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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Golden girls honestly had alot of dark episodes to be honest The one where Dorothy's mom becomes friends with the old black man who has dementia Or how they win the lottery and accidentally give the ticket away in a jacket to a homeless shelter and they talk with all the people in the shelter and eventually donate the ticket to the shelter Or how sophie has to talk one of her friends out of commiting suicide with pills because her friend was lonely The golden girls was an amazing show and it covered so many issues that are still relevant to this day.

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

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

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

darkest 90s episodes? degrassi as a whole lmao

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

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

Boy Meets World had several dark episodes, and I've always thought that people pointing at Cult Fiction as the dark episode is a bit absurd. It was over the top and not believable. Or the episode where Corey takes up drinking to help him get over Topanga and becomes the life of the party...and when he gets caught, his father blames Shawn, creating a very awkward moment. Or how about the episode where Topanga's professor hits on her, over exerts his power on her, tells Corey there's nothing he can do about it, tries to get Corey expelled and tries to flip it on Topanga when she threatens to expose him. Or the episode(s) where Josh, Corey's new born baby brother, is clinging to life and Topanga doesn't like the way Corey is handling the whole situation. There probably at least 3 more episodes that are much darker and explore much more realistic problems that teens face. Not to downplay the seriousness of cults...they're just not something most people actually encounter.

A talk from DannyTanner could fix anything

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

My uncle heath died from aids. He had a blood transfusion in the 80’s for leukemia. The episode of golden girls always makes me cry.

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

You put in the Full house about eating disorders but forgot “Silence is Not Golden” from season 6 where Stephanie finds out a classmate was being abused... very uncharacteristic you somber episode.. should have definitely been on this list

Literally ALL Degrassi episodes were dark and relatable

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

This is not even close to how dark I thought any of these would be.

"Shawn's favorite teacher" ummm Mr. Turner was waaaay more than just Shawn's favorite teacher, he was a father figure at minimum

Fresh prince, his dad don’t love him “dark episode”... best acting I’ve ever seen by Will Smith, it actually made me tear up.

The original Degrassi (1987-1991) had some pretty dark moments too.

'danny tanner talks to her' every episode of full house, there's always a cheesy talk where Danny gives a cheesy inspirational speach to either DJ or Steph.

There was also a pretty disturbing “very special episode” of Smart Guy that dealt with pedophilia/child pornography. T.J and his friend met who they thought was another kid online and agreed to purchase bootleg games from him, only to find out upon meeting in person that it was an older man. The man laters lures them to his house with the promise of more games but then tries to convince them to strip down to their underwear and show them pictures of other kids he’s taken.

"IT'S SOOOOO 90'S THAT EVEN N'SYNC SHOWS UP!" HAHAHAHAHA! 🤣🤣🤣

The darkest Quantum Leap (but also one of the best and most intense) is when he leaps into Lee Harvey Oswald. It's chilling.

Rosanne, the episode where Darlene and David nearly loose their baby,very moving

The final episodes of Alf and Dinosaurs were terribly dark, too.

"Fresh Prince of Belle Air" when Will finds out his dad is a deadbeat. Very somber. Also "Growing Pains" when they killed off Matthew Perry. Might have been the '80's but real late in the decade.

Thank you for mentioning Slow Tango in South Seattle. I thought I was the only one who felt that whole concept of Frasier losing his childhood virginity to a 40 year old woman was super gross.

Age of consent in Ney York is 17. That's how Monica avoided prison.

Aunt becky got arrested today. What the hell 2019

It is a stretch to call that Friends episode "dark".

What about the Boy Meets World episode about alcoholism?

First thing that popped in my mind when I read the title was “IM SO EXCITED”

The 90s when fox kids dominated my schedule and kids wb didn't go all anime yet

Married... with Children could take any of these dark plots and make them funny.

The 90’s were SO DARK. This is an important video. There wasn’t concern for the audience’s emotional thought process. The producers were 100% in on being as overwhelming as possible in a very dry, carefree way. Brutal.

The Growing Pains episode when Carol's boyfriend dies from a drunk driving accident, it has always stuck with me. 😭

Actually high levels of caffeine can lead to a panic attack especially in someone who has a history of anxiety and/or is under significant stress. Caffeine causes insomnia, agitation, increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, and heart palpitations all of which can be distressing to anyone. A panic attack happens when your body becomes overwhelmed by the stress/anxiety in your mind, which these symptoms can lead to

The Frasier one... how is that dark?

I have to say that the episode of Home Improvement that y'all showed on this video (The Longest Day) was actually one of my favorite episodes because of the fact that it showed parents actually caring for their son, and showed a seriousness and to me seems like it would give some hope to families who go through that same type of ordeal.

"I'm so excited! I'm so excited! I'm so...scared"

Always skipped over Quantum Leap as a kid but you may have just talked me into checking it out finally, by telling me the premise. Sounds great

I actually had a friend that found a gun in his dad's house and decided to play with it. he was 13 at the time. he ended up accidentally shooting himself in the face. fortunately, he lived. unfortunately, he lost an eye. he was headed to a life of alcoholism the last I saw him at the end of our high school years, which was unfortunate. he was an amazing drummer. don't know where he is these days but I hope he's well.

A Different World with domestic abuse and one student confessed that she had AIDS. Fresh Prince of Bel-Air with episodes where Carl was exposed to the drugs and actually overdosed on it as well as the saddest episode ever about Will having issues with his father’s abandonment

One that always disturbed me was the episode of Family Matters where an elderly man was killed during a robbery. Carl felt guilty because he made the call to shoot the robber and the elderly man ended up getting killed too. In the end, his wife told Carl that she felt responsible because she was the one who asked him to go to the store that night. Also the episode of the Hogan Family when Dave finds out that his best friend Rich had AIDS and he dies at the end of the episode.

Even darker Quantum Leap -- when Sam jumped into the body of Lee Harvey Oswald -- that was freaky.

Who remembers the episode of Full House when Uncle Joey was actually funny? I can't

What about Punky Brewster when her best friend got locked in the fridge that was in the dumpster?

The darkest imo, is diff'rent strokes when Dudley gets molested by the bicycle man.... super creepy!

A lot of these aren’t “dark” to me. They are real life issues.

Despite being slightly disturbing, "The Opera" was a really good episode with well-directed scenes, impeccable pacing, and some funny scenes.

WAit whaaat, why did Dan pass away in Roseanne and then magically come back in the revival ?

What about the episode of Full House where Stephanie's classmate is getting abused by his dad?

This was incredibly preachy and tried to hold 2019 ideals to 1990's SITCOMS.

You're misinformed caffeine can bring on panic attacks in people with depression and anxiety. I had to pretty much give up tea and coffee due to this. I have them as a treat and never in excess.

Golden Girls a cult classic?! It’s a straight up classic.

Anyone else live for those dark episodes?? 😬

That was one of the tamer "dark" episodes of Boy Meets World. The show covered a WIDE range of serious issues. Also where is degrassi!? The show could have an episode of its own on the topics they covered.

Seinfeld was never dark😂 That episode is one of my favorites & it's hilarious😆

For someone with anxiety, caffeine can cause a full on freak out. But yeah there were deff some crazy moments in 90s shows. Lol

Wait! Didn't Will Smith/Carlton do speed in that one episode?

Ask Dudley from "Different Strokes" and he will tell you what the darkest moment was!!

I think the darkest part of quantum leap was finding out Al's freedom and young life was given up for Sam's brothers life in Vietnam. Pretty deep stuff

That episode of The X-Files in which the Smoking Man gives Mulder a vodka enema was pretty dark.

The Golden Girls seriously blow all of the other shows on this list quality wise out of the water - hands down - with Quantum Leap as a runner up.

The Golden Girls episode that made me the most sad was when the ladies find out Rose was addicted to her pain medication and they kept her sober overnight by telling stories (was it a flashback episode maybe?...)

The one dark but best episode for me was on The Hogan’s when David’s longtime friend, Rich, died from AIDS. This was a longtime recurring character, not just the one time episode gig. Excellent episode

The episode of Full House was very relatable for any teenage girl. Back then parents didn't seek treatment for their kids. They told you to go eat a sandwich and stop embarrassing them.

This just makes me miss the 90's more. I watched every single one of these shows.

The 90's are tame compared to the 70's and 80's. Family Ties. Alex gets hooked on amphetamines. Uncle Ned gets drunk hits Alex. Mallory gets sexually harassed by family friend Uncle Arthur. Different Strokes. The Bicycle Man episodes. The Hitchhikers episodes. Then another episode where Sam gets kidnapped and held hostage. Too Close for Comfort. Monroe gets kidnapped and sexually tortured. Punky Brewster. Punky thinks her dad will be killed by a serial killer. Facts of Life. Natalie is sexually assaulted. Mr. Belvedere. Wesley is sexually assaulted at camp. All in the Family. Edith is raped on her birthday after a home invasion.

I had a huuuuuge crush on DJ from Full House back then. I would cut pictures of her out of magazines and tape them to my bedroom wall. My wife at the time was not very happy about it though.

No black history month episode from Family Matters?

Lmao there were so many dark episodes of Roseanne besides that one

The Roseanne season finale FUCKED ME UP. I watched that show all the time with my mom in the early 2000s, but I never saw the ending. Just recently I decided to rewatch all the seasons and my mother spoiled the end for me. I had a mental breakdown finding out Dan had an affair, but it got worse when I found out he had actually died.

I was a child and young teenager at the time, so many of these shows were some of the ones I did not watch. But of those I saw, I remember almost all the dark and sad episodes.

Fresh Prince when Carlton takes Will’s speed and Uncle Phil flips out on him. I think that’s one of the darkest episodes

Should of talked about Degrassy High og Canadian one, the one with thew Bully who get's Aids, but the whole show was nearly always kinda dark and real.

QUANTUM LEAP WAS A FREAKING AWESOME SHOW!!!

5:27 apparently "California fat" is different from "South Carolina fat". DJ would have been considered underweight in my hometown.

And now they're going to jail for College Admissions Fraud 🤣🤣🤣

Man I had such a thing for Topanga back then haha.

Full House was always creepy, pedo undertones all around

I guess there never was a simple era, just simple minds.

The episode where he died later of internal bleeding traumatized me as a little kid 😅 I was upset about it for a while after seeing that one.

The 90210 one is super dark, but it actually happened to a guy I knew in High School so...sadly true to life, unfortunately. :_( There is nothing darker than teenagers at an open-casket funeral.

what about both Fresh Prince and Family Matters episodes centering around guns? On Fresh Prince, Will takes a bullet for Carlton when they're mugged at an ATM and Carlton ends up buying a gun out of fear....on Family Matters, a psycho student threatens Laura & Steve with a gun, and later shoots a friend of theirs & Maxine's to get her shoes. That shit was DARK.

Never watched the "Clueless" show but I saw everyone of the other episodes listed. If I remember correctly there was actually more messed up episodes in all the shows you listed, the ones listed were the most memorable though.

Re Quantum Leap: Al wasn't possessed by the devil-He just couldn't get into the chamber until the end of the show-The devil was just impersonating Al

City Guys and Hang Time dealt with a lot.

Few other dark 1990s show moments. "FAMILY MATTERS": When that thug girl shot the girl portrayed by Trina McGee (was also Angela in "BOYS MEETS WORLDS") which sparked a debate between the Winslows and others in the show about gun violence. #SquashIt! "LIVING SINGLE": A Halloween episode; Overton pulled a prank on Maxine that didn't scare her. He finally did one that scared her hard by faking falling down the stairs in front of her and faking his death. I forget who, but someone said to Maxine it must have scared her to death. Maxine walked away as she said "It did." and walked through a closed door to the outside of the main apartment, indicating that she died which shocked them and freaked the FRICK outta me when I watched it as a kid. "THE FRESH PRINCE OF BEL-AIR": Will gets shot and Carlton gets very serious about the situation since Will got in the way of Carlton leading to Carlton buy a gun and him arguing with Will about it in the hospital Will was staying. "POWER RANGERS⚡LOST GALAXY": Pink Galaxy Ranger, Kendrix Morgan had to stop Pink Space Ranger, Cassie Chan's Morpher from exploding after Pink Psycho Ranger purposely broke it. Kendrix ended up absorbing the bulk of the sudden explosion which killed Kendrix, sending her spirit to the Morphing Grid in a Force Ghost-ish way. "HANGIN' WITH MR. COOPER": Omar Gooding's character dated Karan Ashley's character (Karan Ashley was also the 2nd Yellow Mighty Morphin' Ranger) who was later shot to death due to a drive-by. Omar's character had a hard time trying to comprehend it as Mark (Mr. Cooper played by Mark Curry) did his best to console and comfort him. I know there are other black sitcoms with notable dark moments in the 1990s but I forget the exact details.

That saved by the bell episode def impacted me as a kid...it didnt stop me from going down some pretty dark roads later on, but it still was a powerful episode ahs I think the writers hit the mark 110%

Life is crazy sometimes, even though I think we all wish it wasn't.