Tear Jerker / Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids

• The infamous "Gang Wars" episode with Tito's brother Fernardo getting killed by a gang member while trying to save his life. When Tito swears revenge on the gang, a furious Fat Albert calls him out on what will happen if Tito goes through with it, which will make Fernardo's sacrifice meaningless if Tito gets killed too. Both end up breaking down in silent tears, as Sergeant Hernandez also reminds Tito of the consequences to his actions that caused Fernardo's death to begin with.
  • Fat Albert's speech at the end of the episode is no less heartbreaking:
    Fat Albert: This was supposed to be a funny speech by a funny person, a guy who liked to make people laugh. But instead, here I am, crying. His name was Fernando and... he... was killed last night, trying to stop a gang war. Fernando used to joke that he wouldn't forget us when he became famous. All he wanted was a chance to grow, but a bullet took away that chance. Well, maybe he won't become world-famous, but he'll always be famous to his friends. That's why we're naming [this new park], the Fernando Garcia Park.
• The second half of the buck-buck episode deals with Albert moving away, and how it affects him and rest of the kids. (Weird Harold even sheds a Single Tear, as the normally upbeat Rudy regretfully mopes how "Albert will go through life thinking we're mad at him".) Their music number deals with the bittersweet nature of having to leave old friends behind and make new ones in a new neighborhood, but happily, it turns out that his family's only moving into the next house down from his old one.
• The ending of the Live-Action Adaptation, when Doris goes to visit her grandfather's grave and sees Cosby and his childhood friends (now old men) paying their respects to her grandfather as well (as it turns out that he was Cosby's friend who Fat Albert had been based on). As the camera pans by each of the friends, it flashes to their younger fictional selves, when they were young and happy. A happier Tear Jerker comes after, as the group chases each other out of the graveyard, clearly still just as energetic and playful as they were as teens.
• While the prison episode "Busted" is deliberately meant to be Nightmare Fuel, it also has a sad moment. One of the two prisoners warns the gang that even though he will be eventually released from prison, his life can never again be normal as all he has known is prison. This is sadly Truth in Television; many prison inmates, especially those who have served long sentences, are Not Used to Freedom and don't know how to function outside prison. There's also the after effects of having a criminal record such as social stigma and finding employment that will haunt ex-convicts for life.
• The episode "The Shuttered Window" where Undeen’s Uncle Monty helps to put on a talent show. Unfortunately, he suddenly dies, leaving his niece depressed and unable to come to terms with his death. Eventually, with her mom and Fat Albert’s help, she decides to keep the talent show going to keep his memory alive.
• "Spare the Rod" is one of the saddest and underrated episodes. Fat Albert notices his classmate Patrice has been acting very standoffish, but when she eventually decides to participate in the gang's activities, Fat Albert notices that Patrice has bruises on her arm. Little by little, he finds out that Patrice has been getting beaten by her mother, which she eventually confesses to him. Watching her go through denial over her situation is sad enough, but the scene near the end that follows is especially heartbreaking. After talking it over with his parents, Fat Albert does everything in his power to try and convince Patrice to go to the authorities, causing her to have a breakdown in her attempts to push him away. The exchange itself hits very close to home:

  Fat Albert: Patrice, I've been thinking about what you told me, you know, about your mom and—

  Patrice: (firmly) I want you to forget what I said.

  Fat Albert: Forget? You can't forget something like this!

  Patrice: There's nothing you can do about it! My parents run the house!

  Fat Albert: How can they run the house when they can't even run themselves?

  Patrice: ENOUGH! I love my mom, and she loves me too! (runs away in tears) My mom, my dad, we love all love each other and I don't want anything to happen to them!

  Fat Albert: (runs after her and grabs her arm) Listen to me! You can put a stop to the beatings you've been getting!

  Patrice: Let go! Do you hear?

  Fat Albert: You gotta tell somebody! Tell Miss Wucher, or the school nurse, or the police!

  Patrice: Why don't you leave me alone? This isn't any of your business!

  Fat Albert: No, it is my business! It's your business! It's EVERYBODY'S business! Do it now! (Patrice sobs) Patrice, there's no other way to go, you've got to report what your mom is doing to you now!

  Patrice: All right! All right, I'll do it! But leave me alone! (runs off sobbing) Just leave me alone! Alone!

  • It's also revealed her dad knew about this, but also didn't want his wife and daughter to get in trouble either.
  • The episode even ends a little abruptly: the last we see of Patrice is her tearfully going to Miss Wucher for help, so we never actually see what becomes of her. Thankfully, the last scene has Fat Albert telling the gang to be extra nice to Patrice as she finally went to the authorities. However, it's also unknown whether or not Patrice actually rekindles her friendship with Fat Albert as well, especially considering how much she pushed him away even after she finally relented. (The 1981 chapter book adaptation has her shouting to Fat Albert, "I wish I never met you!" while he tries to urge Patrice to get some help. Ouch.)
  • Even the nearby bird listening in on Patrice's confession feels sorry for her, sympathetically shaking its head.
• Rudy's massive My God, What Have I Done? moment in the Easter Special when his attempt to prank the gang by greasing the ladder lands Mudfoot in the hospital. While we're used to seeing Rudy mess up before, you REALLY can't help but feel sorry seeing him in this self-loathing state, especially when he tearfully confesses to the gang.
  • Most of the gang shedding tears when Mudfoot is taken by the ambulance. Their attempts to help clean up his house and pay his bills really shows how much they care about him.
  • Russell being (understandably) furious at Rudy and attempting to tackle him before being held back by Fat Albert.
  • Rudy later takes up a hazardous job in a scrap iron yard to help pay Mudfoot's medical bills. Fat Albert tries to reason with him, but is unable to talk him out of it.
    Fat Albert: You're not gonna help anything if you get hurt, Rudy! This is a dangerous place to work.
    Rudy: I don't care about me!
    (Fat Albert walks away, then stops and looks back at Rudy, shedding a Single Tear.)
• Rudy goes through a similar moment in "Water You Waiting For" when his prank to splash Russell almost gets him drowned, followed by him shedding Tears of Joy when Russell is revived.
• In "Pain, Pain, Go Away", Fat Albert's friend, Darrell has been feeling tired lately, but doesn't think he needs to go to the doctor. After Fat Albert convinces him and his parents to go to the hospital to find out what's wrong, he returns to the gang in absolute shock. Weird Harold observes he looks like he lost his last friend, and Fat Albert reveals that Darrell has Hodgkin's disease, a form of cancer. Thankfully, it turns out it was detected early and can be treated, so Darrell recovers. However, as Cosby notes, sometimes a word like cancer "can be more scary than the real thing", so their concern is most definitely understandable.