History HarsherInHindsight / LiveActionTV

** The initial oohing and ahhing about their UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicle), to be followed by their casual use in pretty much every other episode of the series, takes on a whole new tone when you look at what the Real Life version of that technology [[AttackDrone lead to]].

*** At the end of "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E22SpaceSeed}} Space Seed]]", Spock delivers the ending valedictory: "It would be interesting, Captain, to return to that world in 100 years and learn what crop had sprung from the seed you planted today." Try only about [[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan 20 years]] to find that Captain Kirk's irregular action of marooning the ''Botany Bay'' crew in this episode indirectly causes [[NiceJobBreakingItHero yours and many other's deaths at the hands of Khan, Spock.]]

** The episode "[[Recap/ICarlyS03Ep13IFixAPopStar iFix a Pop Star]]", in which Carly and company try to stage a comeback for a washed-up performer (a [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed parody of]] Music/BritneySpears), pokes fun at all the controversies Spears was involved in that permeated the tabloids in the mid-2000s, including her head-shaving incident in 2007 and her performance at the MTV Video Music Awards the following year. The early 2020s saw a renewed interest in Spears' conservatorship, which led to a reevaluation of how she was treated by the public and media, making this episode pretty hard to come back to.

* ''Series/Numb3rs'': ''Vector'': [[spoiler:Weaver's]] actions is based on fear of a hypothetical scenario where a flu-like virus emerges and becomes a deadly epidemic because adequate vaccines and treatments aren't available. While [[[spoiler:Weaver's]] particular obsession was centered around the Spanish Flu virus from 1918, it's not hard to see the parallels between the scenario he was imagining and the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic.

** The episode "[[Recap/ICarlyS03Ep13IFixAPopStar iFix a Pop Star]]", in which Carly and company try to stage a comeback for a washed-up performer (a [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed parody of]] Music/BritneySpears), is a parody of all the controversies Spears was involved in that permeated the tabloids in the mid-2000s, including her head-shaving incident in 2007 and her performance at the MTV Video Music Awards the following year. The early 2020s saw a renewed interest in Spears' conservatorship, which led to a reevaluation of how she was treated by the public and media, making this episode pretty hard to come back to.

** The episode "[[Recap/ICarlyS03Ep13IFixAPopStar =iFix= a Pop Star]]", in which Carly and company try to stage a comeback for a washed-up performer (a [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed parody of]] Music/BritneySpears), is a parody of all the controversies Spears was involved in that permeated the tabloids in the mid-2000s, including her head-shaving incident in 2007 and her performance at the MTV Video Music Awards the following year. The early 2020s saw a renewed interest in Spears' conservatorship, which led to a reevaluation of how she was treated by the public and media, making this episode pretty hard to come back to.

** The episode "[=iFix=] a Pop Star", in which Carly and company try to stage a comeback for a washed-up performer, is a parody of all the Music/BritneySpears controversies that permeated the tabloids in the mid-2000s, including her head-shaving incident in 2007 and her performance at the MTV Video Music Awards the following year. The early 2020s saw a renewed interest in Spears' conservatorship, which led to a reevaluation of how Spears was treated by the public and media, making this episode pretty hard to come back to.

* ''Judgment Day: The John List Story'' is already dark, concerning Robert Blake plays John List, who was convicted of [[PaterFamilicide murdering his family]]. It was hard to watch in 1993, but it gets harder to watch when he kills his wife, considering Blake's trial.

* Tori Spelling's short-lived sitcom ''So [=NoTorious=]'' was a self-parodying look at her life as a struggling actress and daughter of Hollywood royalty. It featured caricatured versions of her parents: her mother as a glamorous yet passive-aggressive nutjob, and her father as... basically the speaker box from ''Series/CharliesAngels''. A year later, Aaron Spelling dies, and Candy Spelling basically disinherits Tori. Maybe she hit a nerve there...

*** At the end of "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS7E14LowerDecks Lower Decks]]", Picard ends up having to make an announcement to the crew when Ensign Sito is presumed killed after she takes part in an espionage mission, with him even mentioning how "Her loss will be deeply felt by all who knew her". As we later learn in [[WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks the show of the same name]], her friend Mariner is still reeling from her death 11 years after the fact to the point that she actively sabotages her own career just so she'll never have to be in a position [[TheChainsOfCommand where she might have to send one of her other friends off to die]].

** Still on ''Franchise/StarTrek'', [[http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64C0L620100514 the protesters against the current regime in Thailand]] [[RedShirt could not have chosen a more prophetic name.]]

*** ''Film/StarTrekGenerations'' twisted the final moment of the ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration TNG]]'' episode ''Family'' from a SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}} into this kind of moment. The final scene shows Picard's brother Robert and his wife Marie looking out their back window at their son Rene as he sits gazing at the stars. At the time, it implied Rene might follow in his uncle's footsteps. No, he won't, since ''Generations'' reveals that [[BusCrash he and his father both died in a fire offscreen.]] (And that final scene in "Family" even has a ''blazing fireplace'' in the background!) Poor Marie.

** The episode "[=iFix=] a Pop Star", in which Carly and company try to stage a comeback for a washed-up performer, is a parody of all the Music/BritneySpears' controversies that permeated the tabloids in the mid-2000s, including her head-shaving incident and her performance at the MTV Video Music Awards. The early 2020s saw a renewed interest in Spears' conservatorship, which led to a reevaluation of how Spears was treated by the public and media, making this episode pretty hard to come back to.

** Armenia's 2019 entry by Srbuk was called "Walking Out." While they had planned to compete in the canceled 2020 contest, they would ultimately withdraw for a year in 2021 due to the aftermath of the Armenia-Azerbaijan War.

** An episode from the Steve Harvey era saw a contestant joke that the biggest mistake he made on his wedding day was saying "I do" to his wife. A few years after the episode aired, he was sentenced to life in prison for murdering her.

* ''Series/SeventhHeaven'' had the Season 4 episode "Talk to Me" where Reverend Eric Camden (played by Stephen Collins) counsels a young girl who was molested. Fourteen years later, TMZ leaked an audio recording of Collins admitting to now ex-wife Faye Grant that he had molested several underage children decades before. The fallout from the scandal probably destroyed the reputation of the entire series as well, as Eric was portrayed as a caring father and pastor who sought to bring his family together in times of stress. Having an actor who was the opposite of that personality is truly shocking. Pretty much any scene in which he looks at or touches or thinks about an underage girl is now this trope, especially since he admitted it was true.

** Happened to Creator/ChrisRock during the 2022 Academy Awards. 22 years earlier at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, hosts Shawn and Marlon Wayans parodied Rock, who hosted the previous VMA's with his signature insult comedy, by imitating him in a skit where he insults all the then-current pop stars, who then rush the stage and beat his ass. Fast forward to the 2022 Oscars; Rock, while presenting the award for Best Documentary, made a joke about Jada Pinkett-Smith's alopecia ("''Film/GIJane 2'', can't wait to see it!"). Her husband Creator/WillSmith promptly walked onstage and slapped him on live TV.

--->'''Gunn''': This is because of you, what you did. Messing with scary ass mojo no sane person should be messing with.\\

** During the show's fifth season, Danny, a white cop, is chasing a Chinese-American murder suspect, who tries to hide from him in a storage locker, only for him to casually tip it over door-side-down and sit on it while casually making a phone call to Flack, who's chasing the other suspect. Danny's suspect bangs on the locker and demands that he let her out, but what really kills the funny is that her demands include the phrase "I can't breathe". Since the death of George Floyd in 2020, the image of a white cop putting a non-white civilian in a position where they can't breathe is no longer funny. [[note]] It is obvious from the sound of her voice that she could breathe just fine; she was just trying to get him to let her go. It's her *line* that's the issue, not the situation. [[/note]]

** Similarly, Season 3's final moment (as part of the Northwestern crew meeting with their families at the docks at the end of the season) is a shot of Jake Anderson hugging his father, who was waiting for him along with the families of the rest of the crew. Several seasons later, Jake's dad was murdered under mysterious circumstances (the murder remains unsolved), and worse, his body was not found for over 18 months, leaving Jake tormented with the lack of closure.

-->'''Jayne''': You'll read over me when it's my time to shuffle off, won't you, preacher?\\

** In "Be True To Your Pre-School", Becky admonishes Jesse for lying about their twins' accomplishments in their pre-school application, which she and Jesse later confess to.

'''Smashie:''' 'Til they took away your title and re-named you Prisoner 13607!
* The BBC children's drama ''Series/GrangeHill'' had a nasty and quite personal example of this back in 2000. The character of Judi Jeffreys was (long story short) locked in a storage room that was on fire. She tried to escape by climbing out of the window onto a nearby fire escape and ended up falling head first to her death. The actress who played her, Laura Sadler, met her own sad and untimely demise in the exact same way about three years later. (That is, she fell headfirst out of a building to her death; but while drunk and drugged up with vodka and cocaine, not while trying to escape a fire).

** In the second season episode "17 Seconds", after a shooting at a local business, Derek remarks "Can you imagine, you're at work, just doing your job and somebody come in and shoots you.". Fast-forward to season 6 finale where [[spoiler: Derek is at work, and someone comes in and shoots him]].

* Series/TheHandmaidsTale: There's an episode in Season 2 where June is reprimanded for giving her daughter some medicine to suppress the daughter's fever and send her to school in violation of district regulations, saying she was "just a little warm". In 2018, this was intended to show the school district being overly protective of the kids and patronizing towards June having a job. Two years, [[UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic a global pandemic]], and a massive shift to teleworking later, the scene may not ''quite'' have the same effect.

** The political situation in the United States detoriating in 2016 onward really made the drama in the show seem quaint in comparison.
** After allegations regarding Spacey and sexual assualt, a lot of the sex scenes in the show are much more unsettling, as well as some of the dialogue.

** "The Itch," an episode that aired in the first half of season 5, had as one of its plots House trying to convince Wilson that he really is getting bitten by a mosquito and not imagining it. He is right in the end - he kills the mosquito. Then, in the season finale, it turns out that House hallucinated the sex with Cuddy he had in the previous episode - and was also hallucinating that he had the evidence of that encounter, a lipstick that was really a Vicodin bottle. This at best makes the resolution of that plot "The Itch" unsettling, and at worst destabilizes it altogether.

** In a season two episode of House "Forever". When House is asking why Chase is working in the NICU and Chase say's he can't deal with all the patients lying House says, "Nothing more honest than a dead baby". Not so funny when later in the episode the baby Mikey dies.

* ''Series/IDreamOfJeannie'': One of the final episodes was "Mrs. Djinn Djinn", an episode where the other characters mistakenly believe that Jeannie is pregnant and shower her with baffling gifts and praise, all while trying to coax out her (non-existent) secret. In real life, Creator/BarbaraEden was struggling with infertility: her second child (conceived shortly after the cancellation of ''I Dream Of Jeannie'') died in utero and she was forced to carry it to term despite knowing the child was already gone. She kept the tragedy a secret and endured two months of strangers congratulating her and asking when "the little genie" would be born without saying a word... the trauma eventually broke up her marriage.

** The episode "[=iFix=] a Pop Star", in which Carly and company try to stage a comeback for a washed-up performer, is a parody of all the Music/BritneySpears' controversies that permeated the tabloids in the mid-2000s, including her head-shaving incident and her performance at the MTV Video Music Awards. The early 2020s saw a renewed interest in Spears' conservatorship, which led to a reevaluation over how Spears was treated by the public and media, making this episode pretty hard to come back to.

** The entire premise of "[=iMeet Fred=]", in which Freddie becomes a worldwide pariah for saying that ''WebVideo/{{Fred}}'' isn't funny, becomes this because it was supposed to herald Nickelodeon's new partnership with Lucas Cruikshank. All the projects that would come out of that deal (a trilogy of ''Fred'' TV movies, ''Fred: The Show'' and ''Series/MarvinMarvin''), would became massive failures that the network [[BuryYourArt now likes to pretend doesn't exist]].

* ''Series/TheITCrowd'' has an episode where Douglas unknowingly dates a trans woman, culminating in the two getting into a violent fight. The episode already wasn't the most sensitive depiction of trans people but has since become ''deeply'' uncomfortable to watch due to creator Graham Linehan becoming openly, actively, and intensely transphobic over following years (made even worse seeing as, according to some sources, it was the offense taken by the trans community at this episode that really kicked off his subsequent views and behaviour).

** Bill Bixby's ex-wife Brenda Benet guest-starred during Season 3. Her character talks Dr. Banner out of jumping from a fire escape to his death over an enormous sense of guilt that "the Creature" killed a child. She tells him, "David, suicide is not the answer, it isn't going to bring that boy back." [[OutlivingOnesOffspring Bixby & Benet's only child Christopher died unexpectedly at the age of 6 just over a year later]]. On the first anniversary of his death, Benet took her own life.
** The episode "Homecoming" sees David have a strained relationship with his father, DW, though they do repair it. Three years later, the comics would introduce its version of Bruce's father, Brian, who was an abusive asshat who killed Bruce's mother, Rebecca; abused her and Bruce; and was himself killed by Bruce over those issues with Bruce repressing the memory of the truth of Brian's death.

** The episode where Commander Mick Brumby returns to Australia, the cast begins singing "Waltzing Matilda" to him as he departs. Not only would that clip be replayed for a memorial segment after Goddard's death, but considering that the song ends with the jolly swagman's suicide, it takes on a new light after actor Trevor Goddard's suicide.

* ''Series/TheJeremyKyleShow'' The whole show, especially the ones where Jeremy will berate guests or verbally aggressive or a lie detector segment, make uncomfortable viewing after a guest died of suicide a week after filming an episode after failing a lie detector test which led to the show being cancelled.

** Unfortunately, the same can not be said for Air France Flight 447. When this passenger jet crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in June 2009, some pointed out the loose similarity with ''Lost''. However, as the days passed, more and more eerily ''Lost''-related coincidences began to appear, including the discovery of the plane's tail section (''Lost''s Flight 815 lost its tail section during the crash), the statement that the plane was found on the bottom of the ocean with bodies ([[spoiler:Charles Widmore]] hides a fake Flight 815 and bodies on the bottom of the ocean to throw off investigators), and, most disturbingly, a Spanish pilot's claim that he saw a "flash of bright light" where flight 447 disappeared (''Lost''s flight 316 disappeared in a flash of time travel-related light). Finally, conspiracy theorists began pointing out that the area where flight 447 vanished is known for heightened electromagnetism as one of the infamous "vile vortices;" flight 815 on ''Lost'' was brought down in an electromagnetic incident. Sure enough, the claim that unusual levels of electromagnetism were in the area on the day of the disappearance was backed up by imaging reports from independent researchers. The last sentence could be rephrased to say, "The crash took place in the vicinity of thunderstorms which were picked up by American and Canadian weather satellites".

** In Season 1, Joan is helping Peggy move to her new office as a result of her promotion, Joan makes some comments about how people who get what they want won't be happy, basically shaming Peggy for her non-domestic ambitions and for supposedly not caring about her looks the way Joan does. Joan even condescendingly says "I said 'Congratulations' didn't I?" Flash forward towards the end of Season 2: Joan is engaged (and was raped) by her fiancee while a perky Peggy gets a new office where she doesn't have to share with the Xerox machine, Peggy sincerely states she's happy they both got what they wanted while Joan represses any urge to tell Peggy how her relationship sucks.

** In the final episode, Malcolm's parents strong-arm him into turning down a six-figure job right out of high school, forcing him to work through college (since they blew a $10,000 college grant that was meant for him), so he'll appreciate the value of hard work. A couple of years after the finale, the economy tanked, and not only did college become more expensive that's only affordable with loans that take years to pay off and good-paying jobs hard to get, but many recent grads often find themselves working in low-paying jobs despite having a degree, so Hal and Lois' actions look incredibly stupid and selfish. Parents today would be overjoyed not having to worry about putting their kid through college.

** Being considered either this or HilariousInHindsight (depending on your sense of humor), the "I Want My Psycho Dad" episode had Bud mentioning a fictional show called ''Series/SavedByTheBell: The Prison Years''. About a decade later, Screech's actor, Dustin Diamond, was sent to jail for a few months for stabbing a man.

** Another example unrelated to Hawkeye or Henry: the Season Nine episode "Blood Brothers" tells the story of a GI who can't give blood because [[spoiler: he has terminal cancer.]] The GI was played by...Creator/PatrickSwayze.

** Also, Mike predicts that Carl and Victoria having a relationship will only lead to heartbreak for Carl and he will be the one who has to deal with it. Carl and Victoria do have an ugly breakup, and fallout nearly ends Mike and Carl's friendship.

** The final season had an episode of Phil mourning the death of his father, Frank. Five months after the episode aired, Frank's actor, Creator/FredWillard, died.

** The ending of the episode "[[CelebrityParadox Mork Meets]] Creator/RobinWilliams", where Mork gives his report to Orson about the downside of fame, which ends with a listing of celebrities who became victims of their own fame (mostly from drug overdoses). About a year later, Robin's friend, Creator/JohnBelushi, would die of a drug overdose. It's also tough looking at that knowing that Robin himself had a pretty nasty cocaine habit at the time. He's said that John's death was one of the reasons he quit. Then, Williams' own suicide enters the picture...

* ''Series/MrBean'': In ''Do-It-Yourself Mr. Bean'', the scene where Mr. Bean is cutting a hole in the wall of his flat and cuts through several items including a picture of Princess Diana which he severs right at the neck became a lot less funny following Diana's death in a car accident in 1997. Another joke lost its humor with the 2022 death of Queen Elizabeth II, and that was the scene from ''The Return of Mr. Bean'' where he headbutts her during a royal film premiere.

* ''Film/AMuppetsChristmasLettersToSanta'' features Nathan Lane as a sadistic TSA officer. He decides he doesn't like the way the Muppets look and pulls them into an interrogation room, planning to perform cruel and humiliating security searches on them. In 2008, it was funny. In 2010, it's a controversial reality.

** In the first season episode "One Shot, One Kill", which aired in 2004, a Marine recruiter is talking to two young men about joining the Marine Corps. About the possibility of being deployed to Iraq he says:

** In the second season episode "An Eye for an Eye", Tony tells Kate to "Work smarter not harder - you'll live longer." Six episodes later, Kate is killed on the job.

* ''Series/TheNoddyShop'': "Stop, Listen And Learn" has Noah become sick and refuse to take medicine given to him by Aunt Agatha. When Noah's actor Sean [=McCann=] died in 2019 after years of fighting heart disease, it made that particular scene even sadder, as it might cause viewers to think that Noah's illness may have gotten worse had he not listened to Aunt Agatha's advice in the end.

** In "The Briefcase", Olive screams at both the sight of the Shapeshifter's head and the sight of Oprah's briefcase, both of which have been turned into pies on separate occasions. The first time around, Otto incredulously asks Olive, "Your greatest fear is ''pie?''" only for her to tell him that it's a long story. The episode "Life of O'Brian" also has Olive shuddering when two agents-in-training are shown carrying a large painting of a tornado made of pies. Come "Training Day" and Olive's fearful reactions are put into an ''entirely'' new light, showing that [[spoiler: she has a fear of pies that stems from Odd Todd, her old partner, attempting to kill her co-workers with them when he performed a FaceHeelTurn and became a villain, and that she has trauma stemming from the incident. Not only that, but she refused to tell Otto the entire story until he offered to help her, for reasons unknown.]]

* ''Series/PadreCoraje'': In a situation that occurred during a rerun of this soap opera in the Argentinian channel Volver, the episode rerun on March 5, 2013, was about people thinking that dictator Manuel Costa had "died", and got divided into two halves: those who openly celebrated his death, and those who tried to give him the respect DueToTheDead. A funeral was hosted at the church... and Manuel Costa, who was NotQuiteDead, interrupted it shouting "Don't celebrate yet!". On the same day, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez died. Obviously unintentional, but really eerie nonetheless.

* ''Series/{{QI}}'': Earlier series sometimes featured jokes where Alan Davies would be handled a doll as part of a gag, experiment, or demonstration and Stephen Fry would make a "show us on the doll where the man touched you" crack. In 2020, Davies published a book revealing that his father sexually abused him for a large portion of his childhood into his early adolescence.

** An early episode has Roseanne and Dan planning out what will happen after they die, climaxing in Dan reassuring as distraught DJ that he's going to live for a long time/looks forward to seeing him getting married one day/everything fictional parents usually say when they're reassuring their kids that they won't die. Sweet at the time, but becomes painful when you remember that Dan ends up dying while DJ is still just a teenager.

** In the original episode "Go Cubs", Roseanne meets her Muslim neighbors while stopping by their house in the middle of the night to borrow their Wi-Fi password because her granddaughter wanted to Skype her mom Geena who is in Afghanistan [[note]]There is a nine-and-a-half hour time difference between Chicago and Afghanistan [[/note]]. Later, Roseanne offers to pay for her neighbor's groceries and defends her after the cashier makes Islamophobic comments in front of both of them and Roseanne calls her out on her bigotry. The reboot was later cancelled and ABC announced that the sitcom will be retooled as ''Series/TheConners,'' which will not include Roseanne on the show due to racist remarks that she posted on Twitter.

** Prince Andrew's song from the first series, 'I'm Just a Prince Who Can't Say No' already comedically dark due to allegations at the time of infidelity on his part, is even worse now due to allegations of assault against an underaged girl.
** Terry Waite was introduced in one of the first episodes as admitting that he only became Robert Runcie's Assistant for Anglican Communion Affairs and a Hostage Negotiator so he could buy lots of goods Duty Free. Then, the real life version was taken hostage.

* One episode of the Creator/JimDavidson starring sitcom ''Up the Elephant and Round the Castle'' sees his character being forced to pay a heavy tax bill or be made bankrupt. Davidson really made bankrupt in 2006, in part due to a tax bill.
* The final episode of Season 1 of ''Series/Watchmen2019'' features [[spoiler:the death of Dr. Manhattan]]. Three days later [[spoiler:his death in the series becomes one of quickest examples of type 1 of DeathByAdaptation to type 2 as the final issue of ''ComicBook/DoomsdayClock'' also features the death of Dr. Manhattan.]]

** Also, in the two-part Season 2 premiere "In the Shadow of Two Gunmen," which is about an assassination attempt, the National Security Advisor notes that they don't know the whereabouts of several international terrorists, including UsefulNotes/OsamaBinLaden. This aired in September of 2000, when Bin Laden was known for implementing several acts of terror, but not as universally known as he would be just one year later.

** [[StrawmanPolitical The show ruthlessly attacks the political left-wing]], [[TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong frequently deriding them as mindless contrarians with baseless criticisms of moderate politics]]. To those watching with the benefit of hindsight, they would see these dismissals of the left-wing as a major factor that led to the rise of far-right leaders during TheNewTens, most notably Donald Trump's surprise win against Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election.
* In ''Series/WhateverHappenedToTheLikelyLads'', Bob, seeing his friend Terry [[note]] played by James Bolam [[/note]] slumping into aimless unemployed lethargy, warns him that he is turning into ComicStrip/AndyCapp. Terry retorts that he is proud to be compared to a working-class [[OopNorth Geordie]] icon like Andy Capp. Scroll forwards fifteen years or so to the live-action TV remake of Andy Capp. Who should be playing Andy but Creator/JamesBolam.

* There is a show on the History Channel called ''Wild West Tech'', hosted by Creator/DavidCarradine. A 2005 episode featured him detailing the differences between two ''noose'' knots. [[SarcasmMode It gets better:]] at the end of the segment, he signs off: "Don't try this at home." Considered he died by erotic self-asphyxiation gone wrong, the reruns since 2009 are...uncomfortable.

** Then there was the time a comic-relief stoner (played by Creator/SethGreen) sarcastically suggests that area 51 is a testing ground for "robot planes for Gulf War II".

* On this theme, [[https://youtu.be/hi-bo5O3qVI?t=1358 a sketch on]] ''Series/NotTheNineOClockNews'' broadcast in 1980, depicts Creator/RowanAtkinson, Creator/MelSmith and Creator/GryffRhysJones forcibly abducting a group of terrified and crying children and forcing them into the back of a van. As it drives away, the logo on the side of the van reveals that they are working for the Creator/{{BBC}} and are in fact rounding up the studio audience for the Rolf Harris show on childrens' [=TV=], with the implication that none of them would have attended willingly. Four decades on, the idea of children being forced onto a television show hosted by an entertainer who now has a record for sexual crime would be even more edgy.

** An episode from the Steve Harvey era saw a contestant joke that the biggest mistake he made on his wedding day was saying "I do" to his wife. A few years after the episode aired, he was sentenced to life in person for murdering her.

* The second season of Creator/{{Netflix}}'s highly controversial teen series ''Series/ThirteenReasonsWhy'' ends with a just barely avoided school shooting. The season released on May 18, 2018, '''a mere seven hours''' before the Santa Fe High School shooting, which left ten dead.

** An episode from the Steve Harvey era saw a contestant joke that his biggest mistake was marrying his wife. A few years after the episode aired, he was charged with her murder.

-->'''BYERS SNR:''' ''The Cold War's over, John. But with [[WhyWeAreBummedCommunismFell no clear enemy to stockpile against]], [[WarForFunAndProfit the arms market's flat]]. But [[FalseFlagOperation bring down a fully loaded 727 into the middle of New York City]] and you'll find a dozen [[AcceptableTargets tinpot dictators]] all over the world just [[TooDumbToLive clamoring to take responsibility]], and begging to be [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge smart-bombed]].''

* ''Series/BarneyMiller'': One of the perps arrested by the 12th Precinct [[Recap/BarneyMillerS7E17 in a 1981 episode]] is a NASA fanboy who is excited about the impending first launch of the space shuttle, which happened in RealLife 17 days after the episode aired. He's even more excited when he's told that he could apply and might be able to fly himself (he's an optician who makes lenses). Dietrich decides to screw with him and says "And listen, don't worry about the tiles." He then explains that the thermal protection tiles are vulnerable to falling off and that "a few critically placed tiles" could fall off and cause the destruction of the whole spacecraft from the heat of re-entry. This ''actually happened'' on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-107 February 1, 2003]]. And if that's not good enough, it was ''Columbia'', the spacecraft that made that first shuttle lanuch, that blew up 22 years later due to heat tiles falling off and killed seven astronauts.
* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'':In season four, Kara jokes to her husband that if he turned out to be a Cylon, she'd shoot him in the head. Later on in the season, she finds out that [[spoiler:he '''is''' a Cylon, but doesn't do anything. Then someone else comes along and literally shoots him in the head, leaving her in grief for the rest of the season.]]

* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'':
** A season 1 episode has Barney courting a bridesmaid, his excuse for never seeing her again being that in the morning he's shipping out with the Peace Corps for two years. We find out mere episodes later that his StartOfDarkness was getting stood up by his girlfriend the day they were supposed to ship out with the Peace Corps together for two years.
** In "Double Date" Marshall explains how a [[SingleTargetSexuality husband like him]] fantasizes about other women than Lily: First he has to kill Lily off via SoapOperaDisease, then lets "an appropriate amount of years" slip until said other woman reappears in his life and they can get it on. Of course everybody around Marshall agrees that this is ridiculous, disturbing, sad, etc.. [[spoiler: And it bears an uncanny resemblance to what the writers do to Tracy/The Mother during the final episode in order to have Ted end up with Robin]].
** Ted's kids rolling their eyes at the beginning of the story looks pretty darn callous knowing that [[spoiler:their mother has actually been DeadAllAlong.]]

* ''Series/BigBrother 13'' US is probably the most slanted season in ''Big Brother'' history, with twists that obviously benefit the veterans (All fan favourites) and safeguards in the form of competitions they've already played in left and right, as well as the most ''obviously'' slanted challenge for [[CreatorsPet Brendon]] to return to the game. After a sudden flip around causing one of the fan favourites to be voted out, a bunch of people on sites began to think about how the producers would bail out the two remaining veterans, resulting in one user making [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-zWvFGg3ck&feature=channel_video_title this video]] making fun of how they assumed production worked. This became worse when you consider within a week...almost all the events described to slant the season happened in the most blatantly contrived bailout in ''Big Brother'' history. Among these...Pandora's Box offering $5,000 to Porsche, restarting the duo twist, conveniently pitting Jordan and Rachel (The remaining veterans) with each other, and a literal ''copy'' of the first Head of Household competition (That Rachel won) for the veto. But with a different prop. One almost wonders if they got the idea for it after watching that video!

*** In a double whammy for this show and ''Series/AshesToAshes2008'', the crossover Richard did with the cast of ''Ashes to Ashes'' for Children in Need becomes this when you find out in the series finale [[spoiler: that ''Ashes to Ashes'' takes place in a purgatory for dead and dying police officers.]] Granted, Richard's not a police officer, but still. Creepy.