History Tearjerker / KingoftheHill

** Meta example: "Wings of the Dope" premiered two weeks to the day after the [[{{UsefulNotes/Columbine}} Columbine shooting]]. Mike Judge received a letter from a young woman from Littleton about a month after the episode aired. She went to Columbine, had a crush on a classmate she knew, and promised herself during the shooting that if both survived, she would tell him how she felt. She never got the chance - [[spoiler: he was one of the shooters]]. Like Buckley's final birthday card to Luanne, "Wings of the Dope" was what finally prompted the girl to open up and grieve after pressure to bottle up her feelings from people who believed the boy didn't deserve it. To turn the tearjerker factor UpToEleven, someone who knows the girl]] has said that the girl quoted Luanne in the letter and hoped he wasn't "guardianin' some other girl", since he never knew how she felt.

** Meta example: "Wings of the Dope" premiered two weeks to the day after the [[{{UsefulNotes/Columbine}} Columbine shooting]]. During a Comic-Con discussion in the early 2000s, Mike Judge recalled a letter he received from a young woman from Littleton about a month after the episode aired. She went to Columbine, had a crush on a classmate she knew, and promised herself during the shooting that if both survived, she would tell him how she felt. She never got the chance - [[spoiler: he was one of the shooters]]. Like Buckley's final birthday card to Luanne, "Wings of the Dope" was what finally prompted the girl to open up and grieve after pressure to bottle up her feelings from people who believed the boy didn't deserve it. To turn the tearjerker factor UpToEleven, it's been said that the girl quoted Luanne in the letter and hoped he wasn't "guardianin' some other girl", since he never knew how she felt.

** One of the rare cases in which timing is a tearjerker - "Wings of the Dope" premiered two weeks to the day after the [[{{UsefulNotes/Columbine}} Columbine shootings]]. During a Comic-Con discussion in the early 2000s, Mike Judge recalled a letter he received from a young woman from Littleton about a month after the episode aired. She went to Columbine, had a crush on a classmate she knew, and promised herself during the shooting that if both survived, she would tell him how she felt. [[spoiler: She never got the chance - he was one of the shooters]]. Like Buckley's final birthday card to Luanne, "Wings of the Dope" was what finally prompted the girl to open up and grieve [[spoiler:after pressure to bottle up her feelings from people who believed the boy wasn't worthy of it]]. To turn the tearjerker factor UpToEleven, it's been said that the girl quoted Luanne in the letter and hoped [[spoiler:he wasn't "guardianin' some other girl"]], since [[spoiler:he wouldn't know to visit her since he never knew how she felt]].

** Bobby telling Peggy that she shouldn't feel bad about her big feet just because the perverted podiatrist said so and the fact that Bobby accepts the fact that he's fat (or "husky" as his jeans says) and there are people out there who pick on him for it, but he doesn't let it get him down because he has friends, a girlfriend (at least until he and Connie broke up), and most people see past the fact that he's "the fat kid" and see that he's a very funny, friendly person.

** One of the rare cases in which timing is a tearjerker - "Wings of the Dope" premiered two weeks to the day after the [[{{UsefulNotes/Columbine}} Columbine shootings]]. During a Comic-Con discussion in the early 2000s, Mike Judge recalled a letter he recieved from a young woman from Littleton about a month after the episode aired. She went to Columbine, had a crush on a classmate she knew, and promised herself during the shooting that if both survived, she would tell him how she felt. She never got the chance - [[spoiler:he was one of the shooters]]. Like Buckley's final birthday card to Luanne, "Wings of the Dope" was what finally prompted the girl to open up and grieve [[spoiler:after pressure to bottle up her feelings from people who believed the boy wasn't worthy of anyone's grief]].

** The scene where Luanne is by the trampoline crying listening to "Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground" and hopes he isn't "gurardianin' some other girl," followed by Peggy's motivational speech, is a close second.

* Peggy crying when she finds out that her big feet were being used to satisfy Internet perverts.

** One of the rare cases in which timing is a tearjerker - it aired two weeks to the day after the [[{{UsefulNotes/Columbine}} Columbine shootings]]. During a Comic-Con discussion in the early 2000s, Mike Judge recalled a letter he recieved from a young woman from Littleton about a month after "Wings of the Dope" aired. She went to Columbine, had a crush on a classmate she knew, and promised herself that if both survived the shooting she would tell him how she felt. She never got the chance - [[spoiler:he was one of the shooters]]. Like Buckley's final birthday card to Luanne, "Wings of the Dope" was what finally prompted the girl to open up and grieve [[spoiler:after pressure to bottle up her feelings from people who believed the boy wasn't worthy of anyone's grief]].

** One of the rare cases in which timing is a tearjerker - it aired two weeks to the day after the [[UsefulNotes/Columbine Columbine shootings]]. During a Comic-Con discussion in the early 2000s, Mike Judge recalled a letter he recieved from a young woman from Littleton about a month after "Wings of the Dope" aired. She went to Columbine, had a crush on a classmate she knew, and promised herself that if both survived the shooting she would tell him how she felt. She never got the chance - [[spoiler:he was one of the shooters]]. Like Buckley's final birthday card to Luanne, "Wings of the Dope" was what finally prompted the girl to open up and grieve [[spoiler:after pressure to bottle up her feelings from people who believed the boy wasn't worthy of anyone's grief]].

** One of the rare cases in which timing is a tearjerker - it aired two weeks to the day after the [[UsefulNotesColumbine Columbine shootings]]. During a Comic-Con discussion in the early 2000s, Mike Judge recalled a letter he recieved from a young woman from Littleton about a month after "Wings of the Dope" aired. She went to Columbine, had a crush on a classmate she knew, and promised herself that if both survived the shooting she would tell him how she felt. She never got the chance - [[spoiler:he was one of the shooters]]. Like Buckley's final birthday card to Luanne, "Wings of the Dope" was what finally prompted the girl to open up and grieve [[spoiler:after pressure to bottle up her feelings from people who believed the boy wasn't worthy of anyone's grief]].

** One of the rare cases in which timing is a tearjerker - it aired two weeks to the day after the Columbine shootings. During a Comic-Con discussion in the early 2000s, Mike Judge recalled a letter he recieved from a young woman from Littleton about a month after "Wings of the Dope" aired. She went to Columbine, had a crush on a classmate she knew, and promised herself that if both survived the shooting she would tell him how she felt. She never got the chance - [[spoiler:he was one of the shooters and committed suicide after the attack]]. Like Buckley's final birthday card to Luanne, "Wings of the Dope" was what finally prompted the girl to open up and grieve [[spoiler:after pressure to bottle up her feelings from people who believed the boy wasn't worthy of anyone's grief because of his final actions]].

** The following episode has Luanne dealing with the loss of her hair and bottling her emotions by pulling a Sinead O'Connor act, but she soon breaks down alone in her room after reading the last birthday card Buckley have to her.

** One of the rare cases in which timing is a tearjerker - it aired two weeks to the day after the Columbine shootings. During a Comic-Con discussion in the early 2000s, Mike Judge recalled a letter he recieved from a young woman from Littleton about a month after "Wings of the Dope" aired. She went to Columbine, had a crush on a classmate she knew, and promised herself that if both survived the shooting she would tell him how she felt. [[spoiler:She never got the chance - he was one of the shooters and committed suicide after the attack]]. Like Buckley's final birthday card to Luanne, "Wings of the Dope" was what finally prompted the girl to open up and grieve [[spoiler:after pressure to bottle up her feelings from people who believed the boy wasn't worthy of anyone's grief because of his final actions]].

** One of the rare cases in which its ''timing'' is a tearjerker. It aired on the 25th anniversary of the Kent State shooting - oh, and a mere ''two weeks to the day'' after the Columbine shootings.
*** During a Comic-Con discussion in the early 2000s, Mike Judge recalled a letter he recieved from a young woman from Littleton about a month after "Wings of the Dope" (the episode with Buckley's Angel) aired. She went to Columbine, knew and had a crush on a boy she had classes with, and promised herself that if both survived the shooting she would tell him how she felt. [[spoiler:She never got the chance - he was one of the shooters and committed suicide after the attack]]. Like Buckley's final birthday card to Luanne, "Wings of the Dope" was what finally prompted the girl to open up and grieve [[spoiler:after pressure to bottle up her feelings from people who believed the boy wasn't worthy of anyone's grief because of his final actions]].

*** During a Comic-Con discussion in the early 2000s, Mike Judge recalled a letter he recieved from a young woman from Littleton about a month after "Wings of the Dope" aired. She went to Columbine, knew and had a crush on a boy she had classes with, and promised herself that if both survived the shooting she would tell him how she felt. [[spoiler:She never got the chance - he was one of the shooters and committed suicide after the attack]]. Like Buckley's final birthday card to Luanne, "Wings of the Dope" was what finally prompted the girl to open up and grieve [[spoiler:after pressure to bottle up her feelings from people who believed the boy wasn't worthy of anyone's grief because of his final actions]].

*** During an interview in the early 2000s, Mike Judge recalled a letter he recieved from a young woman from Littleton after it aired. She went to Columbine, knew and had a crush on a boy she had classes with, and promised herself that if both survived the shooting she would tell him how she felt. [[spoiler:She never got the chance - he was one of the shooters and committed suicide after the attack]]. Like Buckley's final birthday card to Luanne, "Wings of the Dope" was what finally prompted the girl to open up and grieve [[spoiler:after pressure to bottle up her feelings from people who believed the boy wasn't worthy of anyone's grief because of his final actions]].

*** During an interview in the early 2000s, Mike Judge recalled a letter he recieved from a young woman from Littleton after it aired. She went to Columbine, knew and had a crush on a boy she had classes with, and promised herself that if both survived the shooting she would tell him how she felt. [[spoiler:She never got the chance - he was one of the shooters and committed suicide after the attack]]. Like Buckley's final birthday card to Luanne, "Wings of the Dope" was what finally prompted the girl to open up and grieve [[spoiler:after pressure from others, who believed the boy wasn't worthy of anyone's grief because of his final actions, to bottle up her feelings]].

*** During an interview in the early 2000s, Mike Judge recalled a letter he recieved from a young woman from Littleton after it aired. She went to Columbine, knew and had a crush on a boy she had classes with, and promised herself that if both survived the shooting she would tell him how she felt. [[spoiler:She never got the chance - he was one of the shooters and committed suicide after the attack]]. Like Buckley's final birthday card to Luanne, "Wings of the Dope" was what finally prompted the girl to open up and grieve [[spoiler:despite others believing the boy wasn't worthy of anyone's grief because of his final actions]].

*** During an interview in the early 2000s, Mike Judge recalled a letter he recieved from a young woman from Littleton after it aired. She went to Columbine, knew and had a crush on a boy she had classes with, and promised herself that if both survived the shooting she would tell him how she felt. [[spoiler:She never got the chance - he was one of the shooters and committed suicide after the attack]]. Like Buckley's final birthday card to Luanne, "Wings of the Dope" was what finally prompted the girl to open up and grieve [[spoiler:despite being told the boy wasn't worthy of anyone's grief because of his final actions]].

*** During an interview in the early 2000s, Mike Judge recalled a letter he recieved from a young woman from Littleton after it aired. She went to Columbine, knew and had a crush on a boy she had classes with, and promised herself that if both survived the shloting she would tell him how she felt. [[spoiler:She never got the chance - he was one of the shooters and committed suicide after the attack]]. Like Buckley's final birthday card to Luanne, "Wings of the Dope" was what finally prompted the girl to open up and grieve [[spoiler:despite being told the boy wasn't worthy of anyone's grief because of his final actions]].

*** During an interview in the early 2000s, Mike Judge recalled a letter he recieved from a young woman from Littleton after it aired. During the shooting, she promised herself the first thing she would do if she survived was tell a young man she knew and had classes with that she had a crush on him for a long time. [[spoiler:She never got the chance - he was one of the shooters and committed suicide after the attack]]. Like Buckley's final birthday card to Luanne, "Wings of the Dope" was what finally prompted the girl to open up and grieve [[spoiler:despite being told the boy wasn't worthy of anyone's grief because of his final actions]].

* Pretty much the entire "Wings of a Dope" episode, in which Buckley's angel comes back, particularly the scene in which he and Luanne bounce on the trampoline after first meeting. Fireflies appear around them and fittingly enough, Dream Academy's "Life in a Northern Town" plays in the background. The last scene is even more powerful - Buckley bounces on Luanne's trampoline high enough to disappear from her sight, after which she believes he is gone for good and says, "Goodbye, Buckley's angel." She goes back into the house as he returns to Earth, exclaims, "Cool, a new record!" and then, as the song begins to play again, is shown walking off toward the horizon, pulling a halo from his pocket and donning it as the credits begin to roll.

*** During an interview in the early 2000s, Mike Judge recalled the outpouring of he recieved from people who lived in Littleton or who knew people who did who were touched by the episode due to the fact that at the time it aired, many people were still shocked or in denial about the attack. One letter stuck out to him: a young woman who promised herself she would tell a boy she had classes with and a crush on how she felt if both survived the shooting, but never got the chance - [[spoiler:he was one of the shooters and committed suicide after the attack]]. Like Buckley's final birthday card to Luanne, "Wings of the Dope" was what finally prompted the girl to open up and grieve [[spoiler:despite being told the boy wasn't worthy of anyone's grief because of his final actions]].

** One of the rare cases in which its ''timing'' is a tearjerker. It aired on the 25th anniversary of the Kent State shooting. Oh, and a mere two weeks after the Columbine shooting[[note]] after which less-likely shooter Dylan Klebold's mother stated she'd give anything to talk to him one last time and find out why - and Luanne gets to do exactly that in this episode[[/note]].

** One of the rare cases in which its ''timing'' is a tearjerker. It aired on the 25th anniversary of the Kent State shooting. Oh, and a mere two weeks after the Columbine shooting.

** One of the rare cases in which its ''timing'' is a tearjerker - it aired on May 4, 1999, a mere 2 weeks after the Columbine shooting, and on the 25th anniversary of the Kent State shooting.

* Peggy crying when she finds out that her big feet were being used to satiety Internet perverts.