Occasionally, a TV episode will go down in history because of how much it pulls on the heartstrings. A show can be entertaining and then suddenly hit audiences with an absolute sucker punch that forces them to confront their own feelings, and sometimes even their own mortality.
Some of these episodes are from shows designed to hurt — take Grey’s Anatomy or The Last of Us as just two examples — and some of them are from sitcoms that audiences generally wouldn’t expect to cry over. However, when watching, they cried like the characters on TV were their own close friends.
15 “Goodbye Michael” Was the Last Hurrah for Michael Scott
The Office Season 7, Episode 22

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This episode of The Office didn’t feature a death or a disaster, but it made viewers teary-eyed nonetheless. It followed Michael Scott (Steve Carell) throughout his last day at Dunder Mifflin before he left for Colorado. Everyone bid a heartfelt goodbye to him. Despite Michael’s many flaws and his constant buffoonery, audiences had grown to love him, and suddenly he was gone.
Carell later described filming the episode as “emotional torture” but he added that it was also “really beautiful.” Unfortunately, in the minds of many Office fans, “Goodbye Michael” was the last truly good episode, and the show was never the same after Carell left.
14 Will Is Abandoned Again in “Papa’s Got a Brand New Excuse”
The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air Season 4, Episode 24
In this famous episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Will (Will Smith) encounters his father again after fourteen years. Lou (Ben Vereen) is charming and claims he’s ready to finally connect with his son, but it soon becomes obvious that he isn’t. Will eventually breaks down and asks:
“How come he don’t want me, man?”
It’s long been rumored that this episode was Smith’s reaction to being abandoned by his own father, but that’s not true. While Smith had a difficult relationship with his father, the two of them remained in touch. None of that, however, reduces the power of this episode.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
- Release Date
- September 10, 1990
- Cast
- Will Smith , James Avery , Janet Hubert , alfonso ribeiro , Tatyana Ali , Daphne Reid , Joseph Marcell
- Seasons
- 6
- Number of Episodes
- 148
13 The Doctor and Rose Are Separated in “Doomsday”
Doctor Who Season 2, Episode 13

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Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) very nearly was sucked into a void during the events of “Doomsday,” but she was saved at the last minute and dropped into a parallel world. Audiences already knew that Piper would be leaving the show, but they didn’t know in what manner, and they were all very upset when Rose was separated from her one true love, the Doctor.
The Doctor was able to briefly breach the parallel world to say goodbye to Rose, but before he was able to say “I love you” to her, he faded away. Rose was left sobbing and devastated. Even later developments in the show (Rose eventually got together with a clone of the Doctor) didn’t take away from the sadness of “Doomsday.”
12 Sophia Petrillo Loses a Child in “Ebbtide’s Revenge”
The Golden Girls Season 6, Episode 12
This episode of the beloved sitcom The Golden Girls saw the girls go to the funeral of Phil, Sophia’s son and Dorothy’s brother. He had been mentioned plenty of times on the show, mostly being the butt of jokes since he wore women’s clothes. So some elements of this episode haven’t aged well, but the central theme of grief is universal.
It transpires that Sophia (Estelle Getty) always had a grudge against Phil’s wife Angela (Brenda Vaccaro) for allowing Phil to cross-dress, and the characters have a lot of heartache and difficulty as they work this out. However, the episode ends with Sophia and Angela hugging and Sophia heart-breakingly crying out:
11 “Honor” Killed off an Important Walking Dead Character
The Walking Dead Season 8, Episode 9

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The Walking Dead never, even remotely, shied away from death. Beloved characters died all the time. But one of the worst deaths of all was that of Carl Grimes, Rick’s son, who the audience had known since he was just a child. After being bitten by a zombie, he sets about preparing for his death. He writes letters and spends time with his toddler sister, who won’t remember him.
Carl passes away with a dream for a better world, but his death leaves his father devastated. Fans of the show were devastated too — albeit for mixed reasons. Some thought Carl’s death was beautiful and others thought it was a cruel shock-value twist that sent the show off the rails.
10 “The Animals” Was Painful and Shocking
Orange Is The New Black Season 4, Episode 12

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Orange Is The New Black began as a dark comedy, but it soon changed into an outright drama and not an easy one to watch. The saddest moment came when Poussey Washington (Samira Wiley) a fan-favorite character, was suddenly and brutally suffocated by a guard after a prison protest got out of hand. Her death was deliberately meant to remind viewers of the real-life death of Eric Garner, which helped spark the Black Lives Matter movement.
“There are people who are watching television who might not have a personal relationship with Black Lives Matter, but they know Poussey,” Wiley told The Hollywood Reporter. “What I’ve been reading online from people is just this profound sadness, something that they can’t shake away.”

Orange is The New Black (2013)
- Release Date
- July 11, 2013
- Cast
- Taylor Schilling , Laura Prepon , Kate Mulgrew , Natasha Lyonne , Taryn Manning , Jason Biggs , Uzo Aduba , Danielle Brooks
- Seasons
- 7
- Number of Episodes
- 91
9 “Long, Long Time” Told a Heartbreaking Love Story
The Last of Us Season 1, Episode 3

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The Last of Us made some departures from the game it was based on, and one of the best departures involved the story of Bill and Frank. In the game, Frank is broken up with Bill and already dead, so the showrunners changed things around completely. In the show, audiences get to see Bill and Frank meet, fall in love, and live together.
But most devastating of all, Bill and Frank also decide to die together. Frank decides to end his life with poisoned wine after contracting an illness, and Bill drinks the poisoned wine at the same time he does. The pair fall asleep in each other’s arms, having lived a long life and survived the worst the world had to offer.

The Last Of Us
- Release Date
- January 15, 2023
- Cast
- Pedro Pascal , Bella Ramsey , Anna Torv , lamar johnson
- Seasons
- 2
- Creator
- Neil Druckmann, Craig Mazin
8 “Super Bowl Sunday” Had a Heart-Wrenching Death
This Is Us Season 2, Episode 14
This highly anticipated episode of This is Us kicked off with the Pearsons’ house catching fire, and what follows is a dramatic rescue sequence as Jack saves the kids and the dog. There’s a heart-stopping moment where everyone thinks he’s dead in the burning house, but then he emerges alive.
Rebecca (Mandy Moore) goes with Jack to the hospital, and he’s treated for smoke inhalation. When she steps out of the room to go to a vending machine, Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) has a heart attack and passes away. Rebecca goes into total shock and can’t believe it. Mandy Moore’s performance in that moment is totally and utterly devastating.

This Is Us
- Release Date
- September 20, 2016
- Cast
- Mandy Moore , Milo Ventimiglia , Sterling K. Brown , Chrissy Metz , Justin Hartley , Susan Kelechi Watson , Chris Sullivan , Eris Baker , Faithe Herman , Jon Huertas , Hannah Zeile , Niles Fitch , Lyric Ross
- Creator
- Dan Fogelman
7 “My Screw Up” Had a Devastating Twist
Scrubs Season 3, Episode 14

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One of Brendan Fraser’s most well-known roles, prior to his comeback and Oscar win, was that of Ben on Scrubs. He was Doctor Cox’s (John C. McGinley) brother-in-law and the two of them got along really well. But in this episode, Ben dies – but audiences don’t know it until the very end.
Cox had been present for Ben’s death, but had been so devastated that he continued to see him everywhere he went. Throughout the episode, he’d seemed to be upset about the death of a random patient, but he was really grieving Ben. Only when J.D. (Zach Braff) asked Cox “Where do you think we are?” did Cox and the audience realize they were at Ben’s funeral.
6 “All I Could Do Was Cry” Tackled the Death of a Baby
Grey’s Anatomy Season 11, Episode 11
In this episode, poor April (Sarah Drew) and Jackson (Jesse Williams) are faced with the worst nightmare of any expectant parents. Their baby will not survive, and worse, is suffering even inside the womb. April has a crisis of faith and believes that God has abandoned her.
As with any story that involves the death of an infant, this episode is a hard watch. It tackles all the terrible logistics of a loss, including the agonizing business of filling out the paperwork. But in the end, the baby is named — he’s called Samuel Nobert Avery — and April and Jackson get to spend some time with him before he passes away.

5 “Whenever You’re Ready” Dealt With the Afterlife
The Good Place Season 4, Episode 13

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The Good Place eventually concluded that the true point of the afterlife was to spend enough time with loved ones, and that’s what happens to all the main characters in the series finale. They had all matured and grown as people, and they were then able to leave the Good Place and become one with the universe again.
Chidi (William Jackson Harper) had to leave Eleanor (Kristen Bell) behind, and that was the saddest thing of all. But Eleanor remained in the Good Place for some time, helping people, until she too felt the call to move on. It was a devastating episode but also profoundly beautiful.
4 John Ritter’s Death Was Processed in “Goodbye”
8 Simple Rules Season 2, Episode 4
Actor John Ritter passed away from an aortic dissection while rehearsing the second season of 8 Simple Rules, and the cast and crew were devastated. They decided to film an episode where his character died and his family came to terms with his death — something that would echo what they were all feeling.
The episode was called “Goodbye” and it laid Ritter’s character, Paul, to rest. Each character grieved in their own way, and finally they all came together to read Paul’s last article, where he talked about how much his family loved him.

8 Simple Rules
- Release Date
- September 17, 2002
- Creator(s)
- Tracy Gamble
- Cast
- John Ritter , Katey Sagal , Kaley Cuoco , Amy Davidson , Martin Spanjers , James Garner , David Spade
- Main Genre
- Comedy
- Seasons
- 3
3 “The Body” Marked the Death of Buffy’s Mom
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 5, Episode 16

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Nothing, not even fighting vampires on a day-to-day basis, could have prepared Buffy for the death of a parent. In “The Body” she finds her mother dead of a brain aneurysm, and what follows is a deeply harrowing episode. Buffy tells her sister Dawn the news and attempts to deal with her own grief while her friends likewise fall apart.
“The Body” deliberately features no music, as a way of getting across how truly disorientating it is when someone passes away. It was a brave choice that made the episode incredibly unsettling as well as heartbreaking. It’s unsurprisingly considered one of the greatest Buffy episodes of all time.
2 “The Quarterback” Was a Celebration of Corey Monteith’s Life
Glee Season 5, Episode 3

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Glee fans got a terrible blow in 2013 when Corey Monteith, who played Finn Hudson, died of a drug overdose. He was only 31 and had suffered from substance abuse issues all his life. The episode “The Quarterback”, filmed one month after his death, was a way of paying tribute to his life and talents.
The episode doesn’t state how Finn died, but it follows all the people most important to him as they work through their grief. And it ends, touchingly, with a memorial to Monteith himself. Glee was never the same again and neither were the lives of Monteith’s friends and co-stars.
1 “Jurassic Bark” Is All About a Loyal Dog
Futurama Season 5, Episode 2
“Jurassic Bark” is considered one of the saddest episodes of any TV show, and it’s all because of the tragic ending. Futurama was considered a pretty silly and lighthearted animated show, but this one episode made everyone re-evaluate it. Suddenly, it was a devastatingly tragic story.
Fry (Billy West) has long since settled into life in the future when he uncovers the remains of his old dog Seymour. He thinks he can bring Seymour back to life via the Professor’s usual brand of mad science. But when he learns Seymour lived for 12 years after Fry left, he decides not to, figuring that Seymour must have gone on to a happy life. But a flashback reveals that no, he didn’t… he waited all that time for Fry, who never returned. It’s heartbreaking.