Live Action TV/Tear Jerker/M-P

Mad Men

• In the Season One finale of Mad Men, Don Draper manages to do this with a sales pitch for his slide projector advertising campaign: words cannot quite do this scene justice. And, because this show delights in trampling on its viewers' hearts, we cut to him getting off the train, to him coming home to his joyously happy family for Thanksgiving... and then to him getting off the train again... yep. Turns out the last scene was a fantasy, they have gone away for the holiday without him, and he's left sitting alone on the stairs in the dark. With "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" playing on the soundtrack.
• Peggy's flashback, in an episode where people have constantly been trying to get her to explain why she's so loyal to Don, to his visiting her in the hospital after the birth of her illegitimate son: she's drugged half out of her mind, near-comatose with depression, and unable to so much as speak to anyone or admit what happened:

Don: Why are you here?
Peggy: I don't know.
Don: What do they want you to do?
Peggy: I don't know.
Don: Yes, you do. Do it. Do whatever they say. Peggy, listen to me: get out of here and move forward. This never happened. It will shock you, how much it never happened.

• • Becomes Harsher in Hindsight after The Fog, where we see what it was like for a woman to give birth in the early 1960s. Betty was on her third child, at her chosen hospital, had her husband present at the hospital to support her, and yet the whole experience came across like a Lynchian nightmare. Twilight Sleep was Nightmare Fuel for even those who had gone through a pregnancy before. For poor Peggy, who probably had little to no knowledge about her body and sexuality, much less SOP for a woman in labor, the whole experience must have been that much more nightmarish.
• Don's wife Betty gets a half-an-episode-long one in a later episode, when she's struggling to deal with her suspicion that Don is cheating on her again. After she tears the house apart looking for evidence, any evidence, and can't find any, Don comes home to find her sitting on their bed, beyond numb, in full-on BSOD mode (and a total disheveled wreck, still wearing last night's bright-colored party dress, in contrast to her normal fanatic perfection), with all his clothes pulled down from the hangers and the shards of a broken wine glass on the floor. Her only words to him are "I would never do this to you."
• One feels pity for Duck Phillips when he learns that his ex-wife is getting remarried and that his children really don't need him anymore. Luckily he gets his beloved dog Chauncey back. No wait, he locks Chauncey outside of the Sterling Cooper building and walks away, leaving the poor dog to fend for itself on the streets of New York City.
• Joan telling Peggy that she's marrying her fiance at Christmas, just before Peggy closes her brand new office door. Doesn't seem like a tearjerker until you consider that Joan's fiance just raped her on her boss's floor and she has to act like nothing happened and that she's still thrilled to marry her "doctor."
• Joan breaking down and crying in public at her going-away party, after finding out that her husband -- yes, she married him, tearjerker in and of itself -- didn't get the position they'd been counting on, that they therefore desperately need the income she's losing by leaving her job, and that everything she's spent her life working for is going distinctly to hell.
• Sal, when he realizes that Don is not going to save him from being fired due to resisting Lee Garner Jr.'s sexual harassment. Even worse was Don's slur of "you people"--not only was Don not coming to the rescue, but he was part of the lynch mob.
• Don telling Betty about his brother's suicide.
• "Somebody very important to me died."
• This show's re-creation of the national mood of when JFK was assassinated

The Mary Tyler Moore Show

• The series finale of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, for sure.
• A different one for me: Murray has ghost-written an article for Ted, and it turns out to be his masterpiece. Ted stubbornly refuses to admit that Murray is the writer, until Lou confronts him, delivering the tearjerker line: "You're talking about a man who sold his name to buy a coat for his daughter."

Meerkat Manor

• "Journey's End" on Meerkat Manor. It had one of the warmest moments in the show's history when the Whiskers adopted that Commando pup... but then it had the moment that shattered the show, in the death of Flower. Especially knowing that Next Generation isn't as good, Rocket Dog has lost the might of the Whiskers.
  • Shakespeare, always nice and caring with the pups, dying in the act of defending them against Big Cy from the rivalling group.
  • The 2nd-to-last episode in the same season ends with the death of Mozart, who had been in Woobie territory for the entire series up until now. To make it worse, the episode seemed to show that she might have still had a chance for a happy ending, right before crushing it in the last few minutes. Really, season three was riddled with tearjerkers, with the loss of so many meerkats.

The Mentalist

• At the end of episode 15, "Scarlett Fever" (itself a bit of a tear-jerker), Lisbon observes that Jane "doesn't like to be thanked" for his work in solving cases and speculates it has something to do with remaining aloof or mysterious: "Who was that masked man, anyway?" But at the end of "Blood Brothers", when Jane sees the victim's family approaching, seems about to retreat, then is spotted by Van Pelt and goes down resignedly and manages to say a few kind words to the family. As she said to her sister: Maybe seeing victim's families reminds him of his own wife and child, who were murdered by Red John. And maybe he hates being thanked because he has to see these people get closure, while the Red John case has never been solved. Cue salty waterfalls.
• At the end of "Seeing Red", Jane gets a visit from Kristina Frye, a "clairvoyant" who Jane has consistantly said he doesn't believe in. She walks up to him as she's leaving the CBI and tells him his daughter was asleep when she died, and she didn't feel a thing. This was one of the things he'd always wondered about, and he breaks down crying in the interrogation room. That in itself is a Tearjerker, but it gets better when Van Pelt, who'd argued with him over the existence of an afterlife, closes the door to give him privacy.
• In "Red John's Friends, Bosco's death. He finally admits that he loves Lisbon, which manages to be heartbreaking even though he's married, and then she tells him that she loves him too while trying not to cry, and failing, despite being the strongest person on television, and then he dies and she's so heartbroken, and I'm crying now, six months later. Never cried at TV before this scene.
• "Don't you know there are people who care about you, people who need you? You're being selfish and childish and I want you to stop it."
  • Which is so brilliant because Robin Tunney's acting is perfect and Lisbon sounds on the brink of tears.
• "Oh, Lisbon, don't cry." Lisbon - Lisbon, the strongest woman on television - is crying because she thinks she's spinning into madness, and Jane can't do anything to help her. And then he fixes it, because he loves her.
• Grace Van Pelt talking a suspect out of suicide, and talking about how her sister killed herself, and how helpless she felt afterwards. Van Pelt isn't usually a big character, just quietly competent and the focus of Rigsby's utter adoration, but here she was so raw. You're reminded just how good all of the leads on this show are.
• Jane at his wife and daughter's graves.
• The ending of The Red Mile. As the coroner slowly passes away from suicide (he was terminally ill), Jane distracts him with a coin disappearance magic trick to keep his mind off of it. It's pretty heartbreaking.
• Jane in Redline, talking to a victim's boyfriend about the death of his girlfriend. The way Lisbon doesn't even stop him... Well, it just shows how subtle this show can be.

"Oh stop. Self-pity'll kill you. Take it from someone who knows."

Misfits

• Superhoodie/Simon's death, and him asking Alisha to burn his body because no one can know that it was him who saved them. She loves him so much, and knows that the current Simon isn't him yet. Then she goes to his lair and finds the photo of them in Las Vegas- the city she's always wanted to visit.

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood

• Watching this show after he died of cancer. Just hearing him sing "it's such a good feeling to know that you're alive..." * sniff*
  • True story: Fred Rogers's car was stolen. And then returned the next day, intact, untouched ... with a note on the steering wheel: "We didn't know it was yours."

That Mitchell and Webb Look

• The final sketch of episode six of series four involves an elderly Sherlock Holmes who is suffering from dementia and Watson, loyal to the end, trying to pretend that nothing has changed. It's played for laughs... until the very end where Holmes has a brief lucid moment:

Holmes: ... I know, John. I do know... I can't get the fog to clear.

• • Even when it's played for uneasy laughs, it's still very sad. Just the mere sight of the brilliant Sherlock Holmes suffering from something so awful is heartwrenching.

Monk

• There is an episode where Captain Stottlemeyer gets kicked out by his wife and ends up staying with Monk. Monk drives him crazy, particularly the fact that while everything else in the apartment is perfectly straight, the coffee table is crooked. After Stottlemeyer has left, Monk sits and looks at the coffee table. Then he flashes back to when Trudy was alive. When he would come home from work tired, she would pull one end of the coffee table closer and put her feet on it, then put his head in her lap.
• "Mr. Monk Goes Home Again": Monk is told by his agoraphobic brother Ambrose, who has only stepped outside once in many years, that their father, who abandoned them when they were young, is going to return to their old house (where Ambrose still lives} on Halloween night. Monk doesn't believe it, but Ambrose insists that it will happen. Monk, while waiting with his brother, realizes that there's a poisoner on the loose, just as Ambrose eats some of the poisoned food, something from which there is no hope of recovery. They call an ambulance for Ambrose, and Monk and Ambrose say their goodbyes, before they realize that Ambrose hadn't been poisoned at all. Upon returning to Monk's old house, it is discovered that their father left a note telling them that he came and went while they were out, and the end of the note reads 'P.S. Ambrose, I'm proud of you for going outside.' Sniff...
  • "Mr. Monk and the Secret Santa": most of the scenes with Frank Prager (a murder suspect). It turns out that he didn't murder anyone, but was guilty of assaulting Stottlemeyer. The crowning moment comes when Stottlemeyer releases Prager from custody so he can spend Christmas with his family because he feels terrible for what he did.
  • "Mr. Monk and Mrs. Monk": An old informant of Trudy's hires a woman to impersonate her to get a key that belonged to her old partner, leading Monk and his friends to briefly think she's still alive. As if Monk breaking down so badly his doctor has to physically help him just to take a drink of water isn't heartbreaking enough, he then comes to his senses enough to go her gravesite and cry, "It's not you... It's not you." He tells Natalie at the end he knew because "I went to the grave, and it still hurt." But nothing got as many tears as the scene when the imposter is dying from a gunshot and tells Monk, "I'm so sorry. You loved her... I'll tell her." What do you mean this is a comedy?
  • "Mr. Monk's 100th Case"-Ambrose Monk's heartbreaking description of how Adrian was affected by Trudy's death.

Ambrose:"..and I sat there and watched as his soul left his body. The bomb exploded across the city..but it killed my brother too."

• • The promos acknowledging the forthcoming final season once he realized that Monk, in his own meticulous way, was packing away the title. The first promo of the final season period, set to the Tear Jerking in it's own right 'Time to Go' by Keane.
• How come no one has yet mentioned the king of Tear Jerker episodes from Monk, Mr. Monk and the Kid? Just seeing the two bond together throughout the episode, showing how desperately he he wants to adopt Tommy takes the cake for Crowning Moment of Heartwarming. An then to have Monk finally realize he has to give up Tommy in then end was just too much.
  • Oh my God. The storybook version of 'here's what happened', and Monk finally admitting that he can't take care of Tommy...because he can't take care of himself.
• Mr Monk Fights City Hall. Monk tries for most of the episode to save the parking garage in which Trudy was killed from being demolished to make way for a children's park. He's ultimately unsuccessful, but the City Council elects to call it the "Trudy Monk Memorial Playground" in her memory.
• "Mr. Monk makes a Friend" really plays up Monk's No Social Skills and he was so happy to make a friend that turns out to be a murderer. Even when he's confronted by the truth, he still doesn't want to believe it. Especially tear jerking is Monk's wish to have a best friend when he was a little kid in his usual therapy session.
• Mr Monk and the Dog. SEVERAL parts of that would just kill us. (we're dog owners.) Especially the part where the guy wants to kill the dog puppies.
• Mr. Monk and The End, Part 1. Watching a very ill Monk painstakingly take his medicine capsule apart to separate the colored balls into neat piles was absolutely heartbreaking.
  • And in Mr. Monk and The End, Part 2, Trudy's tape and when Monk meets Trudy's daughter
  • The ending montage..
    • Definitely not helped that the king of tear jerking songs, Randy Newman, wrote a new one "When I'm Gone". As soon as it hit that minor chord.

Monkey Life

• Alison Cronin breaking down in tears on camera, discussing the death of her husband Jim and her intent to carry on running his park the way he wanted.

Mork and Mindy

• Mork and Mindy: In "Mork In Wonderland", Mork shrinks down and finds himself in an alternate universe, where Mindy has a counterpart named Mandy (but that's not the weirdest part). She ends up as a "surrogate Mindy" for Mork. In the end, while overthrowing the evil king, Mandy gets hit by an artillery shell, and dies in Mork's arms. Mork starts growing again and cries out in anguish "IT'S NOT FAIR!". Meanwhile, in our world, Mindy is tearfully packing up Mork's clothes, but then Mork grows to normal size and appears out of the tablecloth. They tearfully embrace.
  • In "Dr. Morkenstein", you'd THINK Mork crying over Robbie The Robot having a complete breakdown before dying would be pure Narm. But Robin Williams' acting was just so powerful.
  • In "Putting The Ork Back In Mork", Mork has started acting way too human, like a bland suburbanite. Mindy misses the old Mork, obviously. The montage (made of specially-filmed clips, not past episodes) of Mork & Mindy's life together set to "The Way We Were" is probably one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking montages ever put on television.
  • And the end of "Mork Meets Robin Williams" deserves special mention because there is NO wisecrack or "Nanu nanu" at the end. Just a list of famous people who died before their time, including the then-recently assassinated John Lennon. Even more heartbreaking when you consider what later happened to Robin's friend John Belushi in Real Life.
  • The final episodes. Mork, Mindy, and Mearth are targeted by Kalik, a psycho from Neptune, and as a result, Mork has to reveal his alien identity to the world. Mork & Mindy try to escape using Mork's time-traveling shoes, but Kalik follows them. At the end we see them falling though time together, wondering what will happen to them, but it doesn't matter as long as they're together. But that's not even the end. Because the real final episode is "The Mork Report", where they are somehow safe at home as Mork, trying to get a promotion from Orson, makes a report about his marriage to Mindy. Perhaps this is more of a tears of joy ending, since Mork & Mindy are shown to be very happy together in the end, and Mork gets the promotion. But still, it's sad to say goodbye to them, especially when you factor in the Lostalgia.

Mr. Bean

• There's an extreme case of Mood Whiplash in the scene where a tank crushes Mr. Bean's car while he's enjoying an hors d'ouvre. It's one of the funniest moments of the series...until you see his reaction.
  • For best (worst?) results, watch it muted with the show's theme playing in the background (start the theme when the first video reaches 0:39).
  • For me, the teariest moment of Mr Bean is the day you realize just how utterly alone this man really is. He celebrates his birthday by himself, sends birthday and Christmas cards to himself, holidays by himself and the few people that do know him (his ex-girlfriend, his colleagues, the Americans from the art gallery) really can't stand to be in his presence for long - his relationship with his teddy is funny only until you realize that it's essentially an Expy for Wilson and is probably the only thing in his life fighting off potentially crippling depression. Further compounded by the fact that, whilst mischievous, he is also a very kind hearted man who probably has a lot of love to give if only he learnt how to express it properly.

Mystery Science Theater 3000

• Joel's departure in "Mitchell".
• He later comes back and repairs the SOL, and delivers this hilarious, yet touching quote. "The years I spent on this satellite were the best damn years of my life, and I don't want you mugs to miss a minute of it." * sniff* . And this music video got this MSTer misty-eyed.
  • It gets better/worse. Whoever makes these is a genius.
• An In-Universe example: after watching the film Danger Death Ray, Cambot (the show's silent robot/camera) begins tearing up (drops of water start coming down the screen) due to a scene in the film's climax where the hero ruthlessly guns down numerous machine gun mounted cameras.
• More meta than anything else, but this remix which essentially combines at least one clip from EVERY incarnation of the theme song, as well clips from the movie and the aformentioned Joel returns episode, qualifies for some people. The video cropping that makes it look like Joel, Mike, and the bots all sitting together while watching part of the montage from the end of the little known Mystery Science Theater 3000 Scrapbook video gets some people each time, Soundtrack Dissonance aside.
• The music from the ending credits of each episode is a surprisingly slow and somber reprise of the opening credits. Anyone that bears the slightest hint of nostalgia for the show can't help but get teary-eyed, especially with the trademark guitar chord ending the piece.
• Christmas episodes tend to have one or two (which also count as heartwarming). Santa Claus Conquers the Martians seems to have cornered the market.
  • Joel and the bots deliver a sketch where each gives a speech regarding an element of the holiday. Crow's essay questions the legitimacy of elf labor and suggest they unionize; Tom's starts off touching, but devolves into graphic violence at the thought of Santa being killed by the vacuum of space in a failed attempt to visit the So L; Joel's speech is a dreary repast of office Christmas parties and their debauchery (Joel points out that "although this was Christmas, Jesus was nowhere to be seen"); finally, they get to Gypsy, who opens her mouth...to reveal a recreation of the Nativity scene as a music box version of "The First Noel" plays.

Mythbusters

• Mythbusters pulled one. The team was examining a myth about a Lego sphere, made of 5 million bricks, rolling down a street and hitting a car, doing no damage. The team re-created the sphere with 1,000,000 bricks, and 2 weeks of hard work. The ball, less than halfway down the ramp collapsed into thousands of individual pieces. Two weeks of hard work from a team of many, many people. Down the drain.

News Radio

• News Radio The season 5 premiere "Bill Moves On" wherein the crew reflects on the passing of Bill made even poignant by the actual passing of Bill's actor Phil Hartman.
  • They had to repeatedly stop filming because the cast and crew kept breaking down.

Nip Tuck

• The last 6 minutes or so of the Nip Tuck Season 2 finale.

Numb3rs

• When Charlie was so lost he couldn't even do a math problem while Amita was in danger.
• The Episode The Running Man's ending scene

NYPD Blue

• Bobby Simone's death on NYPD Blue.

The OC

• Watching Ryan get blow after blow in the first three episodes is pretty bad, but at the end of the third episode watching his mom run out on him again and losing the last shred of hope, so he can just raise his hand to say goodbye, is heartbreaking.
• The season 1 finalé, which sees Ryan and Seth both leaving town, is tear-jerking both for the reactions of Kristen and Sandy and for Jeff Buckley's version of Hallelujah playing over it all.

The Office (US)

• "Take Your Daughter To Work Day" from the US version of The Office. Michael Scott shows the kids an old tape of himself being interviewed on a kids' show, where he says his dream is to "get married and have a hundred kids, so that no one can say no to being my friend."
• When Jim confesses to Pam that he loves her in "Casino Night", and she turns him down. Both actors act the beejesus out of the scene, both are in tears, and so am I.
• There's also something about the way Dwight says "you don't want to use Shrute Bucks?" after he takes over the office in the season 3 finale that makes me well up.
• In "Boys and Girls", when Pam breaks down into tears upon reflecting how impossible her dream of having a house with a terrace is.
• In one of the most recent episodes, "Niagara Falls", when Jim and Pam get married.
• In "Back From Vacation", when Pam is crying in the hall after helping Jim and Karen, and when Dwight finds her, the first words out of his mouth are "Who did this to you? Where is he?" * lump in throat*
• In Season 4, after Dwight and Angela breaks up and he loses it, both in real life and Second Life. He's crying in the stairwell, and Jim gives him a speech about how lousy it feels to not be with the one you love. Doubles as a CMOF when Dwight moves to hug him and Jim's already gone.
• The "Goodbye, Michael" episode. The whole damn thing.
  • The moment when Michael, after taking the mic off, says, "that's what she said" inaudibly, and walks away

The Office

• The last episode of the second series of the British Office - as if the scene where Dawn shoots Tim down again isn't bad enough, David of all people when he begs for his job.
  • In the second christmas special where Dawn, after saying goodbye to Tim for possibly the last time, opens his present and reads the note. Followed almost immediately by a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming.

One Foot in the Grave

• One Foot in the Grave regularly employed Black Comedy to make us laugh at things that might usually be horrifying, but it didn't stop a few tear jerking moments from getting through.
  • The episode "Who Will Buy" has Margaret delivering flowers to an elderly blind man, who asks her to read letters he assumes are from his children. In the end they are just brochures, but Margaret tells some white lies and pretends that the letters are about how much his family misses him. In the end the old man is murdered in his home, people mentioning that he was intending to get extra security but apparently spent the money for it on something else. The episode ends panning on a box of toy dinosaurs that he had bought for his grandchildren. It gets worse: the toys are overpriced mail-order junk being sold by a pushy door-to-door salesman (he comes to the Meldrews' house earlier in the episode).
  • The final episode "Things Aren't Simple Anymore" actually begins with main character Victor Meldrew dead, his wife Margaret trying to cope with it. It is shown in flashback that he was knocked down by a car after attending a works reunion (where no-one turned up and he left before meeting the one person who HAD attended) by a widow that Margaret befriends during the episode. In a surprisingly dark move even for One Foot in the Grave, after Margaret finds out that her new friend is the killer it is left ambiguous if she happened to give her an overdose of paracetamol as an act of revenge.
    • There was a charity short which featured a scene with Victor and Margaret. Victor is looking over some films and talking and Margaret seems to be ignoring him. At first the viewer assumes this scene takes place BEFORE the final episode and Margaret is just ignroing Victor out of annoyance as she had previously during his rants. But then he happens upon the DVD of Sixth Sense and says how they "saw the twist coming at the start". It's at that point Margaret leaves Victor alone and he fades away and the viewer realises that (as in the aforementioned film) he was dead all along. Either dark comedy or tear jerker depending on the viewer.

One Life to Live

• The entire final two episodes definetely qualify, especially when the piano version of the opening starts playing.

One Tree Hill

• With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept. We already start with Jimmy's monologue ('Every day is one less day I have to come back'), but the whole episode doesn't ever let up; Brooke going outside to cry because she realizes that her behavior could have been the cause of Jimmy's breakdown; Jimmy saying that the happiest day of his life was 'the day he stopped existing' and reveals he tried to kill himself but no one even noticed his absence; most of the scenes in the classroom among the hostages, Jimmy screaming 'It hurts! It hurts SO BAD!' and then killing himself. Also, Lucas' ending voiceover; We send our young into the world like we send young men to war; praying for their safe return... but knowing that some will be lost along the way.

Only Fools and Horses

• Only Fools and Horses, despite being a Sitcom, manages this on a regular basis. There's probably too many to count, but damn it if we won't try...
  • Grandad's little speech in the episode "The Russians Are Coming" about the war after he is tired of how Del Boy glorifies it, which is conducted entirely with no cut-aways, the camera slowly panning towards his face. "They promised us homes fit for heroes; they give us heroes fit for homes."
    • Can be seen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3EIrj9P7cg&feature=plcp
  • In "The Long Legs of the Law"; after a vicious argument about Rodney's decision to date a police officer, Del Boy angrily snaps that he and Rodney are no longer brothers and he no longer cares what happens to him. Seconds after, as Rodney is slinking miserably to the door, Del Boy gruffly takes his words back in telling Rodney that "It's been raining. Those roads will be treacherous. Drive carefully."
  • "Strained Relations" where Grandad passes away, beginning with his funeral. The sadness is diffused somewhat when Del and Rodney toss what they think is their grandfather's hat into the grave, but it ends up being the vicar's, and Del Boy jollying it up afterwards, but Rodney's anger at Del's seemingly not mourning Grandad's death and Del's explanation soon fixes that.
  • The episode "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" where Del Boy decides against taking a business venture in Australia and possibly forfeits his dream of becoming rich to stay with Rodney.
  • "A Royal Flush" which was just scene after scene of cringing, watching Del essentially destroy any chance Rodney had of getting together with the daughter of a duke (being more of a Jerkass than usual).
  • The episode "Dates" where Del misses seeing off Raquel (and proving that he still had feelings for her) after he is arrested. This is softened in later seasons when Del and Raquel get together again, starting with "The Jolly Boys' Outing".
  • "Little Problems" where Rodney gets married to Cassandra. First Del takes a solid beating from gangsters the Driscoll Brothers instead of paying out the money they want so that he can still give the money to Rodney, left nursing his wounds in the bathroom. Then in the second-last scene, the party after the wedding with "Holding Back the Years" by Simply Red playing in the background, Del thinking about the fact Rodney has grown up. He takes the groom figurine off the remains of the wedding cake before the camera pans up, showing him all alone in the room.
  • "Three Men, a Woman and a Baby" where Raquel gives birth to her and Del's son.
  • "Modern Men" where Cassanda has a miscarriage. Diffused by Del bursting into comical tears after telling Rodney he had to be strong about it, but returns when Del leaves the two alone.
  • "Time On Our Hands", the original finale (until the three other Christmas specials made five years later) where Del confronts Rodney in a broken down lift about talking about his feelings following Cassandra's miscarriage, prompting him to break down. Things turn out right in the end where they eventually realise their dreams of becoming millionaires, but there is further tear jerking when all three of the main cast return to the flat and reminisce.
  • "Sleepless in Peckham". Cassandra finally gives birth to hers and Rodney's child and Rodney takes his new daughter to his Mum's grave, he looks up into the sky and talks to his mum, telling her to say thanks to Albert. Del then comes along and askes him what he decided to call his baby, and he points at the grave stone and says he named her Joan, after their mum. Then askes if he was anything like his dad Freddie the Frog, where Del then rounds off everything Freddie was and why Rodney is better than him. Then the last you see of them is them driving back home in the three-wheeled van. A truly touching and tear jerker moment (and it also doubles as a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming) to finish a classic comedy series.

Outer Limits

• The Heroic Sacrifice at the end of the Outer Limits episode "A Feasibility Study", especially the original version.
  • Better Outer Limits example, the end of "The Demon With The Glass Hand". Just....damn.

Oz

• Alvarez losing his baby. And later, during an LSD trip, hallucinating that he's holding his son in his arms and babbling about how he loves him and is going to protect him.
• The execution of Donald Groves.
• Beecher screaming in his pod after receiving his son's chopped off hand by mail.
• Peter Schibetta crumbling in despair in a hallway after being intimidated by the warden and taunted by Schillinger again about the several rapes.
• Cyril O'Reilly being executed.
• Beecher meeting the mother of the girl He killed
• Schillinger telling Beecher that He won't seek Revenge for His Son's Death and telling Him how sorry He is for all that happened
• Alvarez finally losing any hope of ever getting out of Oz,summed up with three Heartbreaking words:"I'm so Tired".
• The mother of Groves' victim telling Him She loves Him and forgives Him,moving Him to tears
• Seamus O'Reilly finally accepting responsibility for His abusive behaviour and asking for Ryan's forgiveness

The Pacific

• The Pacific... Good God, The Pacific.
• Sid Phillips turns eighteen after the Battle of Tenaru. It really hammers home how young a lot of these men were.
• John Basilone dying, having only been married to Lena for seven months. Not long before, it showed them after their wedding, planning to have six children. It's even worse if you're rewatching it (or you know about John Basilone before watching it) because you know they don't get that life.
  • The shot of Lena on the beach where she and John fell in love. The epilogue says that she never remarried.
• Basilone dying, but also the way that the two men he trained have to watch him die. His last orders to them? Don't move, no matter what happens.
  • And Evanson was killed in action not long afterward at only eighteen, but Tatum lived.
• Leckie being dumped by Stella because she's worried that he'll die, and she knows that her parents adore him, so it worried about what it will do to him.
• Hillbilly and Ack-Ack die in the same episode. Gunny Haney was friends with them both.
• Chuckler, who was often cheering the others up and generally being an upbeat person is carried by on a stretcher and doesn't even let on to Sledge. Thankfully, he gets better.
• On the train home, Sledge is asleep when they reach Snafu's stop and, after looking at him for a moment, Snafu leaves without waking him up.
  • The epilogue reveals that Snafu didn't contact any of the Marines for over 35 years.

Power Rangers

• Similarly shameful is the end of Power Rangers Time Force. Just... all of it. Frax and Nadira, Trip and Nadira, Alex and Jen, Wes and Jen, Wes and Eric, Ransik and Nadira... Wes's formerly-jerky father, ordering his chauffeur to drive an injured little girl to a hospital.
• The destruction of the Command Center at the end of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was definitely a tear-jerking experience, especially for those who had grown accustomed to the adventures of the Rangers. Seeing the good guys we've come to love for three seasons or so suffer a serious blow like that was just traumatizing. Even more gutwrenching was the fact that the Rangers had just worked hard to retrieve all five fragments of the Zeo Crystal, and well, good God.
• One word. Zordon. His death in Power Rangers in Space was particularly tear-jerking given the very young age of most of the viewers, and the fact that everyone had grown up with the Eltarian sage. Especially tragic due to the willingness he had to kill himself to save the universe, with no regrets or hate whatsoever to Andros, whose selfishness prevented Zordon from being rescued in time to make a difference in the war. The death of every villain thus far in the series was done to sad music, as both the viewers and the characters wondered if the result was worth the price Zordon paid for it.
• Cole from Wild Force may be The Scrappy but the episode where he and the Rangers learn what happened to his parents... hurt.
  • Making this even more heartbreaking is that Cole is being told what happened to his parents by Master Org, who delights his brutal actions. Also Cole visiting his parents' graves afterwards is also worth getting choked up over.
• Tommy giving up his Green Ranger powers at the end of "The Green Candle". Apart from this being the first time that the Power Rangers had experienced a real failure instead of always winning, the scene where Tommy hands his coin to Jason is played as a very moving moment. When Tommy's shield disappears from his suit and forms on Jason. His expression of confusion then suddenly replaced with a quiet "oh" as he understands what's happening. It must be killing Jason to think of the powerful upgrades he's getting directly because he failed to help his friend.
• Any time Dr. K's flashbacks appear or when her past is alluded to. Poor kid...
  • "Doctor K" is a Tear Jerker episode. The guilt-ridden look on her face following one of her flashbacks triggered by Tenaya 7 after being on the receiving end of her Reason You Suck Speech says it all.
• Journey's End. In one particular moment, Terra Venture has just crashed, the dome is breaking, people are trapped under rubble, and cut to a father and his son.

Son: Daddy, are we going to make it to the new world?
Father: (trapped under rubble) Sure. We're gonna make it.

• Another Lost Galaxy example is Zika, who dies trying to help his father, the first Magna Defender:

Zika: I'll save you, Father.
Magna Defender: Zika, NOOOOO!

The Practice

• One episode had Eugene helping a lawyer who never won a case. He's fat, has a combover, dresses terribly, and carries a fold-over briefcase that he has to clutch to his chest. Said lawyer thinks it's a shoo-in; because the defendant was accused of public exposure. The complainant said the person who flashed her had a small penis. The jury viewed the defendant's large penis, in chambers. Then they convict anyway. One of the jury members tells Gene he's a penile enhancement specialist, and could see the enhancement marks, which he told the other jurors about. Gene turns to the judge and gets her to reverse the decision, since the juror testified. Then he tells the other guy he's not a very good lawyer.

Lawyer:: Hey, I've won a lot of appeals! I'm a good lawyer!
Gene: (sadly) No. No you're not.

Cue the other lawyer going outside the courtroom, sitting down, clutching his briefcase to his chest, and having a cry.

• There was also the time Eugene's son said his daddy got murderers off. Gene was disturbed, and used it to win a case. The last shot of the episode is him walking down a hallway, towards the camera, with alternating light and dark spots. At some point, he starts crying Manly Tears without any change in expression, and then walks off camera. End credits.

The Pretender

• In "Red Rock Jarod," Jarod is reunited with his brother Kyle, whom he thought was dead. Unfortunately, Kyle is later shot by Mr. Lyle and dies for real in Jarod's arms. Jarod can barely hold back the tears, as he lets go of Kyle's hand.
• In "F/X," Miss Parker, Sydney and Broots investigate one of the experiments by then-Dr. Raines, which destroyed the mind of a young boy named Timmy. What makes this such a Tearjerker is that Timmy is Angelo, who received his empathic powers from the experiment and lost his sense of self. Even the normally steely Miss Parker expresses sympathy for what became of Timmy.
• In "Crash," Jarod gives a college student his airplane ticket, so he won't miss class registration. However, the plane crashes and the student dies. While investigating the cause, Jarod blames himself for his young friend's death. His guilt is highlighted when he examines items recovered from the crash and comes across his the student's.
  • An extra punch for viewers is Jarod coming across a charred doll and him flashing back to playing a game with a little girl.
• In "Once in a Blue Moon," Jarod struggles to stop a copycat killer and must match wits with the "inspiration." The original killer was someone Jarod stopped during his time at The Centre, but not before one last victim was claimed. The victim is revealed to be Mr. Raines' teenaged daughter. Raines might have been a Complete Monster, but who couldn't be moved by a man crying over losing someone he clearly, truly loved?
• The climax of "Bloodlines". Jarod, Miss Parker, and Angelo are holed up with a sick boy, the victim of Centre brainwashing. He has the potential to be a Pretender, and must take a special medication to undo the damage done by the Centre. Unfortunately, the only available medication belongs to Angelo, who has been taking it to recover his sanity. He's also recovering his creative abilities - specifically, a virtuoso talent at the piano - but as he gives his medication to the sick boy, he begins to lose everything. He plays "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", each note becoming more and more out of tune. Finally, he loses all ability - and it's Miss Parker who places her hands over his, and tells him "that was beautiful".

Primeval

• Nick's death in the third episode of the latest season.
  • The first few minutes of the following episode managed to be Tear Jerkers without even doing anything at all. Just the whole mood of the characters and the ARC was able to convey how upset and lost everyone was without him.
• In Season 2, during Abby's Disney Death. The worst part is seeing Plucky Comic Relief Connor absolutely destroyed by it.

Connor: * fighting desparately not to cry* "We can just go out there and we can find her! All we need to do is get back in the boats and do something; why is nobody doing anything!?"

• In the final scene of the Season 4 premiere, Connor wakes up to find Abby already up. He correctly deduces that she's still used to keeping watch from when they were stuck in the Cretaceous. That fact just hammers home the absolute hell those two went through.

Psych

• The very end of Mr. Yin Presents. First, Mary's death. Then, everything from Juliet breaking down and weeping on Lassiter's shoulder while he hugs her, to Mary's funeral.
• The end of the season 3 opener, Shawn's mother drags him into a room to try and find out what happened between Shawn and Henry to so damage their relationship. Tear Jerker the first, Shawn barely contains tears saying, in essence, that he never forgave his father for kicking his mom out and keeping everything, house and child. Then, part deux, his mother tells him that she was the one who left, meaning that Henry's not been trying to win back the woman he spurned, but who spurned him. He's been carrying a torch for her for all of Shawn's adult life.

Punky Brewster

• For a primetime sitcom ostensibly geared to children, Punky Brewster had its share of emotion. Season 1's "I Love You, Brandon" had Punky's dog unconscious after being hit by a car. At the vet's clinic, she tearfully pleads for Brandon to wake up again, which he does. But as all seems to be all right, the dog of a fellow pet owner whom Punky befriended at the clinic dies. Punky cries for the loss of a friend's pet as much as she rejoiced for Brandon's deliverance.
  • "Accidents Happen" was the Space Shuttle Challenger episode. The kids' teacher Mike offers to bring a TV to class so they can watch the Challenger liftoff since a teacher--Christa McAulliffe-- was on it. Immediately the scene shifts to home where Punky enters in tears. She tells Henry that the shuttle blew up.

Punky: Some of the kids started crying. I was one of them. I couldn't stop...(voice breaking)

• • "Divorce Anderson Style" (season 3) had Allen forced to move out of town with his mom when his parents get divorced. Of all the people to lose it, it's Punky, who is seen at the end just bawling in Cherie's arms after Allen says his goodbyes and leaves.
  • "The Visit" had Cherie coming to terms with the death of her parents. She is urged to visit their graves and let out with a cathartic chat with them so wrenching, it brings Punky to tears as well as her.

Pushing Daisies

• "Corpsicle." Chuck has learned that Ned accidentally killed her father when he was nine (he didn't know at the time he could only bring someone back for a minute or else someone else would die). At the end of the episode, she forgives him and then asks him to bring her father back to life for one minute. His reply: "No. I'm not going to bring him back just so you can watch me kill him again." By this point, everyone is in tears.
  • Also, Ned and Chuck's argument earlier in the episode.

Ned: Can't we keep the truth between you and me?
Chuck: It's hard to keep the truth between you and me when I can't look at you.

• • • And then Ned falls apart....
• Despite the craziness of the character just a moment earlier when Olive said "I'm Tendering my resignation, and resigning my tender heart..." in the season 2 premiere. (And she swears that she hears music from some modern broadway musical playing somewhere every time she watches that scene.)
• Virtually any episode opening detailing the melancholy childhood of Ned, but especially the beginning of the Halloween episode, where Ned receives a postcard from his father saying he moved away then Ned going out in disguise to find him only to see that his father has moved on to a new life with new children. Gets me every time.
• The way Ned teeters between awareness and unawareness of how broken he is. In particular, the scene in "Bzzzzz!" when Chuck asks him how long he'd lived alone and his answer--delivered, heartbreakingly, in his usual quiet monotone--is "Long enough."
• The cancellation.
• The scene at the very beginning of "Dim Sum, Lose Sum": all those lonely little boys, playing roulette because they have nothing better to do. Since they don't have any money, they wagering their most cherished posessions: a slinky, a toy car... all those intensely beloved treasures of childhood. (Ned wagers the last gift his mother ever gave him. And loses.) Because they're that desperate for some kind of connection with other people, some kind of bond with other children, even if it's not even friendship. And none of the adults notice or care, because they've all gone away for the weekend.
• In Pie-lette, the very first episode, Ned is about to touch Chuck for the second, final time and she asks, "Do you want to be my last kiss? First and last? Or is that weird?" He gently replies, "It's not weird. It's symmetrical."