The Darkest Episodes From '90s TV Shows

People who think there are too many dark and gritty shows on today’s TV landscape may look back fondly on the ‘90s as a simpler time for television, but those people are clearly cherry-picking the happy moments. Plenty of ‘90s shows got really dark, and it often happened on otherwise light shows.

Sometimes, a sitcom would have a very special episode about a serious topic, while other times, they simply opted for a bit of dark comedy. From the finale of Roseanne that decided to go out on a sad note to the scariest episode Seinfeld ever aired, let’s take a look at some of the darkest episodes from ‘90s TV shows.

#90s #Sitcom #TVShows

'The Boogieman' - Quantum Leap | 0:00
'Into that Good Night' - Roseanne | 1:15
'The Opera' - Seinfeld | 2:04
'Slow Tango in South Seattle' - Frasier | 2:49
'The One with the Ick Factor' - Friends | 3:45
'72 Hours' - The Golden Girls | 4:37
'Shape Up' - Full House | 5:27
'None for the Road' - Clueless | 6:19
'The Next Fifty Years' - Beverly Hills, 90210 | 7:12
'Cult Fiction' - Boy Meets World | 7:50
'The Longest Day' - Home Improvement | 8:32
'Jessie's Song' - Saved By the Bell | 9:12

[GrungeHQ]

What's the darkest episode of a '90s show that you can name?

[silverstarlightproductions]

How about the Full House episode when Stephanie finds out her classmate Charles is abused by his father?

[spookymidnytesnowcat]

What about the episode of Rosanne where Jackie's boyfriend beats on her and she tries to hide it? That one was pretty dark.

[LV_FUD]

"How come he don't want me, man?!" Geez... I can't even type that without getting choked up.

[Legomaster]

Everybody talks about the cult episode of Boy Meets World, but nobody ever talks about the episode where Cory's classmate is being beaten by her father. It was so dark they even included a PSA about child/spousal abuse after the episode.

[urgx]

Damn I guess I forgot about the episode where aunt Becky bribed USC to get DJ accepted!

[Shadoefax]

No fresh prince shooting, or speed or the infamous"how come he don't want me man"?

[garthdavis]

You left out the episode of The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air when Will had an emotional breakdown when his father left him for good.

[moshomaniac]

No show got darker than the series finale of Dinosaurs, “Changing Nature.” What happens? They all die. Not just the Sinclair family, but all the dinosaurs.

[Memelord-mdhs]

Golden girls honestly had alot of dark episodes to be honest

The one where Dorothy's mom becomes friends with the old black man who has dementia

Or how they win the lottery and accidentally give the ticket away in a jacket to a homeless shelter and they talk with all the people in the shelter and eventually donate the ticket to the shelter

Or how sophie has to talk one of her friends out of commiting suicide with pills because her friend was lonely

The golden girls was an amazing show and it covered so many issues that are still relevant to this day.

[BSE]

It was funny as hell, but on Married With Children, Al accidentally cooks hamburgers with the ashes of Marcy's aunt.

[rachelcreatez]

darkest 90s episodes?

degrassi as a whole lmao

[Thomas-cxjh]

Where's the Fresh Prince Of Bel Air episode where Will's dad comes back again, that episode was kinda dark

[germandimplez]

You forgot the episode of Growing Pains where Matthew Perry’s character drives drunk and dies. The episode of Golden Girls where Sofia’s friend wants to commit suicide AND the episode of Fresh Prince where Carlton was packing heat while Will was in the hospital due to a bullet wound. Will makes him give up the gun.

[VancouverGuardians]

There is an episode of Smart Guy where TJ and his friend go to some random mans house to buy Bootleg Videogames, and turns out to be a creep wanting to take pictures of them. Thats hella dark.

[brittanyhannah]

I think the darkest episode of Full House was the episode where Stephanie has a friend that's being abused.

[MetisRose]

NOTHING from Fresh Prince...really? My personal pick would be "Bullets Over Bel-Air" when Will takes a bullet for Carlton and Carlton goes out and buys a gun. The scene between them in the hospital is heartbreaking. But there are a few other good contenders.

[mybackhurts]

A talk from DannyTanner could fix anything

[kiskool]

I remember a Full House episode where DJ's friends bring beer to school and she is accused of drinking it

[MagnusSkiptonLLC]

Remember that episode of Full House where Aunt Becky (and Uncle Jessie) lie about their kids' abilities to get into a prestigious school?


Yes, it was a real episode.