A little girl's life is torn apart, but don't worry, a couple of kids got a school award and some cake, so everything is good. It's a Small Wonder Very Special Episode.
"What you talkin' 'bout, Maytag Man?" "Shut the fuq up and grab some balls, Arnold! .....We're playing tennis, here." I was disturbed by the episode and then by the way the show's title changed to "Diff'rent Strokes" with the apostrophe.
Well, good to know that were they to pull the show back out ala Fuller House, the son would weigh 400lbs and be burdened with Diabetes. "The housing crash, you guys...!"
Actually, it was Rousseau who said that, not Marie Antoinette. Second, "cake" was not a pastry, but referred to the caked-on sides of an oven; totally inedible stuff. Just . . . the more you know.
Anthony Sforza Uh.... dunno how to break this, but said actor, Jerry Supiran, was, at last check, broke and homeless in 2012. A stripper he was dating when he was 18 took what was left of his trust fund, then an advisorr stole half a mil from him. Worked steakhouses for 15 years till he got laid off; then he moved back to Cali with a brother that couldn't give him a place tostay, so it's sleeping at the homeless shelter he volunteers at, or under the local bridge.
He's married and is now with a wife and they're helping to keep his mother safe after she had a heart attack in 2012. He was homeless but not anymore! www.imdb.com/name/nm0839481/bio?ref_=nm_ql_1
Small Wonder was such a hugely popular show in SouthAsia. They started airing it in the early 90's. These guys are practically superstars in India! Too bad we didn't have internet back then
The Fresh Prince episode where Will's father leaves almost as fast as he came back into his life will always make me cry because it will always remind me of mine and my dad's rotten relationship.
I was friends with a girl who's face was supposedly on a milk carton, she lived with her "dad" in the mobile home park we lived in at the time (I was 5 -7) and she would say that she could only come outside and play if he was asleep. When I was 7, (I was told someone from the school recognized her and called the number on the carton) her Mom came from Texas (to California) and took her back to Texas. I often think of her and wonder where she is now and hope she's doing well.
I have tried, the issue is she has (had) such a common name and it may not have been her real name of course, and I don't know which town in Texas she lived in. I basically have no where to start. If she changed her name, it would make it that much harder!!
The darkest 1980's sitcom episode ever is the Punky Brewster when her friend Cherie suffocates in a refrigerator she was hiding in. I was scared shit of the refrigerator for 2 years, 4 months and 10 days.
Brian Bianco I remember that. Infact the G.I.Joe cartoon actually had a small segment to remind kids Not to hide in abandon refrigerators when they play hide & seek, lol. No lie.
Just looked it up. That was actually kind of funny if you really think about the episode for a bit. I mean, at the time (and to this day), refrigerators were manufactured in a way that something like this wouldn't happen. A kid couldn't fit in the fridge and close the door on themselves, and even if they somehow did (like, by removing every shelf) they could still kick open the door from inside. So, the entire premise of the episode should have been impossible. The solution was to have the girl get stuck in a broken refrigerator from the 1940s. Oh, also, they had to make sure that since the friend is playing with her friends, she has to go missing long enough to suffocate in the fridge. So, they play hide-and-seek outside, then get asked to play inside. Conveniently, the fridge from the 1940s was left outside because it is going to be donated the next day.
Holy hell. This and small wonder were my 2 favorite shows (my family called me Punky when I was a kid) as a kid. I don't remeber this episode but I'm sure it scared the hell out of me then. Maybe this is why I kinda stay away from our refrigerator when I was that young.
@@qty1315 back then some refrigerators had a handle that latched. It wasn't simply a seal around a door. The handle had to be pulled down. If you got in that one simply kicking it from inside wouldn't have done anything.
this is just like the episode of punky brewster where their friend julie/jennifer (played by candace cameron) is on the milk carton and didn't know she was missing.
NJGuy1973 I was born in '80. Stranger danger man...funny how it was usually someone you knew...was for me. Just like the bicycle man...he gains your trust and destroys it
There was actually an episode that I remember about somebody seeing Viki the robot and thinking it was their daughter that had been missing. Turns out they actually modeled her face after a picture in the newspaper that they had seen of a missing girl. It was really sad because that Dad thought that he had found his missing daughter and turned out it was just a robot.
Man, I wanna see that episode! Sadly, I missed out on Small Wonder when it was on. TBH, I'd never heard of it, until I saw a segment on I Love the 80s about it, lol.
And I’m guessing nobody thought it was suspicious that whoever made this robot modeled her after a little girl who’s face appeared in a newspaper because she went missing and was still missing to that day.
You always knew when it was going to be a dark episode when the promo commercials started with, "Next time, on a very special (insert name of show)..."
When J.J, from Good Times was shot by a gang and the gang leader's mother disowned him? Anybody old enough to remember that one? Chilled me pretty good and I was a high school kid.
Jon MacDonald didn’t you ever see the episodes with Penny? I can’t iron clothes without thinking of the episode where they find out her mom is a monster.
She also seems well adjusted, unabused, and she's attending school. The dad seems to be doing his due diligence, maybe the mom is the unstable one and he's trying to give her a better life 🤔
Maybe. But kidnapping her (taking her away without the knowledge and permission of the other parent) is bound to lead to more trouble for both the girl and the dad. They'll either have to keep her mostly hidden or be on the run constantly when people find out. That's not a better life for her. And if/when they get caught? The dad's definitely going to prison, and that's going to be traumatizing for the girl. Either way, the situation is fucked up. ... It's funny that we're having such a serious discussion over an 80s sitcom. Not that I mind.
The best comment on this vid is the description LOL "A little girl's life is torn apart, but don't worry, a couple of kids got a school award and some cake, so everything is good."
Small wonder was one of my favorite shows as a kid. And listen, us 80s kids heard about actual missing kids in between our cartoons every Saturday morning, the entire 80s was a dark, very special decade
There was a Small Wonder episode where the guest actor was a raging alchoholic and the episode was about dealing with alcoholism but in a funny, family friendly way
sumit dalal That actually makes sense. India has some screwed up ideas and the idea of having a child servant must appeal to their lack of self worth which is reenforced by their strict caste system.
@@007dalal Fuck that guy, he's an asshole. I like hearing about cult followings for shows and shit in other countries, makes the world sound more and more interesting.
@@magnuschristianssen8999child slave ??? Have you ever noticed how much Joan loved VICI, I bet you mom & dad would have never loved you that much. Whole world is dark if you only wanna see darkness
No words. I got nothin'. The only way this could have been any worse would be if the father moved to a new city, took the name Mr. Horton, and became "The bicycleman".
Terry Bradford --> Thank you Captain Obvious! Let us also discuss the fact that Monday is a weekday unto itself, and 9am an hour unto itself designed for regretting the drinks consumed the weekend nights before!!* (*Sorry for the snark level there. You left the door so wide open, my stand up comedy past could not resist...😉)
The finale to Dinosaurs was pretty dark. The factory poisoned the environment and causes the deep freeze that kills all the dinosaurs. It ends with them all sitting there waiting to die.
Syndicated sitcoms couldn't really get close to the kinds of ratings needed to be considered a hit show* because they air in time-slots that have much lower total TV viewers to begin with. Even if compared strictly to other syndicated sitcoms it would be in the "average" category. The hits would be _"Mama's Family"_ and _"Charles in Charge"_ . To put that in perspective, both of those shows were originally network programs and both were cancelled after one season due to poor ratings. Still, Small Wonder had a good run. And it actually was a hit in a few other countries! Very popular in India, Brazil and Italy. 4 seasons and 96 episodes definitely tested the premise's built-in expiration date. Any further and they'd have to explain why the robot girl is becoming a robot woman. * _ftr, a "hit" requires ratings higher than the combined average of all viewers ÷ shows of that season._
It was a hit in my eyes. I am the same age as Tiffany Brissette, and was so obsessed with the show that I decided to be an android for Halloween and at my older brother’s party I literally talked in a robot voice the entire night. I even tried to convince my friends at school that I was an android. So I definitely thought the show was a hit too. I still love it even with all its cheesy acting.
The most tragic moment of my childhood was walking home from school only to see my family brutally murdered when I walked through the front door. That would have really been a bad day if I didn't have an extra piece of cake in the fridge.
The most tragic moment of my life was when I murdered this kids whole family. I saw that there was cake left so I decided not to kill the last one. Someone needed to eat that cake.
Was a very early 90s show, and yes. Apparently, the teens have to reassure the scared baby that they will all stay together and not be separated. The producers said the ending had an important message (and it did, it was about environmentalism and not limiting corporations) that was delivered with "subtlety" (uhhh, no. That was as harsh and blunt as getting hit with a club.) But almost all of that series had an unsettling/sad/disturbing undertone with a lot of very specific social commentary. One of the running jokes is that the baby genuinely hates the father, and the father reacts by resenting the baby, which is played for laughs in a fairly unhealthy way. Everytime someone opened the fridge, you would hear the desperate cries for help of the small live animals they had trapped in there. At a certain age, everyone was expected to "depart" by being ceremonially hurled into a hot tar pit. The Mom has two near-death experiences. It was a lot of adult messages and black humor, considering they partly marketed it to children (but producing kids faire that either had very, very upsetting elements, was developmentally inappropriate, or was mindless garbage that no one had put any effort into, or any combination thereof, was a big theme of the 70s to early 90s. I assume there was a lot of cynical and lazy marketing, hallucinogens and coke involved among production management) My Mom just barely saw Dinosaurs, she would be on the phone the whole time, and would sometimes look up and say "what cute puppets!" But after a while I stopped watching, it was clearly not meant for my age group,and for a comedy marketed to families, it could be pretty bleak.
@@bdjoh011 The person who said "that was a 90s show" seemed to be saying that it shouldn't be included here. But that show premiered in 91, and feels late 80s/early 90s to me. It lacks the sunnier tone that increased in the mid to late 90s.
People have always had wild ideas about what technology would be capable of in the future. As long as you're making stuff up, why limit your imagination? Just because we can't do it now doesn't mean it won't be possible at some point. There's plenty of things tech can do now that was completely inconceivable even just 50 years ago, let alone more.
It's a different part of the multi-verse. In their timelines droids don't have emotions so they counter the sand-hating kids boinking ex-Senators deal that other Jedi ran into. Plus she can vacuum under the couch by lifting it with one leg and presumably using the force to keep it from breaking under it's own weight.
American Psycho was released in the year 2000. (Actually, I was about to comment that it was released late nineties before I double-checked. For some reason, I thought it was released in 98/99.
& the picture on the milk carton was a recent pic. It's not like she was kidnapped as a kid & had no memory of mom & the situation. This was recent. I can't think of an instance where a girl that old would not know there was drama & something was up.
I think the idea it that it was her father. It might have been a fairly early stage of the kidnapping, took her and moved and has not told her that she isn't going back?
Chrissa Todd, no. That was her dad. The idea is that he kidnapped her from home. I.E. Him and her mother were separating for whatever reason and he took their daughter and vamoosed. Which is still very illegal and as the video points out, he's going to prison for.
I think its a completely believable story, if your dad and mom divorce then your dad tells you were going away from mom for a while you wouldnt know you were being kidnapped
It wasn't explicitly intentional, but the underlying intentionality of 1980s culture was to terrify children. This was the era of Stranger Danger, of kids kidnapped from the dark recesses of Black Vans (the fear far beyond the reality), of the whole "Strangers with Candy". The idea was to terrify children so that they would stay indoors (and watch shows like Small Wonder and Different Strokes). This was the beginning of the home video game market, designed to occupy children in the original "safe space". The goal was achieved. Children became terrified of the outdoors and "stayed off the streets". As the goal was achieved fairly quickly, the 1990s rewarded those kids, now teenagers, by telling them how Rad, Awesome, and Cool they were. As channels like this one "examine" the shows in question, rarely is any context offered as to why these things are occurring. It's "These poor fools just didn't know any better. We sure are smarter than them".
I have to say that as a child growing up in the 1980’s and early 1990’s who had the tendency to wander off and not tell anyone where I was going which would freak my mother out so she decided to make up a story (at the time I didn’t know it was fictional) that there was a man with strawberry blonde hair who drove a red convertible and had attempted two abduct 2 or 3 different kids in the city where we were living (Worcester,MA) but was unsuccessful and at the same time had not been apprehended by police and let me tell you this worked on me, it scared me straight, I definitely stayed inside ALL the time watching sitcoms and soap operas and some very strange lifetime original movies with stories that were probably not suitable for someone my age, but yeah, it was during those years that kids were being kidnapped all around the country at random, you don’t hear about that too much anymore with technology and DNA and all that being available now
I LOVED this show as a kid. Recently, I found it on a streaming service and was so excited to experience a little nostalgia. Instead, I realized the show sucked HARD.
No way this is darkest ep of 80s..Nothing touches The bicycle shop owner giving dudley&arnold alcohol & drugs so they will get naked and pose for pictures
Oh, hell no you didn't! Yeah that's right that one is darker and creepier. At least this one is funny but that one had no redeeming comedy, how can you joke about pedophilia. It was gross too because they actually show pedos how to groom kids.
What about the "Small Wonder" episode where the investors from Japan look into the bedroom window and mistake the Ginger Haired girl for The Robot Prototype and kidnap her instead?
i really barely remember that show, you must have a really good memory, or you've been watching way too much classic shows on an app of some kind lol. jk :) anyway i only remember the episode where a drug dealer tries selling weed to the little boy, mainly cause it was mocked on a watchmojo video i think
@@KellyClement oh right, that makes sense, though i daren't do that cause i don't download anything i don't already trust but i appreciate you trying to help :)
I totally forgot about this show, and that was a crazy episode. I was going to mention the Different Strokes molestation episode, because that actually gave me the courage as a child to tell my mom and older sister what was being done to me. Unfortunately, I had to get myself outta that situation, because they were too afraid of my abusive POS uncle, so, they was allowing the abuse. They all faced 2 karmas. Me when I grew up, and the actual karma came for them all. I can't say that I'm sad for them, because I wasn't the only child going thru hell in our family. I've managed to marry a man, who's, helped make me stronger, but I'd die before I'll just let bad things happen to my babies like that. Any child I can help, and I will.
Power to you for having the courage to tell someone! I was molested. The boy was under 13 so apparently can't be prosecuted. I was seven I think. I never thought I'd have a normal life cos I didn't trust men. It's been hard , but at 26 I had my first kiss and at 29 lost my virginity to my soon to be husband. I never thought I'd get a normal life and get to have a husband and kids and why did my molester get to have those things. Very happy now. I hope myolester rots though
I'm sorry to hear that - sorry about your uncle being a monster, and doubly sorry that your mother let you down - but glad you made it. Stay strong and remember that the best revenge is a good life!
That's horrible that happened! There is no karma, but if the uncle repented to God, who is merciful during our life on Earth in the person of Christ and would forgive, he would still feel horrible; if not, he's going to feel horrible for eternity in a whole crazy different way as judge by Christ as the just judge. Of course, we have to forgive or want to forgive to be forgiven for unrelated sins. Bible aside, cosmically, holding onto wrath would keep you from spiritual freedom, as you would keep yourself from that as much as you'd be punished by the one who forgives us and wants to save us from ourselves.
I went through something similar except for it was my adoptive father I was really little I was 6 when he got arrested but back in 1983-84 a sex offender got away with it he ONLY GOT EIGHT YEARS probation AND VISITATION ... Unsupervised ZERO prison time for what he did to me and my four other (older) sisters I was the youngest of his KNOWN victims They where a prominent foster care and adoptive parents in the 60's&70's
For some reason, I really liked this show when I was a kid. Looking back as an adult it was really weird and ridiculous. How did anyone not notice that Vicki talked in a robotic monotone voice?!?
@Amer Hamad this should have like, 100 likes or something, cause its so true. why does no one notice bruce wayne and batman sound similar, and have the same mouth? why does no one realize the same five teenagers who hang out all the time wear the same colors as the power rangers? so many examples lol
You'd be surprised what people put up with. At my job, a gorgeous college student went to pick up a package. She literally grunted and made small noises, and the clerk helped her like it was nothing. I said to my coworker "That girl is so pretty, she doesn't even have to speak words any more and she gets whatever she wants"
Dang, this episode was dark! What's really a trip is that I watched "Small Wonder" religiously when I was a little girl, and I don't even remember this episode! I remember every episode being having lighthearted plots involving trying to make Vicky more like a human little girl.
I have no memory of this episode either. It certainly isn't because people didn't think about this stuff in the 80s as apparently other people seem to think. The thread here about other shows' "very special" episodes should be evidence enough of that.
Aerin Lockeadon Old head view point: "stranger danger" was actually a constant concern in the 80's. There were literally PSA's and after school specials about not getting into vans with strangers for candy and such. There was a show called America's Most Wanted with real criminals, many of which had abducted children. The social climate about kidnapping, "stranger danger" and domestic abuse in the 80's was at threat-con 50. Yes, ppl DEFINITELY thought about these things in the 80's. I think the reason why Small Wonder did this milk carton episode is bc everyone else was already doing it. This was so commonplace in the 80's. You kids these days have a really idealized idea of the 80's. Trust me, it was NOT innocent. It was bonkers jaded back then. Everything was dark. You have no idea! In fact, I think I'll re-post tjis in the general comments, bc more ppl really should understand this. The world didn't get the way it is today from nothing. Things lead to the way it is now.
Bet if you went back and watched it you would be surprised by how much you thought was lighthearted and normal. I sure do everytime I go back and watch stuff I used to love as a kid.
@@johnellizz same, so glad i wasn't alone, and yeah we were kids, i don't think its creepy cause its not like we still have the crush, and some people had crushes on Simba from the Lion King lol
When this show was on, there was this girl in my class that had a huge crush on me and not shy about letting me known it. She also loved this show. To try and "impress" me she would do imitations of the robot girl from the show. It was a very uncomfortable time for me.
You mean Dudley (Arnold's friend)? From what I remembered, it was STRONGLY implied that the Bicycle Man had molested Dudley in some way. Perhaps not full on rape, but there was a level of molestation implied. However, some viewers will argue that nothing happened while other viewers will state that something did happen. Could be open to interpretation. However, Bicycle Man was alone with him for a long time.
The girl who played Vicki was in reality talented. You can see glimpses of her potential when she is allowed to “impersonate” the other cast, dance or sing and she would not only do it perfectly but perfectly in character. Not really her fault she was asked to talk that way and given horrible lines. But I believe she did as good as one could expect given her directions. I’ve seen her in clips singing and being herself and it’s too bad they didn’t let her be herself. They could have upgraded her programming to act more human and let the girl shine.
I grew up in then80s so I remember these very serious and often controversial episodes we all learn something from the 80s growing up as children, unfortunately nowadays this stuff won't fly because parents are overly sensitive on such subjects
NRK MKW The name of this video is "The darkest episode of an 80's sitcom ever" and it was simply about a child who was abducted by her own parent. In the episode I referenced, two preteen children were given alcohol, shown child pornography and one was molested. I think it is you who doesn't get the point or is it that child rape is so mainstream within our culture now that I'm wrong and it's not as big a deal as I believe it to be?
I Actualy got to meet "Vicky" the robot girl..she was really super religious, and was with her mother (her agent) her mother does all the talking btw, but she was very friendly..just sort of strange..
you are all wrong.....darkest episode...different strokes episode...."the hitchhikers" arnold and kimberly kidnapped. it was so dark...it needed 2 parts.
I thought that they were going to talk about the episode where the visiting grandfather has a heart attack and Vicki (The robot girl) uses her own power supply as a defibrillator. Once the grandfather recovers enough to return, (before the heart attack he was against the idea of a robot in the family) the father explained what had happened to the grandfather, who after getting the idea that she essentially jumpstarted him like a car, he was much more accepting of the robot girl.
When i was little i seriously thought that why people at honda in japan working on humanoid robots when small wonder already have quite advanced robot already.
Ah...good one. Actually, it's a funny coincidence that you brought up Roseanne; when I saw they were going to be talking about dark sitcom episodes, my mind went to the episode in which it comes out that Jackie's boyfriend has been abusing her. The scene with the big reveal is absolutely harrowing, with a stellar performance by Laurie Metcalf.
The Waltons actually started with a woman giving away her kid to the family because she didn't think she could feed her anymore. And with a dozen kids to play with and a little home spun, awe-shucks wisdom from grandpa, they reunite the family and mosey right on towards WW2, and more hilarious hijinks of the early 20th century!
will crow The Waltons was an awesome show. We need more "family values" shows that are gritty and realistic. I grew up watching smarmy shows like "Full House" and my dad was like "Too smarmy!" Because he used to watch the old sitcoms of the 1950's and 1960's.
I binge watched the whole Waltons series and here's what happened: Maryellen's doctor husband faked his death in Pearl Harbor because he lost his penis in the bombing(at least it didn't work).
Michael Tepes It accidentally works really well. I can totally believe that the dad would just need to shut the kids up with cake because it's always something with these fuckers and there's really no way to address any issues they might have with living in a world full of crime and horror. So here, have some cake.
Not sure if your phrasing is good or not since "F(fuck) the kid have some cake" seems ok but that one pedophile scene in the above video might have skewed my perception slightly.
The Different Strokes episode and the All in the Family episodes, 1 where Edith is sexually assaulted and 2 where Archie and his friend are beaten, Archie hospitalized and his friend killed are what got me as a kid.
I still remember an interview with the guy who played the rapist and he said that he was trying to figure out how to play the guy, and he actually said, "once we decided that it was not going to be a FUNNY RAPE, then I knew how to play it." That was decades ago and it is still horrifying. Also, Natalie and Jo were also victims of attempted sexual assault on the Facts of Life. Jo thought she was going to a dance with one of Blair's friends. He took her right past the dance to the golf course where he tried it, thinking she was trash. Since this was in 79/80, I imagine he would be minus a few body parts and still limping today!
I think this is one of the only TV shows where the child actually looks like it's father. Most shows the kids look nothing like they're related. That kid looks like he could be that guys child.
There was a cold war going on then, we were used to the doom and gloom that was already looming in our lives. And yes, child abductions were very common back then. We didn't have the Amber Alert system then.
This "Small Wonder" show needs to come back, and the little robot girl accidently kills and sometimes deliberately murders people on the show, and it would also have the laugh track throughout the show.
UPDATE: Hollywood did make a movie like this in 2022, "M3GAN", but they didn't use a laugh track. The budget for "M3GAN" was $12 million U.S dollars with a box office take of $181 million. So yeah, great idea.
Then I guess I was a sadist back then ha ha. The show was dopey and dumb, but I loved it anyway. It was bad then, it's bad now. I'm not so sure I'd still watch it today, perhaps in limited doses. I remember back then what a huuuuuge crush I had on that kid, the boy...not the son, but his friend. Reggie? 🤔
Alton Coates It was one of the few Very Special Episodes which actually focused on one of the main characters. (Quite often they focused on a guest character). Diff'rent Strokes did that too.
@@julieporter7805 Imagine that...this dumb auto correct actually thinks the show would have been spelled "Different Strokes"...how stupid are machines these days?
I swear when I heard you say "BURY" I thought there was going to be some kind of plot twist where they're actually the ones who kidnapped her and they're going to bury her as a family
This is tame compared to the Good Times' episode about child abuse and the Different Strokes's episode about child molestation. Y'all need to step your game up Cracked
I used to watch this show all the time on tv as a kid in the 80s. Totally forgot about it until RU-vid came about. Funny what memories are still there under the surface just waiting for a trigger to pop up again.
Having grown up in foster care, I find most movies about 'orphans' very disturbing. Next time you see a 'cutsie' movie about orphans, take some time to think about what it means to have grown up with people who you knew were not your parents and who didn't even pretend to be your parents.
what kills me. have you ever seven Myrna from the Looney Tunes. I've seen people get animals and not keep them right. and then I've seen people adopt children as if they were a pet or something. one kid their kid was a spoiled rotten brat and the other kid was pretty much treated like Harry Potter was. the adopted kid had to go in the living room and sit while their kid had run of the house. this is a little different but once my brother's wife was babysitting his son-in-law's daughter. she threw a tantrum at the table because she didn't want to eat or whatever it was everyone was eating. I think it was steak. she was about four they sent her to bed because you wouldn't eat with everyone else was eating. not 5 minutes after this my niece went to her mother and asked if she can make herself a hot dog. so essentially her daughter did the same thing as the other little girl who I think was about a year younger. it was okay for daughter to do it but not the other girl. And the part that got me about it was my sister-in-law I never even realized that she was doing it. completely biased.
That's the darkest you could find? How about that 'Growing Pains' episode where Tracy Gold's boyfriend gets into a car accident. They think he'll recover only for him to die from internal bleeding by the end of the episode. Or that 'Family Ties' episode where Michael J. Fox faces survivor's guilt because he and his friend got in a car accident. Alex survived, but his friend didn't. (That's an Emmy reel one) Or the whole premise of the 'Hogans'. Originally it was Valerie Harper PTA, but when the lead wanted more money, they fired her, in story she died. And the Hogans continued a life full of sitcom shenanigans. .
YES! The 80's pushed the boundaries of creativity & quality. But I think 'cracked' was referring to the way the characters ignored the tragedy. (Harper quit her show, so the writers were stuck)
Speaking of Japan, I saw a video not too long ago that was basically about a Japanese guy saying that most Japanese view black people as bad. And he said it might have to to with the fact that the movies imported into Japan are filtered and so in many of those movies the black person is alway shown as the bad guy. WTF?
How about on Growing Pains when Carol was dating "Chandler" who got in a DWI and died. Tracey Gold's acting in that scene where Mike tells her of the death was outstanding. I think I was 12 or 13 when that came out, that was pretty dark for that time.
Lol I remember that episode I was just to young to realize that it was her dad that kidnaped her I didn't understand that there were such things as divorce and custody so when she said she had to talk to her dad about it I thought he must of kidnaped her as a baby but didn't know how they got a currant picture of her Lol messed up episode I was very confused still didn't freak me out like the bike shop episode of different strokes I could never look at the Maytag repair man the same again
