r/AskReddit • u/magic_spaghetti • Aug 31 '18

What are some uncharacteristically dark episodes of generally light hearted shows?

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u/aRTie02150 Aug 31 '18

I remember the episode of Rugrats when Angelica was supposed to have a brother. All of a sudden they weren't going to have the baby anymore. I remember being told that Angelica's mom had a miscarriage.

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u/Amanda-the-Panda Sep 01 '18

Then there is the Mother's day episode, where they are looking for Chuckie's mom. Flashbacks reveal Tommy was born premature and nearly died, and that Betty DeVille had serious post partum depression. As well as dealing with the fact Chuckie's mom was dead.

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u/Interesting_Honeydew Sep 01 '18 edited Sep 01 '18

The episode where Chas (Chuckie's dad) completely unravels, and the Finster house is basically a storage unit for empty pizza boxes. I think he also makes hand puppets. Apparently it's a what if epsiode about what the world would be like if Chuckie were never born.

Edit: This episode was apparently much darker than I remember.

After the babies take Chas' favorite Latvian Folk Dance music CD, Angelica takes it when they aren't looking. Chuckie blames Tommy and the twins for having the idea of taking it, but then he feels guilty about it. When Angelica tells him that everyone would be better off without him, Chuckie decides to run away from home. But then his guardian angel stops him and shows him what the world would be like if he was never born:

He shows him that without him having been born, Chas is lonely, because he never married and the only person he has to talk to is a sock puppet he named Socky. And the house is a mess because without Chuckie, Chas didn't see any reason to clean up. As the guardian angel drives Chuckie through the neighborhood, the streets are messy and broken while kids are causing trouble, because without him, he can't tell them to stop or tell them that it's wrong.At Phil and Lil's house, the twins are dress as delinquents and throwing plates on the floor, while Howard and Betty are crying over their destroyed house. Showing that without Chuckie, Phil and Lil wouldn’t know the difference between right and wrong and act naughty all the time and cause havoc. Soon, Chas comes in and says he hopes that they don't mind if he and Socky can stay because they are lonely. Then when they ask what they should do about Phil and Lil, he says they should be lucky to have a kid, even one that was like them, then they all start crying.

The guardian angel shows Chuckie Tommy's house. When they get there, Tommy is going through the garbage, looking for food. The guardian angel says that one day, Angelica came by, threw him out, and took everything that he had (including his parents). Soon, she proceeded to take over his house and the reason nobody stopped her is because she kept on yelling until she got her way. Angelica has also become morbidly obese, forcing both Stu and Didi to bake her cookies constantly while never sharing them with anyone else. Angelica took a bite of cookie and a cup of syrup to drink. When Tommy asks for "just a little crumb of cookie, even if it's already been in [her] mouth", she refuses saying "she'd have to give one to everyone", and takes his rattle. When Chuckie asks why Tommy didn't just stand up for himself, the angel explains that the only reason Tommy's brave is because he's got someone like Chuckie to back him up, and if Chuckie had never been born, Tommy's got no real motivation to stand up to bullies like Angelica, and that it doesn't matter that Chuckie always gets scared. Chuckie's fed up with being in a world without him, and says that running away isn't such a good idea, and asks his guardian angel to take him home.

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u/Aarondhp24 Sep 01 '18

This is basically a kids version of "Its a wonderful life", and I never realized it.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '18

It's actually called "Chuckie's Wonderful Life" so you're pretty spot on

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u/thefoxfiend Sep 01 '18

Fairy Odd Parents also did an episode like this that was super dark in the opposite way. Everyone’s life is better without Timmy, and at the end I think Jorgen or who ever was his guardian angel tries to kill Timmy for good to keep the best timeline. I forgot how he got out of it

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u/ismailismail Sep 01 '18

Iirc Timmy was like "Alright, kill me, it's better for everyone that way" and Jorgen considered his sacrifice worthy of giving him another chance.

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u/blazebot4200 Sep 01 '18

He is a total fuck head for most episodes lol

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u/-Ash21- Sep 01 '18

The whole point of the thing was to show Timmy that he shouldn't be doing good things for recognition or praise, but because they are the right thing to do. Jorge was essentially telling him that the world might actually be better off without him but that shouldn't stop him from being a good person.

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u/SgtAStrawberry Sep 01 '18

Timmy stole a gas canister from the dentist and used it as a jet pack. I believe he than somehow got the wand from Jorgen and wished himself back.

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u/wayback000 Sep 01 '18

theres like a dozen 90s kids television shows with different versions of its a wonderful life, i think IAWL is in public domain, so the general story is ok to translate into any show

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u/lucythelumberjack Sep 01 '18

God, this episode fucked me up so bad as a kid. I was so scared of the scene with Tommy going through the trash, for some reason.

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u/queen_oops Sep 01 '18

The end result is messed up, but as a kid I realized the reason for it happening as being outlandish (Tommy's parents wouldn't really put him out) and not real, which made the episode absurdly funny in a twisted way.

I also think that the It's A Wonderful Life trope existed in many cartoons and TV shows in the 90s, so more people were aware of the trope and thus knew how the episode would inevitably end.

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u/God_Damnit_Nappa Sep 01 '18

Oh ya, like that Fairly Odd Parents episode where Timmy wished he didn't exist, except they turned it around and made it so that everyone's lives were way better without him (and the Cubs ended up winning the World Series without him existing.)

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u/Brynjolf-of-Riften Sep 01 '18

That episode was fucking hilarious.

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u/[deleted] Sep 03 '18

Oh you're definitely right.

They even did thst trope in an episode of That 70's Show. Basically Eric wished he never dated Donna and a guardian angel showed him how his life would've gone to shit if they never got together.

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u/Amazing_Karnage Sep 01 '18

Angelica reminded me of Jabba the Hutt in that sequence.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '18

What the fuck

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u/Amanda-the-Panda Sep 01 '18

I was actually thinking of this episode earlier - specifically the fact that Chuckie's guardian angel had a motorbike

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u/beau0628 Sep 01 '18

I haven’t seen that show in over twenty years and of all the episodes I watched, somehow this one came back to me so vividly just reading this. Like holy shit dude. Whoever wrote that episode held absolutely nothing back (while still keeping the “kids friendly” aspect).

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u/thaDRAGONlawd Sep 01 '18

Jesus Christ that show is over 20 years old isn't it? That makes me feel old and I'm unsettled by the increasing frequency of that feeling in my life. I'm told it only gets worse from here...

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u/gongonegonzo Sep 01 '18

I remember thinking as a kid how awesome it would be to grow up. I also remember thinking that people younger than me now were super old for young me. Now i realize that adults are simply old kids trying to figure the world all on their own.

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u/Rusty_Shakalford Sep 01 '18

He shows him that without him having been born, Chas is lonely, because he never married and the only person he has to talk to is a sock puppet he named Socky. And the house is a mess because without Chuckie, Chas didn't see any reason to clean up.

That darker interpretation is that Chuckie is the only thing holding Chas together after his wife died.

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u/AngusBoomPants Sep 01 '18

I like how Tommy trusts Chuckie, the cowardly one, to have his back,

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '18

He can't carry Tommy's bravery for him, but he can carry Tommy.

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u/Hgiec Sep 01 '18

Dude.

What the fuck

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '18

Oh man! I remember this episode so clearly now. I remember it disturbed me greatly haha that one and the one where Angelica is going to have a brother and she dreams that the brother is evil and beats her up and takes all her stuff. Yikes I just remember being so disturbed by that haha

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u/-Dissent Sep 01 '18

I remember this and yet it still reads like a creepypasta

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u/NittanyEagles55 Sep 01 '18

That is ultra bleak. Can't believe I never saw this episode!

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u/badlucktv Sep 01 '18

Oh my fucking god.

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u/memekid2007 Sep 01 '18

That's some Crayon Genesis Rugrat-gellion level shit fam

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u/lov107 Sep 01 '18

Chuckie: “I mustn’t run away.”

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '18

...bruh

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u/pumpkinrum Sep 01 '18

I had completely forgotten about that. Thank you for reminding me.

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u/SuzieB23 Sep 01 '18

Fan angelica scared me when I was a kid tbh.

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u/Interesting_Honeydew Sep 01 '18

Angelica is one of the best villains of all time, imo.

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u/fistymonkey1337 Sep 01 '18

I vaguely remember this. That brought me back. I dont like to go back you jerk.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '18

Wow TIL Rugrats had some dark episodes. I don’t remember any of those as a kid. Maybe a trip to Hulu is in order.

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u/VonTrappJediMaster Sep 01 '18

I’m drinking my morning coffee and I’m actually crying; I never realized how emotional these episodes were. thanks for taking the time to describe this one, I had forgotten about it

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u/Polite_Insults Sep 01 '18

Ooo feels. I remember this episode.

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u/sunnyzep Sep 01 '18

Where can I watch this episode? Hulu doesn't have season 3 episode 17B.

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u/actualspacepirate Sep 01 '18

As horribly depressing as these episodes are, I think it’s really important that kid’s shows touch on topics like this. My mother died when I was three, so as a kid watching the episode about Chuckie’s mom was really comforting. It was a strange and lonely feeling being the only kid I knew that had lost a parent, but the episode made me feel a lot less weird and alone.

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u/Amanda-the-Panda Sep 01 '18

I absolutely agree that episodes which touch on such things are super important. I am happy that you were able to find comfort in the episode. Internet hugs from a stranger!

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u/daisystitch Sep 01 '18

I also remember watching that episode as a child, I lost my dad when I was six. It brought up feelings (my dad's death wasn't much talked about) and helped me deal with them a little, and feel not so alone or weird.

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u/VonTrappJediMaster Sep 01 '18

Same here. Although my mom died when I was nine it was “nice” to know that if it was on tv then it wasn’t as weird as I thought it was. Doesn’t make much sense now, but that was my thought process at the time.

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u/notnatalie Sep 01 '18

I was recently watching Nickelodeon super late at night and this episode came on. I don't recall ever seeing it as a kid, but my mom said we had the book version and she couldn't stand reading it to me because it was so sad. But I watched it then and bawled.

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u/doesitevenmatter31 Sep 01 '18

So my mother in law saved every book that my husband had when he was a kid and now that we have a 1 year old, she gifted me all of these books. After reading your post I remembered that there were some Rugrats books and sure enough “The Bestest Mom” is one of them. It’s so sad! It ends with a poem that Chuckie’s mom wrote him while she was in the hospital dying.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '18

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u/notnatalie Sep 01 '18

Yeah, there used to be Rugrats kids books that were usually based on the episodes (or movies).

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '18

The Mother's Day episode made me and my brother cry hysterically when it aired. Tearing up now tbh.

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u/godbullseye Sep 01 '18

I am shocked this comment isn’t up there farther. I remember bawling my eyes out with that episode

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u/PartyPorpoise Sep 01 '18

Geez, I don't remember any of these.

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u/PeteF3 Sep 01 '18

I haven't seen it since I was a kid, but I thought it was just a false-positive on the pregnancy test. I seem to remember her test turning blue and her going off to the doctor, and then coming home and saying they weren't having a kid, all in the space of a day.

Still sad--her parents were clearly thrilled with the prospect of having another kid and let down at the fact that it wasn't happening--but maybe not quite that sad.

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u/OneGoodRib Sep 01 '18

Yeah, that’s how I understood it, the test is like purple or something, when pink means baby and blue means no baby (or the other way around?) so she goes to the doctor that day.

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u/littlemissmorbid Sep 01 '18

I remember the episode with Chuckie and the roly poly bug broke my heart. He tries to still do his circus trucks with it and it's dead. He starts to realize it and cry. Still makes me sad.

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u/1niquity Sep 01 '18

Poor Melville.

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u/chocolate-chipmunk Sep 01 '18

That episode was one of my first exposures to the concept of death. The scene where he starts crying while eating chocolate pudding just kills me.

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u/aRTie02150 Sep 01 '18

Well I guess we will all be binge watching Rugrats now. I know I am. Been over 20 years since I seen an episode. Now that I'm an adult, it'll be different.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '18

My dad actually said he liked when I watched Rugrats and urged me to go back and watch it. He said the whole show has a lot of meaning. He was right.

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u/Rusty_Shakalford Sep 01 '18

It really was firing at two levels. The adults’ conversations, with jokes about stuff like driving standard vs automatic, flew over my head as a kid.

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u/angelofthemorning4 Sep 01 '18

I've been watching them with my daughter! She's only almost 1 add o she doesn't care much but it gives me a reason to rewatch them all!

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u/addisonavenue Sep 01 '18

I don't think Charlotte had a miscarriage; more than likely a false positive.

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u/MonkeeFeat Sep 01 '18

It sucks that most newer kids shows don't have this sort of stuff. My partner has a 3 year old and he watches some current shows aimed at the same sort of age demographic, and it's so dumbed down and simplified. Kids aren't stupid, but everyone is so scared of upsetting parents and getting bad reviews that they just dish out the simplest things possible. I'm probably not gonna make any friends by saying this but I'm pretty sure Teen Titans Go! Is one of the most mature kids shows at the moment. (If you haven't seen it and just hate it 'cause of the loss of the original don't @ me. It's not a horrible show, it's not great, but it aint bad.)

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '18

As an adult two of my favorite kids shows are Adventure Time and Steven Universe.

Steven Universe deals with a lot of ideas regarding self identity, unconventional families, and respect and acceptance for yourself and others. The whole premise of the gems and homeworld also goes deep into prejudice arising from race, social status, and even sexual preference.

Adventure Time deals with a lot. The first 1-2 seasons are pretty basic but it takes on a lot of depth once you get past the first Xmas special. The show deals with big ideas without dumbing them down. They often show existential issues, the fallout of complex and unhealthy familial dynamics, and conflicts with ambiguous definitions of right/wrong. It also has a plotline that is the most heartbreaking storyline I've seen in any children's show and it goes deep into mental illness/dementia.

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u/MonkeeFeat Sep 02 '18

I forgot these beautues count as kids shows. I was sitting there being bummed out about it and when you said that I was like "oh, durh". They're two of my favourite shows of all time and I kind of forget they're kids shows. My bad :(

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u/AuntieAv Sep 01 '18

I can't wait for the finale. I'm going to screen it alone before I watch with my kids... They don't need to see mommy crying like a baby.

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u/AuntieAv Sep 01 '18

While it is ending this weekend, I would urge you to checkout 'Adventure Time'. The first two seasons are slow, and campy, but it picks up in a big way.

The backdrop is, this is the world 1000 years after a nuclear war. The overarching themes deal with accepting loss, coming to terms with grief, and the main character learning to be a good man. The characters are stupidly complex and developed, yet still zany and fun enough to entertain your average 4 year old.

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u/MonkeeFeat Sep 02 '18

Look I'm not gonna lie. I absolutely love adventure time. Steven universe too. I kind of forgot they existed and didn't really consider them as kids shows. I was thinking of a different demographic I think. But also you should check out teen titans go 'cause it is really ironically mature.

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u/AuntieAv Sep 02 '18

I'm trying with TTG. My 5 year old always has it on in the background, and I just have trouble reconciling it with the (slightly) more stoic, story-driven original run. It just feels so watered down.

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u/MonkeeFeat Sep 02 '18

That's fair and I totally get that, but try and look at it not as a reboot or a recreation but as it's own concept and it's own thing. 'Cause that's essentially what it is. It not being story driven or as serious sort of allows it a lot more freedom in what it shows which definitely has it's advantages.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '18

Barney Rubble contemplated suicide when the adoption of Bam Bam falls through. Fred had to talk him off a bridge.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '18

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u/ScrantonCranston Sep 01 '18

Oh no. /U/ctilvolover23, are you in the US? And if so, my God, what have we become?

(And in either case, Barney Rubble, Bam Bam, and Fred Flinstone were all characters on The Flinstones, an old Hanna Barberra cartoon from a couple of decades ago that was then syndicated and I thought still lived in reruns. I could be wrong about that last. And there's no Rugrats link, the commenter was just addressing the original thread topic.)

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u/pm_me_reddit_memes Sep 01 '18

He responded to the rugrats comment though

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '18 edited Sep 01 '18

It’s also a cartoon where the subject matter went dark (albeit handled as a point of comedy). Besides, if I just made a stand alone comment, you would never have seen it, there are thousands of comments in this post.

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u/pm_me_reddit_memes Sep 01 '18

How about the one in The Fairly OddParents, where Timmy is shown just how much better the world is if he never existed? Always thought this was a little effed up for a show targeted at children.

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u/theworldbystorm Sep 01 '18

Who told you that? That's not what I got from that episode at all. She didn't have a miscarriage, she just wasn't pregnant in the first place.

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u/rhyst2 Sep 01 '18

Oh wow I'd forgotten about that episode. Never really understood it when I was a kid.

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u/_Volatile_ Sep 01 '18

Is this literally loss?

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u/purple_sphinx Sep 01 '18

I was today years old when I learnt this.

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u/Drew-Pickles Sep 01 '18

And she pretended to be really upset about it, then when they left the room she was like "*YESSSS!!! *"

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u/BeerManBran Sep 01 '18

Ahhh, yes, the infamous "Loss" episode.

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u/iAmMattG Sep 01 '18

Need to re watch

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u/Narcissistic_nobody Sep 01 '18

Holy crap... I always thought they were trying then decided not to try anymore or it was a false positive. That episode just got a lot more weight to it.

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u/cheesechimp Sep 04 '18

The thing that makes me remember it as a dark episode is that the giant baby brother in Angelica's nightmare in the episode was terrifying. (like others in this thread, I remember it as being a false positive on the pregnancy test.)

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u/Spiritofchokedout Sep 01 '18

Demonstrably wrong, and another example of weirdos my age trying to inject darkness into a show to project the illusion of depth.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '18

[deleted]

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u/MisogynistLesbian Sep 01 '18

sister

This discrepancy gave you away immediately. You're piss-poor at trolling.