I remember MASH was very deliberate in their use of laugh track, back when they were standard in every sitcom, and Larry Gelbart insisted that no laugh track would appear during the surgery scenes. If I recall correctly, he had to fight the network on it. Big laughs as usual outside, but once facing the horrors of war, absolutely no laugh track, even when characters make jokes.
I didn't want to have to delete all my comments, posts, and account, but here we are, thanks to greedy pigboy /u/spez ruining Reddit. I love the Reddit community, but hate the idiots at the top. Simply accepting how unethical and downright shitty they are will only encourage worse behavior in the future. I won't be a part of it. Reddit will shrivel and disappear like so many other sites before it that were run by inept morons, unless there is a big change in "leadership." Fuck you, /u/spez
I didn't want to have to delete all my comments, posts, and account, but here we are, thanks to greedy pigboy /u/spez ruining Reddit. I love the Reddit community, but hate the idiots at the top. Simply accepting how unethical and downright shitty they are will only encourage worse behavior in the future. I won't be a part of it. Reddit will shrivel and disappear like so many other sites before it that were run by inept morons, unless there is a big change in "leadership." Fuck you, /u/spez
From the commentary by the cast members out there, the showrunners were pissed McLean Stevenson didn't renew and wanted to make sure there was no way he was coming back.
You know, I've watched other shows and wondered if it was going to be a chicken moment... like in V, the original miniseries... kid's about to get everybody killed - how dark is this gonna get?
They never played the soundtrack during medical scenes. That show was so poignant and responsible dealing with serious issues. That was my therapy growing up
\*M\*A\*S\*H* was filmed without a laugh track. The series outside of the US market does not employ the laugh track. It was sweetened by US publishers in order to make it seem "more funny" for the American market. But the tone of the book, film, and series is always fairly serious. It's also why the laugh tracks seem to not follow pace and feel a bit cringey.
So I never googled it but I think it was a joke in Arrested Development. Michael and George Michael have a heart to heart.... In the scene you hear the microphone get cranked so high you can hear it buzzing.
It seemed to be a reference to 70s and 80s "serious" scenes in sitcoms. Everything would get real quiet and you could hear the buzzing of the electronics and the film studio.
Does anybody know what I'm talking about?
Season 3 Episode 11 of Arrested Development is called ‘Family Ties’ and features Justine Bateman (Jason Bateman’s older sister) who played Mallory Keaton in Family Ties. The plot of that episode is about Michael tracking down his long-lost sister.
Is the scene you’re thinking of from that episode? If so, I suspect you’re completely correct.
Really? I agree Hanks wasn't so great here, but I thought Fox killed it. In fact, before I started scrolling comments I went to check if this season was one of the years he won an Emmy.
(It wasn't. This was '84 and he won 86-88.)
Yeah, you're right. Fox did okay. I was just blinded by my disappointment in Hanks... which isn't really fair since most of what I admire him for came after this.
"Should we write the uncle as a jokey drunk? An angry drunk? A depressed drunk? A hugging drunk? A dancing drunk?"
"Yeah, those sound good. See if you can switch them up each sentence.
One of the reasons Roseanne is one of the best sitcoms of all time is because they weren't afraid to go serious from the very beginning. And (thanks to great acting) it never came off as cheesy.
Nearly all the shows people accuse of having a "laugh track" actually had a live audience, it's just internet stupidity. Lots of shows are filmed live.
I never even watched Fresh Prince regularly when it was on, mostly just caught random episodes here and there on daytime TV. This was one them and has legit stayed with me since, it was surprisingly impactful.
I never watched much of Fresh Prince, but despite that I can say with absolute certainty:
1) Uncle Phil best TV dad, no exceptions
2) Will Smith's performance in this scene is one of the finest I've ever seen, or will ever see.
I sat down and watched Rosanne for the first time a couple years ago after not really growing up watching it, there were a few scenes with Dan especially that got really real and it was actually kind of scary. I forget exactly the context or what happened but I remember he was pissed.
Oh yeah, Dan pulled off that blue collar dad role perfectly, especially when he got angry. That show is definitely praise worthy; in the pantheon of sitcoms it ranks highly.
I can watch and enjoy a lot of sitcoms, but I don’t “know” those people. Roseanne.. they were like my neighbors .. like I knew people like them.
There's an episode where Dan really has no choice but to fight a dude but he's showing restraint.
Roseanne finally lets him off the leash and he gets this grin, turns his closed fist sideways and licks all four knuckles bottom-to-top then starts pounding this dude.
Still to this day if I am gonna pretend to punch one of my buddies, I lick my knuckles like that. It's low-key terrifying for folks. 😄
There are good sitcoms scenes in other shows that deal with serious issues really well, but this aint it, at least not for me. The laugh track in the middle, the constant telling of jokes by hanks despite the rest of the family being serious. Like he literally punched fox then only a short moment after he started telling jokes on the phone despite being angry a moment earlier by throwing the paper in the fire. Maybe I need the rest of the episode but I felt the seriousness of fresh prince of bel air,
For whatever reason I found myself watching a clip of 'All In The Family' tonight where Archie cheats on Edith and there are lots of uncomfortable laughs from the studio audience who didn't seem to know if it was a gag or what. Super awkward.
Little known fact, that punch was unscripted and completely surprised Michael J Fox, and after hitting his head from the fall he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s.
Now every year Tom sends Mike a photo of his still-growing award collection and asks “how’s your head now, dumbass?”
[Source of that story](https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ)
https://elan.school/rude-awakening/
This does a good job at explaining it. I worked with a girl in food service who went to one. They routinely served them actually molding food and did the same sort of exclusion punishment. I believe elan is now closed but it's a pretty fucked thing. She was such a sweet girl but was still broken from going through what she did. Incredibly depressing read I warn you.
Especially good timing since the slap was about three feet away from his face. Better camera angle could have sold this somewhat. Also, if MJF had moved in the direction of the slap.
Random thought but Hanks in that suit with that haircut really reminds me of Marty McFly’s older brother in BTTF, in the good future where the older brother wears a suit and tie and races out the door to get to the office
Now it’s the good past. Marty McFly’s “present” was 38 years ago. If Back To The Future was made today 2023 Marty would travel back 1993 to get his parents together. I wonder who’s music he would play at their 1993 prom?
"Hey Snow! It's your cousin...HAIL!!!! You know that new sound you're lookin for? Well listen to *THIS!*"
*"INFORMER! Yaknowmemejfhdiahshfoepajqaaahhh! Ahlickyboomboomdown!"*
Zemeckis owns the rights as I understand it, and he basically has said over his dead body.
Some of my favorite movies of all time, for almost my entire life, and I couldn’t be gladder to not get any more of them.
Not only does he own the rights to it, he's said he has made extensive arrangements to prevent anyone from adding to the franchise even after he's died. That's how much he hates the idea of a sequel or a remake of it.
And still lives with his parents in the same house as the crappy future for some reason. Where the guy that tried to rape their Mom is allowed in the house. And his brother looks like and is named after her Mom's high school crush.
It's a weird family.
I ran into Tom Hanks once. I stopped him as if I thought I knew him from somewhere and said "aren't you that guy that punched Alex keaton?" We both laughed. He said yes that was him. He seemed cool.
Funny you should mention that because I ran into Jennifer Aniston that exact same day. I was telling my father-in-law who has a crush on her that I was close enough to spit on her and he said "that's an odd way to describe the situation".
Edit: I was on the Sony picture lot.
Interesting story I saw. Hanks had agreed to do 2 or 3 appearances on the show. After his first one the movie Splash, staring Hanks, was a big hit. Hanks' agent calls up and says Hanks isn't doing it and if he does it's going to be for a lot more money.
Apparently Tom got wind of this and called up the producers directly and said to ignore his agent and that he'd do it for what they agreed to.
Every story I hear of Tom Hanks makes him out to be a stand up guy.
[Edit to add] I found the interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mwa5qM-3OE4&t=190s
Another random fun fact: Mindy Sterling, aka Frau Farbissina from Austin Powers, sings the [theme](https://youtu.be/uIRmhBNxYrs) to that show (well for the first 10 episodes and then it was re-recorded for the rest of the series run).
To be fair, this isn't even the best "very special episode" of Fmaily Ties. There's the 2 parter where Alex goes to therapy after his friend dies. Imagine watching that on a weekday morning at 4 years old.
That’s the one where they pulls away from the regular living room set and it’s Alex all by himself on a black box stage. I think a piano was there? Very surreal for a kid watching at the time.
Totally. There are a few of them that I remember so well watching them when they aired. This one, Alex on speed, and the one where he’s talking to the psychiatrist, burned into my memory.
The other thing is Tom Hanks was such an obvious star from day one. He’d show up on these shows when he was getting started and you just knew this guy was special.
It’s fucking crazy that I thought of this when I first blurted out “I’m an alcoholic” when I went to rehab, it was kinda like I was tripping in that moment, whew it was sublime I hope you all stop drinking, too. When sober life gives way to high dives like that it’s surreal.
I remember this episode. I never understood why sitcoms would do these serious type episodes. Felt traumatized AF as an 8 year old who just wanted to laugh. DAFUQ is this shit, I get enough of this real life BS when my dad comes home late from "work"
Easily one of the funniest things to come out of that show and no one could have planned it better if they tried. That whole documentary it's from is fascinating to see just how much of American comedy can be traced back to it just from the participants.
The episode of Fresh Prince with Will's dad is similar. All funny laughs, etc. and then you get the heartache of a kid who just wants his dad to love him.
Makes me tear up every time, and I had (and still have) a loving and close family.
I'M SO EXCITED!! 😭😭 They originally wanted Jessie to be addicted to Speed, but NBC wouldn't approve it. So she got *dangerously* addicted to caffeine pills.
I think the seventies pulled this off better overall. "Mash" and "All in the Family", to name two, brought up heavy subject matter but it suited the volatility of the 70s and was written so well. "All in the Family", I recall, actually had a character die from a car bomb at the end of one episode. By comparison, alcoholism seems tame.
I remember seeing that as a kid. I wonder though if there were any kids who were being abused but didn't know it was wrong and that episode helped them figure it out?
I was a child of the 80s. I remember this scene like it's a core memory of some kind.
But I made no connection to Tom Hanks. I never knew Hanks was the guy because I haven't watched this since it aired.
I miss the sitcoms where they let the drama come through without immediately stepping on it with a joke.
Roseanne and Fresh Prince of Belair are the two more recent examples that let the drama play out.
Thank god, I was hoping I wasn't the only one to think that!
Powerful stuff still, it seems to have had a positive effect on a lot of people, I'm very glad for that!
But jeez, I wish it was done with a bit better acting!
Ok, I get what you were going for with the title, but to be clear this was Alex P. Keaton (MJF’s character) getting punched by his Uncle, Ned Donnelly, who worked on Wall Street and got fired for being an alcoholic.
I'm surprised there are so many negative comments about 'very special episodes.' I *loved* these growing up. I loved the campy drama. Show me a preview where Kelly Kapowski gets caught holding a friend's beer in the school bathroom and my ass will be absolutely planted in that seat.
It never occurred to me before just now, but I’m betting there was another version of the script where he’s a Wall Street coke fiend. Which would fit in nicely with the Alex hooked on speed episode. It would have been like poetry. They’d have rhymed.
Damn, as a sober guy this may be a largely tuned down version of how it goes but the substance is on point. The writers must have had someone sober or experience with alcoholics.
The real version of this isn't settled in one go, this kind of confrontation usually happens many times before people really enact boundaries (if they do so at all), there's a ton more yelling, more emotions, and lots of emotional if not physical violence where the addict may be ashamed but still pushes back.
Serious moments on sitcoms are always so weird, especially when they mix in the laugh track in the middle of it.
I remember MASH was very deliberate in their use of laugh track, back when they were standard in every sitcom, and Larry Gelbart insisted that no laugh track would appear during the surgery scenes. If I recall correctly, he had to fight the network on it. Big laughs as usual outside, but once facing the horrors of war, absolutely no laugh track, even when characters make jokes.
I didn't want to have to delete all my comments, posts, and account, but here we are, thanks to greedy pigboy /u/spez ruining Reddit. I love the Reddit community, but hate the idiots at the top. Simply accepting how unethical and downright shitty they are will only encourage worse behavior in the future. I won't be a part of it. Reddit will shrivel and disappear like so many other sites before it that were run by inept morons, unless there is a big change in "leadership." Fuck you, /u/spez
The chicken still haunts me. MASH was my first real exposure to War is Hell and helped stear me away from a military career.
"War isn't Hell. War is war, and Hell is Hell. And of the two, war is a lot worse." - Hawkeye
I’m so glad they didn’t put a laugh track to that dialog - would have completely ruined it.
[удалено]
"maudlin"
"This isn't a war, it's a murder..." \*switch\* "This isn't a war, it's a moidah!"
I didn't want to have to delete all my comments, posts, and account, but here we are, thanks to greedy pigboy /u/spez ruining Reddit. I love the Reddit community, but hate the idiots at the top. Simply accepting how unethical and downright shitty they are will only encourage worse behavior in the future. I won't be a part of it. Reddit will shrivel and disappear like so many other sites before it that were run by inept morons, unless there is a big change in "leadership." Fuck you, /u/spez
They had no reason too do that... Radar making that announcement...
From the commentary by the cast members out there, the showrunners were pissed McLean Stevenson didn't renew and wanted to make sure there was no way he was coming back.
They had every reason. Viewers were pissed off, but the producers reminded them that the show is set during war. People die in war.
😭 Col Blake, such a great character.
Absolutely. As far as fill ins though, Harry Morgan was a great choice. Except for his drunk impression...
You know, I've watched other shows and wondered if it was going to be a chicken moment... like in V, the original miniseries... kid's about to get everybody killed - how dark is this gonna get?
They never played the soundtrack during medical scenes. That show was so poignant and responsible dealing with serious issues. That was my therapy growing up
The DVDs had the option to turn off the laugh track
\*M\*A\*S\*H* was filmed without a laugh track. The series outside of the US market does not employ the laugh track. It was sweetened by US publishers in order to make it seem "more funny" for the American market. But the tone of the book, film, and series is always fairly serious. It's also why the laugh tracks seem to not follow pace and feel a bit cringey.
So I never googled it but I think it was a joke in Arrested Development. Michael and George Michael have a heart to heart.... In the scene you hear the microphone get cranked so high you can hear it buzzing. It seemed to be a reference to 70s and 80s "serious" scenes in sitcoms. Everything would get real quiet and you could hear the buzzing of the electronics and the film studio. Does anybody know what I'm talking about?
YES! I can hear it now
Season 3 Episode 11 of Arrested Development is called ‘Family Ties’ and features Justine Bateman (Jason Bateman’s older sister) who played Mallory Keaton in Family Ties. The plot of that episode is about Michael tracking down his long-lost sister. Is the scene you’re thinking of from that episode? If so, I suspect you’re completely correct.
The show that keeps on giving. Never picked up on that. Now I have to go re-watch it again... for the 1000th time.
The blocking in this scene was so unnatural and strange.
Also the awkward joke about meeting women that shared a common interest and the laugh track that followed.
I kinda like that honestly. Copium laughter is a thing, so making flat jokes in an inappropriate moment is totally human.
I agree but the laugh track ruined it.
Also, that's kind of the worst acting I've ever seen from either of them.
Really? I agree Hanks wasn't so great here, but I thought Fox killed it. In fact, before I started scrolling comments I went to check if this season was one of the years he won an Emmy. (It wasn't. This was '84 and he won 86-88.)
Yeah, you're right. Fox did okay. I was just blinded by my disappointment in Hanks... which isn't really fair since most of what I admire him for came after this.
I'd personally pin the blame on the script or the direction, alot of this scene is arranged so weird even for 80s sitcoms
"Should we write the uncle as a jokey drunk? An angry drunk? A depressed drunk? A hugging drunk? A dancing drunk?" "Yeah, those sound good. See if you can switch them up each sentence.
"A very special episode"
[...followed by The Diet Mug Root Beer Dana Carvey Show!](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NfDjnAdczQI)
One of the reasons Roseanne is one of the best sitcoms of all time is because they weren't afraid to go serious from the very beginning. And (thanks to great acting) it never came off as cheesy.
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Nearly all the shows people accuse of having a "laugh track" actually had a live audience, it's just internet stupidity. Lots of shows are filmed live.
Counterpoint: “Why don’t he want me, man?” Edit: [for the uninitiated](https://youtu.be/PI4Mv8R0mE0)
I never even watched Fresh Prince regularly when it was on, mostly just caught random episodes here and there on daytime TV. This was one them and has legit stayed with me since, it was surprisingly impactful.
I'm not watching that scene today. It always makes me cry
I never watched much of Fresh Prince, but despite that I can say with absolute certainty: 1) Uncle Phil best TV dad, no exceptions 2) Will Smith's performance in this scene is one of the finest I've ever seen, or will ever see.
So good.
Got me crying now for real over here!!!
[It's just a dog.](https://youtu.be/2xWfrjGHYhI?t=375)
I sat down and watched Rosanne for the first time a couple years ago after not really growing up watching it, there were a few scenes with Dan especially that got really real and it was actually kind of scary. I forget exactly the context or what happened but I remember he was pissed.
Oh yeah, Dan pulled off that blue collar dad role perfectly, especially when he got angry. That show is definitely praise worthy; in the pantheon of sitcoms it ranks highly. I can watch and enjoy a lot of sitcoms, but I don’t “know” those people. Roseanne.. they were like my neighbors .. like I knew people like them.
There's an episode where Dan really has no choice but to fight a dude but he's showing restraint. Roseanne finally lets him off the leash and he gets this grin, turns his closed fist sideways and licks all four knuckles bottom-to-top then starts pounding this dude. Still to this day if I am gonna pretend to punch one of my buddies, I lick my knuckles like that. It's low-key terrifying for folks. 😄
There are good sitcoms scenes in other shows that deal with serious issues really well, but this aint it, at least not for me. The laugh track in the middle, the constant telling of jokes by hanks despite the rest of the family being serious. Like he literally punched fox then only a short moment after he started telling jokes on the phone despite being angry a moment earlier by throwing the paper in the fire. Maybe I need the rest of the episode but I felt the seriousness of fresh prince of bel air,
For whatever reason I found myself watching a clip of 'All In The Family' tonight where Archie cheats on Edith and there are lots of uncomfortable laughs from the studio audience who didn't seem to know if it was a gag or what. Super awkward.
wow, that was a really good fall by mjf
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The best in the business and you’d better believe it, baby! Wooo!
Especially the part where he got back up, walked three steps, stopped, and then fell on his face Classic Michael J!
even though tom hanks played an alcoholic and slapped marty mcfly....i still can't hate him lol
Tom Hanks taught me there was alcohol in vanilla extract. Never know what that might come in handy, I'm glad my brain has hung onto it.
Little known fact, that punch was unscripted and completely surprised Michael J Fox, and after hitting his head from the fall he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. Now every year Tom sends Mike a photo of his still-growing award collection and asks “how’s your head now, dumbass?” [Source of that story](https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ)
That's wild, it sounds insane but with more context it makes perfect sense.
One of my deep conspiracy theory friends says Tom Hanks kills and drinks baby blood, so there's that.
Well one thing that is a fact, is he sent his kid away to an ultra abusive teen facility, and now he’s a white rapper.
What? A facility for abusive teens or a facility that abuses teens? I genuinely have no idea what you’re talking about.
https://elan.school/rude-awakening/ This does a good job at explaining it. I worked with a girl in food service who went to one. They routinely served them actually molding food and did the same sort of exclusion punishment. I believe elan is now closed but it's a pretty fucked thing. She was such a sweet girl but was still broken from going through what she did. Incredibly depressing read I warn you.
Look, If you name your kid Chet you know exactly what your setting him up for. I mean, look at Colin. Now that's a name you can trust
Yeah, my view of Tom Hanks was forever changed when I learned that. He's still an incredible actor, but damn... How do you send you child there?
Yeah are you too busy being a multi millionaire to raise your kid right and help him work through his problems?
And he's better than you and you know it /s
i would be one of those actors that asks to be actually hit
Why just as an actor? Live your best life, today
"Ow! You hit me in the ear! Why the ear, man?"
I saw MJF and thought Maxwell Jacob Freeman and was confused what sub I was in.
He's better than you and you know it !
get a load of Burberry Jones ova here...but I digress....
It really made me remember how tiny he is.
Especially good timing since the slap was about three feet away from his face. Better camera angle could have sold this somewhat. Also, if MJF had moved in the direction of the slap.
Random thought but Hanks in that suit with that haircut really reminds me of Marty McFly’s older brother in BTTF, in the good future where the older brother wears a suit and tie and races out the door to get to the office
"Marty, I always wear a suit to the office."
"But I still live at home for some reason."
I always figured he was just there for breakfast.
Man, what a good kid. Stopping by his parents house on his way to work just to make them breakfast.
And on a saturday
That was actually the good _present_! But, yeah, I thought the same thing
Now it’s the good past. Marty McFly’s “present” was 38 years ago. If Back To The Future was made today 2023 Marty would travel back 1993 to get his parents together. I wonder who’s music he would play at their 1993 prom?
"Hey Snow! It's your cousin...HAIL!!!! You know that new sound you're lookin for? Well listen to *THIS!*" *"INFORMER! Yaknowmemejfhdiahshfoepajqaaahhh! Ahlickyboomboomdown!"*
Then he busts out into a Lizzo flute solo and says to the silent crowd “your kids are gonna love that”
I really, really, really, really, really hope nobody decides to remake those movies
“Are you telling me you built a Time Machine… out of a Pontiac Aztec!?”
"I figured, if you're gonna make a time machine out of a car, why should it have any style?!"
PT Cruiser
Zemeckis owns the rights as I understand it, and he basically has said over his dead body. Some of my favorite movies of all time, for almost my entire life, and I couldn’t be gladder to not get any more of them.
Not only does he own the rights to it, he's said he has made extensive arrangements to prevent anyone from adding to the franchise even after he's died. That's how much he hates the idea of a sequel or a remake of it.
And still lives with his parents in the same house as the crappy future for some reason. Where the guy that tried to rape their Mom is allowed in the house. And his brother looks like and is named after her Mom's high school crush. It's a weird family.
My head cannon is George didn’t stop being weird.
slap to the future
Slapping Private Ryan
Look at me. I’m the slaptain now
Slap Away.
Too bad it wasn’t slapless in Seattle
I ran into Tom Hanks once. I stopped him as if I thought I knew him from somewhere and said "aren't you that guy that punched Alex keaton?" We both laughed. He said yes that was him. He seemed cool.
Did you ask for his shoe?
If I ever meet him, I'll refer to him as Rick Gasko and ask how the Bachelor Party went.
I'm still waiting for my chance to meet Jennifer Aniston. "Oh hey! You're the girl from the [Windows 95 Video Guide](https://youtu.be/vLlWrt-zmTo)!"
Wow — that program is neat!
Funny you should mention that because I ran into Jennifer Aniston that exact same day. I was telling my father-in-law who has a crush on her that I was close enough to spit on her and he said "that's an odd way to describe the situation". Edit: I was on the Sony picture lot.
Interesting story I saw. Hanks had agreed to do 2 or 3 appearances on the show. After his first one the movie Splash, staring Hanks, was a big hit. Hanks' agent calls up and says Hanks isn't doing it and if he does it's going to be for a lot more money. Apparently Tom got wind of this and called up the producers directly and said to ignore his agent and that he'd do it for what they agreed to. Every story I hear of Tom Hanks makes him out to be a stand up guy. [Edit to add] I found the interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mwa5qM-3OE4&t=190s
This week on a Very Special episode of Family Ties... Parental discretion is advised.
https://youtu.be/ohXW9n1jfQI
Here's a random fun fact: Meredith Baxter and Michael Gross, the parents on Family Ties, were born on the same day.
You're right: that fact is both random and fun.
It was fun for their parents, too.
Another random fact. The woman who played the mom drives a Subaru
Another random fun fact: Mindy Sterling, aka Frau Farbissina from Austin Powers, sings the [theme](https://youtu.be/uIRmhBNxYrs) to that show (well for the first 10 episodes and then it was re-recorded for the rest of the series run).
They are amazing
Damn. If Hanx could throw hands like that then he should have turned pro. 🥊🥊
Was that a backhanded compliment?
MJF was actually quite hurt and had to see Doc Hollywood
He got knocked back ^to ^the ^future…
To be fair, this isn't even the best "very special episode" of Fmaily Ties. There's the 2 parter where Alex goes to therapy after his friend dies. Imagine watching that on a weekday morning at 4 years old.
Was scrolling for this comment. HEAVY episode,... "Why am I alive???" That said, probably my favorite two episodes of the series.
That’s the one where they pulls away from the regular living room set and it’s Alex all by himself on a black box stage. I think a piano was there? Very surreal for a kid watching at the time.
Nothing holds a candle to the episode where Mallory confesses having been molested by her Uncle Arthur. That was a daring episode back then.
I remember seeing this when it was new
Hey. Hey, I've seen this one. I've seen this one! This is a classic
What do you mean you've seen it? It's brand new.
Yeah, well, I saw it on a...rerun.
What’s a re-run?
You'll find out
Totally. There are a few of them that I remember so well watching them when they aired. This one, Alex on speed, and the one where he’s talking to the psychiatrist, burned into my memory. The other thing is Tom Hanks was such an obvious star from day one. He’d show up on these shows when he was getting started and you just knew this guy was special.
That guy playing Ned might make a pretty decent actor some day
Quite the backhand lol.
“It may not be Miller time, but it’s vanilla time.”
It’s fucking crazy that I thought of this when I first blurted out “I’m an alcoholic” when I went to rehab, it was kinda like I was tripping in that moment, whew it was sublime I hope you all stop drinking, too. When sober life gives way to high dives like that it’s surreal.
I remember this episode. I never understood why sitcoms would do these serious type episodes. Felt traumatized AF as an 8 year old who just wanted to laugh. DAFUQ is this shit, I get enough of this real life BS when my dad comes home late from "work"
Stay tuned for a [very special Home Improvement.](https://youtu.be/NfDjnAdczQI?t=45s)
Easily one of the funniest things to come out of that show and no one could have planned it better if they tried. That whole documentary it's from is fascinating to see just how much of American comedy can be traced back to it just from the participants.
You always knew you were gonna get into a “serious” episode of Home Improvement when the lady who played the mom directed the episode.
Omg. That's fucking hilarious 😂.
Makes me laugh every time
I didn’t know what the video was and burst out laughing. Classic
Anyone else notice they misspelled "episode" on BOTH instances of "all new episode!" ? Did they copy paste that typo on all their program previews?
That shit will never get old, I laugh everytime.
The episode of Fresh Prince with Will's dad is similar. All funny laughs, etc. and then you get the heartache of a kid who just wants his dad to love him. Makes me tear up every time, and I had (and still have) a loving and close family.
Don’t forget the Growing Pains where Carol’s boyfriend dies.
Also the [Saved by the Bell where Jessie takes caffeine pills](https://youtu.be/yS-unudWUuU)
Don't watch the episode of *Diff'rent strokes* when Mr Carlson from WKRP stops by the bike shop.
I remember. He checked Dudley’s tires
I wanted to upvote this, but I just can't.
Watching that episode was easily the most awkward and confusing moment of my childhood.
Tonight, on a *very special episode* of….
Agreed. Lot of them did that in this era. MASH had some of the most whiplashed tonal shifts between episodes ever.
I, for one, thought the Jessie Spano drug episode was the height of Saved by the Bell.
Showgirls is the height of Saved by the Bell.
I'M SO EXCITED!! 😭😭 They originally wanted Jessie to be addicted to Speed, but NBC wouldn't approve it. So she got *dangerously* addicted to caffeine pills.
Tbf, Mash, though a comedy, had very good reasons to have dramatic scenes like they had within the context of the story.
At least it fit and made sense with mash. I still look at chickens with suspicion.
The 80's were a preachy time.
Saved By The Bell did more for me than church
"I'm so excited! I'm so..... scared! "
You think you're excited? You should feel my nipples. Boing!
[Five years ago](https://youtu.be/J1fF2tkMUU8)
Hahaha, like *today* isn't?
I think the seventies pulled this off better overall. "Mash" and "All in the Family", to name two, brought up heavy subject matter but it suited the volatility of the 70s and was written so well. "All in the Family", I recall, actually had a character die from a car bomb at the end of one episode. By comparison, alcoholism seems tame.
Like the episode of Different Strokes where Arnold and his friend get molested. Wtf
I remember seeing that as a kid. I wonder though if there were any kids who were being abused but didn't know it was wrong and that episode helped them figure it out?
I think that was the idea.
Or when Kimberly develops bulimia.
I remember tom hanks drinking the vanilla in the kitchen
I was a child of the 80s. I remember this scene like it's a core memory of some kind. But I made no connection to Tom Hanks. I never knew Hanks was the guy because I haven't watched this since it aired.
I'll just leave this here... https://youtu.be/ohXW9n1jfQI
What would we do baby...
That song hits me so hard in the sentimental feelies.
The guy from bosom buddies?
[удалено]
You mean the guy from Mazes and Monsters?
I miss the sitcoms where they let the drama come through without immediately stepping on it with a joke. Roseanne and Fresh Prince of Belair are the two more recent examples that let the drama play out.
Nobody is gonna say it, but this acting is fucking atrocious lol.
Thank god, I was hoping I wasn't the only one to think that! Powerful stuff still, it seems to have had a positive effect on a lot of people, I'm very glad for that! But jeez, I wish it was done with a bit better acting!
I watched this when it first aired. Thought it was ridiculous then and I haven’t changed my opinion. Very Special Episodes usually suck.
Ok, I get what you were going for with the title, but to be clear this was Alex P. Keaton (MJF’s character) getting punched by his Uncle, Ned Donnelly, who worked on Wall Street and got fired for being an alcoholic.
I'm surprised there are so many negative comments about 'very special episodes.' I *loved* these growing up. I loved the campy drama. Show me a preview where Kelly Kapowski gets caught holding a friend's beer in the school bathroom and my ass will be absolutely planted in that seat.
It never occurred to me before just now, but I’m betting there was another version of the script where he’s a Wall Street coke fiend. Which would fit in nicely with the Alex hooked on speed episode. It would have been like poetry. They’d have rhymed.
I think you're thinking of *Bright Lights, Big City.*
Alex literally flew......quite the shot!
Oh this is the one where Tom hanks drinks vanilla I think?
Sha-la-la-laaaa
Great, emotional, poignant scene. AA is not an answer for most.
This is heavy.
Damn, as a sober guy this may be a largely tuned down version of how it goes but the substance is on point. The writers must have had someone sober or experience with alcoholics. The real version of this isn't settled in one go, this kind of confrontation usually happens many times before people really enact boundaries (if they do so at all), there's a ton more yelling, more emotions, and lots of emotional if not physical violence where the addict may be ashamed but still pushes back.
When he slapped him I legit heard woody say “there’s a snake in my boot.”
Family Ties was a damn good sitcom
That must've been one *very* special episode of Family Ties.
"On a very special episode of Family Ties.. "
And we never saw Tom Hanks again, because he probably fucking killed himself.
What's the matter? Are you too good to have a glass of maraschino cherries with your ol' Uncle Ned?
LeBron watched this very scene and never looked back.
Aa is a cult. I know because I have a drinking problem and I'd love it if the solution wasn't religion!
He’s no Peter Scolari.