Top 30 Darkest Sitcom Moments Ever

These sitcoms weren't afraid to delve into dark territory. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for memorable instances where popular sitcoms shift to a grimmer tone. Our countdown of the darkest sitcom moments ever includes “That’s So Raven”, "The Big Bang Theory", "8 Simple Rules", "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air", "MASH", and more! Do you think that sitcoms should stay away from drama, or do you welcome the change of pace? Let us know in the comments!

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[Thepopcornator]

It’s not exactly a sitcom like these, but… Sesame Street dealing with the death of Mr. Hooper. Gets me, even as an adult.

[trinaq]

"How come he don't want me, man?" That line breaks my heart, Will Smith's real life dad was always there for him, but he based it off of some of his pal's deadbeat fathers.

[TightyWhitieTrash]

the *Rosanne* episode when *Jackie* is experiencing *DV* by *Fisher* was good. *Dan* silently grabbing his coat means no1 messes w/ his family 👏🏻

[codyhiginbotham]

When an actor passes away and they do an episode where that actor’s character dies, you can practically guarantee that the co-star’s tears are real

[CandiceVidito]

Fresh Prince. Both the episodes where Will gets shot & Carlton gets a gun & the episode where Carlton accidentally overdoses on pills.

[sammylane]

Admit it, when we saw Dan Connor over heard what happened to Jackie we loved him more for hitting Fisher.

[JupitersAscension]

It should also be pointed out that in the Big Bang Theory, 10:50 the actress who played Howard's mom actually died and the show did not want to re cast and that episode was a trubute to her.

[Jeff]

There were several on Punky Brewster - the one where her friend (a pre-Full House Candace Cameron) is kidnapped by her dad, another episode dealt with the Challenger explosion, and one had her friend Cheri getting locked inside an old refrigerator and nearly suffocating.

[ScottishWoman]

Scrubs: the one where Dr. Cox loses his brother-in-law, played by Brendan Fraizer, to leukemia unexpectedly. That was a powerful episode too.

[sonjiatraffie]

The episode of golden girls where Phil dies. The way Sophia cries my baby is gone wrecks me every time. My daughter died and the way that Estelle Getty portrayed that hurt and grief in the sentence is so real it hurt my heart.

[mattmc]

Not a sitcom but Luke Perry's death gets me in the Riverdale episode. Especially seeing Shannon Doherty in it. Brenda and Dylan are together now and man that just brings tears to my eyes. They where THE tv teen couple back in the day

[donnahaynes]

I thought the darkest sitcom moment in The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air was the episode where Will and Carlton were held at gunpoint at an ATM, Will takes the bullet meant for Carlton and is hospitalized, their attacker never gets caught and Carlton buys a gun. That episode should've been an honorable mention at least.

[GoddessLadyRei]

In the MASH episode at first he recalled the woman having a chicken that wouldn't be quiet. After the final breakthrough he came to terms that it was her child she killed instead of a chicken.

[doctorawesomeness]

That Growing Pains episode with Matthew Perry is even harder to watch now.

[hajime]

The episode when Howard's mother passed is due to the actress Carol Ann Susi passing away from cancer so not only was a tribute to Howard's mother but also to Carol Ann Susi.

[Buggy-suoy]

Seeing Cree's Freddie being almost assaulted in A Different World's 'No Means No" also Tisha Campbell's character tearfully admitting she has AIDS in a later episode.

[chelseacanales]

The actress who played Edith in All in the Family had done a great job with the episode. The character was traumatized after the man tend to assault her and her anxiety and fear really made me feel scared for her safety, given that it’s a tv show

[Supasmartguy]

The ending of dinosaurs I'm surprised even made it past the censors.

[HShoshana]

John Ritter collapsed on set. His TV family saw him become extremely ill immediately before he died in the hospital. Their very real trauma showed in that episode.
Edit: accidentally wrote Jason, rather than John

[agmarkwell]

Two honorable mentions:

- During the TV adaption of "Clueless", Cher falls for a boy named Adam (and is in a multi-episode relationship with him, a rarity for the character). Adam, Murray and Sean go driving while drunk, get into an accident, and Adam lands the hospital, with the promise of getting out the next day. That night Cher learns that Adam has suddenly died due to internal bleeding, devastating her. Near the end of the series, Cher decides not to go to her senior prom, to honor Adam's memory.

- The "Home Improvement" episode "The Longest Day", when after a routine checkup, Tim and Jill learn that a swelling in Randy's neck could be cancerous. The scene in the arcade where Randy confronts Tim about him and Jill withholding the information, and Jonathan Taylor Thomas's performance during it (especially his tearful "I don't wanna die, Dad") lived in my head rent-free for years.