats the shit out of the clowns on Lois' birthday.
View on Reddit #73686129

gin_and_soda@reddit

None.
View on Reddit #73686067

insidia@reddit

Degrassi Jr High with the pregnancy.
View on Reddit #73685744

DevilsLettuceTaster@reddit

Family Ties, Alex on speed. Him cleaning the neighbors garage cracks me up to this day. I don’t think I remember The Day After or my parent’s reaction. I was young.
View on Reddit #73685494

EricAntiHero1@reddit

The Day After made for TV movie.
View on Reddit #73685479

crap70@reddit

The poker game episode of Cheers.
View on Reddit #73685455

_herenorthere66@reddit

Matthew Perry on Growing Pains
View on Reddit #73684268

ChromeGhost76@reddit

The exact one I was thinking.
View on Reddit #73685410

AMGRN@reddit

Sandy’s death was SO SAD. (As was Perry’s)
View on Reddit #73684560

Weird-Girl-675@reddit

This. Screwed me up for a long time. Still have the “Carol learns a heartbreaking lesson” TV Guide ad in a scrapbook from middle school.
View on Reddit #73684357

OolongGeer@reddit

Good one.
View on Reddit #73684331

darktideDay1@reddit

The White Shadow episode where the kid on PCP jumped off the roof. I can fly...
View on Reddit #73685398

CommanderAmander@reddit

The Challenger episode of Punky Brewster. 😢
View on Reddit #73685362

DevilsLettuceTaster@reddit

My two favorite are Cave Dwellers and Pod People. But there are a lot of great ones. The “modern era” Reptilicus and Cry Wilderness
View on Reddit #73685347

bigrobdd@reddit

Did You See the Sunrise? Part 1& 2 Magnum, P.I.: Season 3
View on Reddit #73685325

misagale@reddit

lol. There was an “afterschool special” where Helen Hunt took PCP and jumped out of a window.
View on Reddit #73684660

Yidboy@reddit

I remember the one where Ben Affleck was on steroids
View on Reddit #73684844

AMGRN@reddit

Holy shit I just realized that was Ben Affleck!!🤣🤣
View on Reddit #73685232

CheetahNo9349@reddit

R.I.P. Dudley's o ring.
View on Reddit #73684740

Haunting-Whereas-868@reddit

Are you talking about on Different Strokes? That one pediphile episode?
View on Reddit #73685160

MaximumJones@reddit

A very special Brady Bunch episode where we learned that you never pick up ancient tiki idols on the beach because hijinks will ensue. https://preview.redd.it/3lgvyw03no7g1.jpeg?width=472&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=44a8fcd00bdae4b5b906228f2d5580e10078402f
View on Reddit #73684234

bdiddy621@reddit

Haha yes so much so in fact that we are big travelers and usually bring home a very small rock that I put on the windowsill in our kitchen but we did NOT bring one home from Hawaii. 😂
View on Reddit #73685022

AMGRN@reddit

I can hear this picture!!!🤣🤣🤣
View on Reddit #73684584

cookiesandpunch@reddit

I couldn’t watch WKRP for a long time after that one
View on Reddit #73684147

dustin91@reddit

Was very cool they incorporated that
View on Reddit #73684980

JuliusSeizuresalad@reddit

When Dudley’s dad got lung cancer
View on Reddit #73684635

LetEdgarIn@reddit

Yesss. The freeze frame of him putting out the cigarette!
View on Reddit #73684918

Veedeh@reddit

Goodbye farewell and Amen on M*A*S*H*
View on Reddit #73684859

Ok_Replacement4702@reddit

The episode of MASH where Winchester took speed and also gave speed to a mouse.
View on Reddit #73684834

BigDaddyDirtclod@reddit

Fonzie crashing while trying to jump trash cans on Happy Days.
View on Reddit #73684825

aogamerdude@reddit

I didn't even watch Dallas, at least not a full episode, but that darn one about who shot JR, which I also never saw, darn boomer talk before the internet.   The Peanuts holiday specials,  Garfield holiday specials, heck most of the cartoon holiday editions- Looney Tunes, etc.
View on Reddit #73684765

cookiesandpunch@reddit

Alex P. Keaton studying on speed
View on Reddit #73684180

Weird-Girl-675@reddit

![gif](giphy|CsX9t4AA0PYpq)
View on Reddit #73684374

Ok-Description-4640@reddit

The scared straight episode of Fat Albert. And the N-word episode of Gimme A Break.
View on Reddit #73684283