Very Special Episode: Difference between revisions

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''Tonight, on a very special article of All The Tropes...''

{{quote|''Tonight, on a very special article of All The Tropes...''}}

An episode, often in a sitcom, in which the lead confronts some highly emotional or forbidden issue from everyday life. Drug abuse, teenage sex, bulimia... At the end of the episode, the protagonist is Enlightened, and the [[Long-Lost Uncle Aesop|guest character]] with the Very Special Problem is never seen or heard from again. Often there is an 800 number to call, should you (or someone you love) actually have the Very Special Problem. If the problem involves children in some way (and it almost invariably ''will''), then it may also be promoted as something that "No Parent Should Miss". These often come about when [[Oscar Bait|networks or writers are bucking for awards]].

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* ''[[The George Lopez Show]]'' had a lot of these involving [[TV Teen|Carmen]]. Every teen sex related thing happened to her, just short of getting an STD or getting pregnant.

* ''[[Little House on the Prairie (TV series)|Little House On the Prairie]]'' in almost ''every'' episode. Walnut Grove had a never-ending line of suffering citizens needing help from the Ingalls.

* ''[[~~MASH|~~M* A* S* H]]'' had the infamous one where Henry Blake goes home, where the show utterly destroyed the convention for comedies {{spoiler|never letting any main character die. Also, torpedoed the idea of meaningful deaths in war}}.

* ''[[M*A*S*H (television)|M*A*S*H]]'' had the infamous one where Henry Blake goes home, where the show utterly destroyed the convention for comedies {{spoiler|never letting any main character die. Also, torpedoed the idea of meaningful deaths in war}}.

* ''[[A Different World]]'' had an episode on date rape co-starring Tiamak.

** And one about AIDS starring Tisha Campbell.