Upsetting moments in otherwise not upsetting comedy

[Kankurette]

That bit in Scrubs with How to Save a Life.

I occasionally catch the odd episode of The Simpsons, and a lot of the comedy surrounding Nelson is unpleasant and upsetting. Mainly stuff about his mum being a promiscuous sex worker who emotionally abuses Nelson, growing up in poverty, being abandoned by his dad. Very mean spirited stuff.

All that stuff about Nelson's mum is recent, isn't it? Shows how bad the show is getting.

I fucking hated the 'Bart ruins Thanksgiving' episode. It wasn't funny, it was mean-spirited and depressing. Bart destroys Lisa's centrepiece for the table and makes her cry, Marge tells him he ruined Thanksgiving, Marge's mum is just horrible to her and Bart runs away.

[bigfatheart]

Doesn't Damien get an equally bleak ending as Gus's? He gets trapped somewhere during an attempted report from another country and it's implied he's going to die. Can't recall the details, but the fact Damien was doomed and wasn't even aware that Globe Link News was closing down got to me as much as George's ending, or Gus sitting zombified in a burnt-out office. (Which had a pre-fame and uncredited Stephen Merchant as a removal man clearing the place out, or am I getting that wrong?)

Ahh, you're right - in my head I'd got jumbled up and gave Helen's fate (delivery driver) to Damien - a step down but steady work and not as bleak.

Yeah, I suppose a lot of them are bleaker than I was remembering, but George's always stood out because he had the chance, for the first time in the whole series, to grab some happiness for himself, and he completely spurned it.

Richard Osman is the removal man, btw - presumably because he was working for Hat Trick at the time.

[Andy147]

Doesn't Damien get an equally bleak ending as Gus's? He gets trapped somewhere during an attempted report from another country and it's implied he's going to die.

More or less - he's captured by an Amazonian tribe that he's filming, who think he's a god and won't let him leave, but I don't think it's implied they're about to kill him.

[Jumblegraws]

I fucking hated the 'Bart ruins Thanksgiving' episode. It wasn't funny, it was mean-spirited and depressing. Bart destroys Lisa's centrepiece for the table and makes her cry, Marge tells him he ruined Thanksgiving, Marge's mum is just horrible to her and Bart runs away.

My sis can't stand Lisa shouting "you don't even care!" at Bart, it sounds too authentic for her, which is a credit to Yeardley Smith's performance at least.

[jobotic]

Doesn't Damien get an equally bleak ending as Gus's? He gets trapped somewhere during an attempted report from another country and it's implied he's going to die. Can't recall the details, but the fact Damien was doomed and wasn't even aware that Globe Link News was closing down got to me as much as George's ending, or Gus sitting zombified in a burnt-out office. (Which had a pre-fame and uncredited Stephen Merchant as a removal man clearing the place out, or am I getting that wrong?)

My own nominations would be two Reeves & Mortimer moments - the original Masterchef sketch is pretty unsettling on the whole, but the moment where Morwenna Banks reveals how she did the Jesus ears really hits you with how full-on grotesque it is. Also there's a fake advert in "Smell Of" for some sort of puppet version of Stringfellows, which is being demonstrated by two weirdos in their underpants (not played by Vic or Bob). The camera starts to wander off the puppet playset and focuses more on these deranged scrawlings on the walls, possibly in blood, one of which says "PRINCESS DIANA MUST DIE" or something. (It was before she actually did die as well, which makes it even more eerie than it was at the time.)

What that where I WILL KILL AGAIN came from? Sure it was R&M

[Pink Gregory]

All that stuff about Nelson's mum is recent, isn't it? Shows how bad the show is getting.

The one time you see Nelson's mum before that stuff she's portrayed as doting and somewhat overbearing, IIRC.  His dad even appears in the 'Bart's Bigger Brother' episode, before they start doing the 'went to get cigarettes' stuff.

[PammySpacek]

More or less - he's captured by an Amazonian tribe that he's filming, who think he's a god and won't let him leave, but I don't think it's implied they're about to kill him.

Ah, OK, I think I was conflating that with the time he got captured by a dictator who nearly had him offed.

What that where I WILL KILL AGAIN came from? Sure it was R&M

After I posted that I looked up an old thread on here, and it seems it was "I WILL KILL AGAIN" instead of what I remembered, and the Princess Diana references were in the form of loads of newspaper cuttings stuck to the walls of that grotty bedsit.