Pop Culture | TV | 80s

8 Sitcom Episodes That Were Way Too Dark For Us To Be Watching

By Matt |

Sitcoms have been around pretty much as long as TV has been a thing, but in the 80s, they seemed to be especially common. Not only that, but we also saw the rise of "very special episodes," which almost always meant it was going to deal with something incredibly serious that would probably ruin your fun time. Here are 8 times shows caught us totally off guard with something serious.

Small Wonder

Best remembered as the sitcom starring a girl robot who has to hide her identity, Small Wonder took a turn for the dark with the episode "The Girl on the Milk Carton." The family's young boy finds his new friend Chrissy's picture on a milk carton, revealing she's a freaking missing child who was kidnapped away from her mother by her father! This is played for jokes for the entire episode.

Mr. Belvedere

Wesley's friend Danny has to pull out of the school play. Why, you might ask? Because he contracted AIDS from a blood transfusion. This is played for laughs. Really.

Diff'rent Strokes

In the two-part episode "The Bicycle Man," the Drummond family go to Mr. Horton's bike shop, where he takes something of a... liking to Arnold and Dudley. They spend more time at the store, until Mr. Horton gives them freaking glasses of wine and pornography magazines, and then tries to get them to strip naked for photos! It's respectable that they tried to tackle a serious issue like pedophelia, but the episode just ends up being a real WTF moment.

These next few episodes are pretty freaking dark...

Punky Brewster

The show regularly dealt with some pretty intense issues, from kids getting trapped in freezers to the freaking Challenger explosion. However, the most intense was by far when Punky got lost on a camping trip. She and the kids stumble upon a group of Native Americans, who tell them the freakiest story about an evil spirit that lives in the area. It's real tough to watch, especially as a kid.

Too Close For Comfort

This often-forgotten (because it was dull as dishwater) sitcom tried to tackle a serious issue by having Monroe, one of the lead characters, be abducted and sexually assaulted by two women, who try to do the same to his friends but are then arrested. It's an incredibly tough subject, and their approach to it involved terrible jokes through the whole episode.

Designing Women

This quirky sitcom suddenly took a turn for the serious when the ladies' firm is hired to design a funeral for a young gay man, who was dying of AIDS. Unlike a lot of the other shows on this list, this one actually took the subject very seriously (it was based on the loss of show creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason's mother, who died of the disease), at a time when the U.S. Government had only just recently acknowledged it.

The Facts of Life

Imgur

In the episode "Fear Strikes Back," Natalie is sexually assaulted while coming home from a costume party (dressed as Charlie Chaplin no less) and develops agoraphobia from the event. Holy crap guys.

Diff'rent Strokes (AGAIN)

This show just couldn't stop with the jarringly serious moments apparently. In the episode "The Hitchhikers," Arnold and Kimberly decide to hitch a ride with someone who turns out to be a serial killer/rapist. Arnold manages to escape and alert the police before something happens to Kimberly, who is locked in the killer's dark room. You know, fun for the whole family!

Did any of these episodes catch you by surprise as a kid? Let us know in the Facebook comments!

More Throwbacks

80s

Andrea Barber Reveals 'Full House' "Crossed A Line" With Kimmy Gibbler

By Meg
Everyone's favorite annoying friend, Kimmy Gibbler, was the punchline to many jokes on Full House. Whether it was one-off remarks about not being wanted in her own home, constantly telling her her feet stink or making fun of her outfit which leads to her confronting Jesse, the show made sure one thing was well known: Kimmy Gibbler was a big joke. "Wouldn't it be great if they could lose the [plane] passengers instead of the luggage?" asks Jesse after Kimmy comes back from a trip. "Go live with a wildebeest," was one from Danny Tanner. "Hey, Kimmy, where are you

Pop Culture

10 Of The Best King Of The Hill Episodes That Will Have You Saying "Yep"

By Alex
King of the Hill was a huge part of our afternoon and evening television schedule when we were growing up. The show ran from 1997 until it was finally wrapped up in 2010, and even though it stretched out until 2010 we are still going to consider it a throwback because of its humble late 90s roots. Hank, Peggy, Bobby and Luanne made us all remember that regardless of the differences in personalities, family (and possibly propane) is the most important thing in a person's life. With that being said, here are 10 of the best King of the Hill

90s

These 7 Quizzical Facts About "Wishbone" Proves No One Ever Listens To The Dog

By Jon
I can pretty much guarantee that most people reading this article learnt more about literature from Wishbone than any college course. This wisecracking dog was incredible at teaching the finer points of many classic books and tied the major themes to a moral lesson that we could all use in our lives. While Wishbone can speak for himself, here are some little-known facts about the show that we uncovered out by Wanda Gilmore's garden!Dog-Read-Dog WorldMovieFoneThe idea for a show came from the creators own Jack Russel Terrier whose life and behaviors he would narrate in his home. "Well, what

90s

13 Facts About 'Tiny Toon Adventures' That Are A Little Loony

By Zachary
The cartoon that defined our Saturday mornings growing up picked up where the classic Warner Bros. cartoons left off, with a new cast of characters inspired by our old favorites.But we bet there's a lot you never knew about this classic series. Here are 13 tiny but toony facts about the show.1. The animator's followed the "Mother's House" ruleUnlike the original Warner Bros. cartoons, you never saw characters pointing guns at each other in Tiny Toon Adventures. But you also didn't see many characters being hit with chairs, smacked with rolling pins, or threatened with knives.Warner Bros.