Live-Action TV/Tear Jerker/Series that need Works Pages

Einstein and Eddington

 * Einstein and Eddington, anyone? Eddington's best friend, William, is about to go off to fight in WWI and Eddington almost misses the train. Just when you think he's about to say goodbye to William, he's caught by a colleague seeing his son off and forced to make small talk. He cycles to the next station, but doesn't quite catch the train - he sees William on board, but William doesn't look out of the window. Later, inevitably, William dies at Ypres. Finally, Eddington breaks down and admits to his sister that he loved William, which is what he wanted to tell him at the station...and a few scenes later, to highlight the poignancy, the aforementioned colleague accuses Eddington of knowing nothing about grief.

Fridays

 * Fridays is a Saturday Night Live Expy-cum-Dueling Show from the early 1980s that not that many people remember and hasn't been seen on television in a long time (it doesn't even have an official DVD release because Michael Richards signed a deal stating that he didn't want the show to be put out on home video -- even though clips from Richards' days as a Fridays cast member can be found on Seinfeld's third season DVD set). Nonetheless, it still had its Tear Jerker moments:
 * Faced with the daunting task of doing a live comedy show the Friday after John Lennon's death and not making light of the tragedy, Fridays did itself proud. The show went on with no mention of Lennon until just after the "Friday Edition" news segment. Then the screen went blank and the words to "Imagine" scrolled across the screen. It said all that needed to be said.
 * Another episode had a dramatic sketch in which a punk rocker (Michael Richards) returns home to his elderly father, who keeps asking who he is and telling the man that he has no son. The son takes this as a sign that his father wants nothing to do with him because of the generation gap and the fact that the son had been away from home for so long. The son then gives an impassioned speech about loving and accepting him, despite the mistakes he made --.

Documentaries
"You could say today I'm 27 years old. I was reborn when I left the camp. The years before didn't matter."
 * One section of the PBS documentary Carrier as the sailors stand on the deck while pulling into Pearl Harbor. The combination of Five For Fighting's "World" in the background and the sheer beauty of the execution of the scene sent her into a blubbering mess.
 * The documentary series "Secrets of the Dead" also had one incredibly tear-jerking episode. The scientists were trying to identify several anonymous corpses recovered in the aftermath of the Titanic disaster, nearly a century after they had been buried. When they exhumed the bodies however, they found to their horror that most of the graves had been filled with water and there was almost no DNA left they could use for identification. Only one grave wasn't flooded - the grave reserved at the top of the hill for the body of an unidentified baby boy. Incredibly, they found a tiny bone fragment that hadn't decomposed yet, and it contained just enough DNA so that they could finally identify the boy. The scientist who performed the identification was so moved that he seemed to be holding back tears, and could only say that "Someone wanted us to know who this child is."
 * There's more. IIRC the reason why the bone fragment had been preserved was because of a copper plaque reading "Our Babe" that had been bought for the no-expense-spared funeral arranged by the men who found the body. These were big, tough men who had done the dangerous work of laying telegraph cables in the Atlantic; and because they were so moved by their discovery of the Unknown Child, and honoured him with that plaque, it was finally possible ninety years later to find out his identity.
 * The episode ends with another incredibly tear-jerking scene. It was found that the boy had surviving relatives in Finland, they flew all the way to Halifax, Canada to visit his grave. They found that there were already flowers on his grave. It was then that they realized that ever since the baby died, the people of Halifax had been taking care of the boy as one of their own. It took nine decades and the love of countless strangers so that a baby boy could finally have a name.
 * Worse still, they spoke to a lady whose mother met the boy's mother, recalling seeing her panicking in the flooding stairwell, lamenting to God, 'Do they all have to die by water?!' Yes, it seems just months before, Our Babe's older sister had drowned in a pond.
 * One episode of Walking with Dinosaurs featured the last flight of a male Ornithocheirus (a massive flying reptile ) on his way to the mating grounds: it ends with the male dying alone on a deserted beach over the course of several agonizing hours. Everything about the scene, from the heartwrenching music to the sight of the creature trying desperately to rise one last time.
 * In the sequel series Walking With Beasts, when the young indricothere (a giant giraffe-like rhino) was violently abandoned by its own mother as she got a new baby. RL is such a Crapsack World...
 * What gets me every time isn't so much the Parental Abandonment itself; that was strongly foreshadowed earlier on in the episode. Instead, it's the scene where the young indricothere is injured while on his own, prompting him to return to his mother -- except, now that she's suckling her new baby, she sees the previous one as nothing but a threat, and drives him away. It's worth noting that this practice occurs among modern-day rhinos as well.
 * The Alzheimer's Project - just reading an article about it was enough to induce tears.
 * China's Unnatural Disaster - The 2008 earthquake in China. All those children, almost all of them only children.... One mom: "I have no tears left"
 * CBS did a miniseries of the life of George Washington. At the end of the Revolution, just before Washington resigns his command of the Continental Army to go home, he has a meeting with all of his principal commanders and staff. After a short speech Washington asked that each one of them to come up so he can shake their hand before he leaves. These men had fought a war that lasted eight years, fought in tremendous battles and suffered great deprivation and as they passed Washington both he and them (and the viewers) were so overwhelmed with emotion that no one was capable of speech and wept unashamed as Washington embraced each one of them. This was also Truth in Television.
 * In the History Channel's The Revolution series, the show mentions that after the Revolutionary War, many of the American generals and officers were unhappy with Congress refusing to pay them, and began considering a military coup to seize power from Congress. Washington, horrified at the idea, confronts his officers. He gathers them all in the room and prepares to give a speech, but before doing so, puts on a pair of glasses. The officers are shocked, as they had never seen Washington wear glasses, and Washington explains that he had lost his vision over the course of the war. Realizing how much Washington had sacrificed to win the war, every single officer in the room breaks down in tears and the crisis is averted.
 * The World At War is full of heartbreaking stories from various eyewitness accounts, but the speech from a Hungarian who'd survived a concentration camp - made even sadder by the speakers almost completely emotionless narrative.


 * The documentary Mayday! Bering Sea on the sinking of the Alaska Ranger, during Ed Cook talking about finding that his brother had died.
 * History Cold Case is a programme which goes back in time and analyses dead bodies, finding out their history. One episode involved a Victorian prostitute, originally thought to be in her late 20s, racked with non-congenital, tertiary syphilis and likely to be utterly destitute, living in one of the most deprived areas of the country. That depressing enough for you? Then its revealed that the girls is in her late teens. This means that she would have had to have got her syphilis as a child, possibly when she was six/seven.
 * One episode of Nova documented a six-year attempt to identify a World War II-era submarine that had been found off the coast of New Jersey. It was finally identified as U-869. The filmmakers found that one of the crewmembers' sisters had emigrated to the United States after the war and had settled in Maryland, a few hours from the New Jersey coast. She had been told that her brother's U-boat was presumed lost off Gibraltar. The filmmakers went to her home and filmed the moment that she was told that her brother was much closer than she had believed...

Dead Like Me/Tear Jerker
"George: Why do I keep losing all the things and people that I care about? Rube: That's what life is, Peanut."
 * Dead Like Me was full of them.
 * Piper Laurie's portrayal of an Alzheimer's patient who didn't realize she was dead in "Forget-Me-Not".
 * Rube meeting with his daughter in "Always".
 * Mason taking the soul of a gay man and helping his partner deal with his grief in "The Bicycle Thief".
 * In the episode "Haunted" when
 * A few episodes end with the slow, sad song "Que Sera, Sera". That song ended the first episode, where George has to reap
 * The scene in the church with Daisy and the MTF transgender person had me in tears and hugging my pillow.
 * Speaking of Daisy, the scene where they revealed her last thought -  - always got to me. It really puts her boasting about all the celebrities she's slept with into a new perspective. Mason's reaction only sealed the deal.
 * The loss of . So soon after losing her sister Reggie loses her best friend.
 * Reaper Madness, when George's mom gave her those written notes for her teeth instead of cash. Disappointed by the lack of loot, young George tosses the note saying "You are loved" into the trash. Later, her mom finds the crumpled up note. She just falls apart. And so do I.
 * The loss of  and then this is said:

Deadliest Catch/Tear Jerker

 * One of the earliest was in the first season, with the sinking of the FV Big Valley. Feature vessel Maverick and Cornelia Marie (then not a feature vessel; it was partnered with Maverick and only had cameras as a backup) were part of the rescue effort. Of six on-board, only one was found alive, and only two of the dead were recovered.
 * Season five had a several of these, starting with the sinking of another boat. The episode is punctuated with home videos of the doomed crewmates, with one of them joking that "they oughta be on Deadliest Catch."
 * Later, upstart greenhorn Jake of the Northwestern (who was earlier burned in effigy on another boat for a prank he pulled - it was all in fun, they really just wanted to get rid of the effigy's Northwestern sweatshirt) got the devistating news that the youngest of his four older sisters had died after years of battling painful illnesses. Captain Sig and the cameraman decided not to film Jake getting the news but kept the audio, which is gut-wrenching. The episode ends at night, with Jake on an engineless boat crossing to another boat as the background music contains the lyrics "My sister and I..."
 * In a follow-up episode Jake talked about how close he was with his late sister, who he talked to her every day he was back home, and that he also considers his crewmates the big brothers he never had.
 * Likewise, the seemingly hard-hearted Captain Sig considers Jake to be the son he never had. Aww.
 * Word of Captain Phil's stroke making its way through the crab fleet, and the varied reactions of the other captains as the news makes it down the line. Captain Sig throws the radio handset, then throws away his cigarettes in anger while Captain Keith tearfully pleads to God, "Cut him some slack, Big Guy."
 * The montage at the end of the episode "Redemption Day", alternating between scenes of Josh Harris at the hospital after Captain Phil has a setback and the fleet working and plowing through rough seas with Johnny Cash's "Redemption Day" playing in the background. And at the very end is Josh Harris' phone call to his younger brother Jake to let him know that their father has passed away.
 * The last half of the episode Valhalla when the rest of the crabbing fleet learn of Phil's passing is heartbreaking in itself but watching each ship do a different method of tribute to him will leave you in tears.
 * Time Bandit sets off fireworks in Phil's honor.
 * When they leave harbor after learning of the passing the Northwestern makes a slow pass around the Cornelia Marie as they do one of crew salutes the ship, later Sig talks about the old fisherman's tale of how seagulls are fishermen passed on and how the seagull sitting on his bow at that moment just might be Phil. He also noted that, while Phil was in hospital (almost a month), the sea raged...and then after he died, it went dead calm.
 * On the Wizard Captain Keith rings the bell eight times as his crew throws back a full crab pot, with its shot and buoys (one of which has In Memory of Captain Phil Harris written on it) inside so it stays submerged as a memorial, so he'd "always have some crab to come back to."

Dexter/Tear Jerker

 * For a show where the main character is a Serial Killer and death is often treated flippantly and with very black humor, Dexter can be surprising in its ability to invoke tears. Here's a list.
 * Dexter's flashback to what happened to him as a child, when he is faced with a crime scene that triggers the repressed memory of . The look on his face when he is overwhelmed by the full realization of what happened is heartbreaking. No wonder he's so messed up.
 * Dexter breaking down, sitting in the corner of the room, crying, after  in the season one finale.
 * Deb's breakdown in the parking lot after.
 * Dexter coming home in the season four finale to find.
 * The.

EastEnders/Tear Jerker

 * Eastenders has had its moments too. Zoe calling Kat 'Mum' for the first time when they said their goodbyes just before Zoe caught her train out of the series.
 * The recent storyline of Ronnie Mitchell finding out that Danielle was her daughter that she gave away. The climax of it was utterly tragic beyond belief
 * The episode where Ethel died, especially her final scenes with Dot... a heart-rending story fantastically and sensitively acted. Also Mark Fowler's departure.
 * The episode where Dot was by herself.
 * The Live Episode

Eureka/Tear Jerker

 * at the end of "I Do Over".
 * The end of the episode "Right as Raynes." After Callister and Zoey, and Callister is leaning against the bus.   Seeing Nathan, of all people, in tears, somehow makes it worse.

Fraggle Rock/Tear Jerker

 * On the episode 'Change of Address' when Gobo sang 'Petals of a Rose.'
 * "Marooned": It's episodes like this that make Media Watchdogs forbid children's shows from showing two main characters slowly suffocating to death in the dark, wondering what it will feel like to die...
 * Despite this (or possibly because of this), "Marooned" is considered by many fans to be the overall best episode of the series.

Frasier/Tear Jerker

 * "I'll miss the coffees."
 * "While it's tempting to play it safe, the more we're willing to risk, the more alive we are. In the end, what we regret most are the chances we never took." Damn you, damn you, damn you and your tear jerking abilities, Kelsey Grammer.
 * Daphne's breakdown while Niles is in surgery.
 * The home movies of Frasier and Niles' mother.
 * "Take it from someone who knows... you don't want to spend half your life thinking about a chance you didn't take."
 * At the end of the 2001-2002 season premier, these words appeared on the screen: "In loving memory of our friends Lynn and David Angell". The executive producer and his wife, killed aboard the first plane to hit the World Trade Center.
 * When Niles & Daphne in the series finale.
 * In the 9th Season, when Martin calls Eddie over for a hug after realizing how old he's gotten, and that he won't be around forever.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air/Tear Jerker
"Will: How come he don't want me, man?"
 * Occurred in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air after Will reluctantly admits that the drugs which put Carlton in hospital came from his locker. There's a moment of anger and disbelief before Will all but starts crying and Uncle Phil hugs him. I've never seen a Studio Audience so quiet in my life.
 * The Fresh Prince of Bel Air had a few Tear Jerkers that managed to be effective without being falling into the maligned Very Special Episode territory. The episode where Will reunites as an adult with his absentee father (played by Ben Vereen), only to have the latter abandon him again, gets me every time.
 * Oh God, the last scene, where excited Will realizes his dad ran out on him again and starts angrily saying he doesn't need him, he learned how to shave without him, to play basketball, etc., and he's crying by the end (Will Smith! Crying!), and finally he just breaks down and asks Uncle Phil why his dad doesn't want him, and Uncle Phil holds him, and THAT could be dealt with until the credits, where they show the present Will had bought for his father: a sculpture of a father holding his son. And it was all downhill from there.


 * Will's reaction is sad enough, but it's the look on Uncle Phil's face that gets to me the most--he's absolutely furious with Will's father, yet clearly on the verge of tears himself.
 * And re: Phil being Will's father in every real sense, he tells him as much in the last episode.

""Goodbye, Trevor.""
 * The final part of "Bullets over Bel Air" always got me. At the start of the episode, Will and Carlton are held up at gunpoint when they get some money for a camping trip they've got planned, and Will ends up diving in front of a bullet for Carlton. In the last act, Will, still in hospital and having barely escaped being paralyzed or killed, is confronted by a Carlton so shaken up by events and determined to prevent something like that happening again that he's bought a gun. Will's desperate attempt to keep it together while he orders Carlton to give him the gun, in exchange for having saved his life, is bad enough. But when he finally does and Carlton leaves, Will holds on just long enough to unload it before he finally breaks down, alone, terrified and injured in his hospital bed.
 * The episode where Will and Carlton are driving a Mercedes for a business partner of Uncle Phil's and are pulled over and arrested after driving slowly through a wealthy neighborhood. At the end, Will and Carlton have an argument about whether it was racial profiling or the police just doing their job. Will leaves and Carlton asks Uncle Phil about it and Uncle Phil expresses his anger over it. That's not the tear jerker, though - it's Carlton sitting alone in the living room and saying, "I'd have pulled us over" again and again, trying to make himself believe it and accept the injustice.
 * Trevor's death. At first Hilary just passes it off, but over time, she sees it as a real loss. Even when she tried to move on with another man, she still couldn't get over it since he died so suddenly, she never got to say goodbye. This leads to Will telling her it's never too late to say goodbye and he'll live on in her heart. This cheers her up and she is able to move on, but not before one final goodbye to her late lover.