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Reality TV
- Several people have actually committed suicide after being contestants on a reality TV show. Cheryl Kosewicz from the show Pirate Master was found dead during the show's run on TV (after filming) and someone from Paradise Hotel also did the same.
- Big Brother: All Stars had a small tear jerker when Dr. Will and Boogie, Chilltown, were put up on the block against each other and they chose to evict Dr. Will. Throughout the game, they played around in the diary room and pretended to call each other on the telephone. After Dr. Will was evicted, Boogie had one of those where he had the phone-hand to his head and asked "Hello? Hello?" and there was no answer. Course he won anyway...Stupid Booger...
- When Big Brother left Channel 4 in the UK, it signed off with a Champion of Champions series. This ended with a montage of clips of Jade Goody, not a past champion, but certainly the most famous former housemate, who had since died at the age of 27. Host Davina McCall was not the only person to sob.
- The Israeli version’s third season (not including the celebrity season) has Ram Preiß Siton who came out on television. His parents had been told not that long before he came in, so the only ones who knew were his family, production (he had told them he might come out during the show), presumably some of his friends, and his boyfriend, known only by his nickname ‘Smiley’ (Khiyukhi חִיּוּכִי). The really tear-jerking moment came later on, when one of the two hosts, Asi ‘Azar, who is also gay, came in to talk to Ram about it. Bar Refaeli was sitting at the same table as they were, and was moved to tears by the scene.
- Michael from Survivor: The Australian Outback being evacuated. He was going to be perhaps one of the best players ever (Tina admitted that he could have beaten her) but then passed out in the fire and ran into the water in pain, fingers burned together. They then showed him being evacuated and saying "Bye!" to everyone. A few other people being evacuated. There were a few people where it wasn't really that big of an impact and was sort of a relief to see that they got treatment. (Like say, Bruce in Panama or Jonathan Penner & James in Micronesia) But some others were odd...Kathleen quit the game in Micronesia and was having a mental breakdown, but the most recent was in Samoa where Mike and Russell S. both had extremely low blood pressure and Russell S. was saying "No no let me get back into the game"
Romance Of The Three Kingdoms
- The opening theme of this live-action version
of Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Rough Riders
- The Rough Riders miniseries. When Tiffany, in one of the battles, shouts out as Roosevelt has charged forward with no one else following, "For God's sake, follow the Colonel!" He stands up to follow his own words and that's when the bullet goes straight through his head, making him fall back into the group of other soldiers, dead.
Royal Pains
- Royal Pains doesn't usually do tear-jerkers, but the auction episode in season 5 is an exception. Throughout the season, Boris' cousin Milos has been presented as a Big Bad who killed Boris' half-brother and is ruthlessly trying to destroy Boris' household to get at some artifact at Shadow Pond. To try and flush him out, the Lawsons stage a fake auction during which all of Boris' possessions are up for grabs, in hopes that Milos will bid on whatever the Macguffin is. But after acquiring several of the items, they watch as he becomes increasingly erratic. Eventually, it's revealed that the treasure he's looking for doesn't exist. Far from being cold and calculating, he's actually severely mentally ill and dying from the same disease that Boris has. His whole campaign against Boris wasn't the usual intra-familial squabbling that's been plaguing Boris throughout the series. He's just desperate for a cure to his disease. Watching a sympathetic Boris trying to reason with his cousin at the end is pretty damned heartbreaking.
S Club
- S Club...a surprising amount of episodes, specials and the movie were very sad, depressing or disturbing. "Boyfriends and Birthdays" in particular, with people dropping hints as gently as they can, and the kid becoming increasingly unable to deny the fact that his father, who has hasn't seen for years, isn't going to come and see him, because he doesn't care. Also, it was a bit jarring to have people making the same jokes as always, only this time no-one is laughing.
Seven Wonders Of The Industrial World
- "The Sewer King" when Bazalgette spends weeks drawing up his plans for the London Sewers to the point of damaging his own health only for them to be rejected mostly due to political infighting amongst the committe in charge. It's just the look on the actors face while we cut to his wife talking about how gutted he is. In fact, there were quite a few tear jerkers in that series - suprisingly many for a show about engineering!
- The same episode, at the end, features a short, home-movie style clip of Dr. John Snow in his study, working. He looks up into the camera and smiles, modest and slightly shy... and then we learn that he died five years before Bazelgette's sewers were completed and his theories about the cause of the cholera epidemic (that it was spread in the water, not through the air) were finally validated.
Seventh Heaven
- "Nothing Endures but Change".
- Charlotte Kerjesz's story in the episode "I Hate You". Even a kid whose father taught him the Holocaust was a fake is crying by the end of it.
Sharpe
- Near the end of Sharpe's Waterloo, the last of the original batch of Sharpe, Harris and Hagman in the farmyard. Harris spots that Hagman is about to be shot and shouts his name, but isn't quite fast enough to stop it happening... and then is himself bayoneted in the back. He crawls the few yards to grab his friend's hand and then dies. This is topped off by Sharpe audibly choking up on learning of their deaths.
- After Hakeswill kills Theresa in Sharpe's Enemy:"You told me you didn't speak french""I lied. My wife tauht me. She taught me many things. Above all, how to say goodbye."
- Sharpe's Battle with the death of young Perkins, after he is stabbed in the stomach by a supposed ally. Begging first for a tune from Dan, then for his mum and finally apologising to Sergeant Harper for not being a good enough soldier and letting him down. All the while his comrades try to comfort him.
Slings And Arrows
- Season 3 in particular is full of tear-jerking moments. The series finale when Geoffrey tells the now-invisible Oliver he loves him.
Soap
- Elaine's death on Soap. She'd been kidnapped and escaped but was shot while getting away. She makes it back to the Campbells' and dies in Danny's arms. And it's shot perfectly - they cut to the rest of the family looking on, and then go to black as we hear the ambulance siren.
Space Cases
- Space Cases: The scene of the crew reacting to the apparent death of Catalina.
Spin City
- Goodbye - Part 2, especially when the Mayor is saying goodbye to Mike.
Stargate Universe
- Senator Armstrong's sacrifice in the pilot.
- Riley's death.
- Chloe saying goodbye to people in "Visitation". Her video for Scott was bad enough, but forgiving Greer because he'll probably be the one to kill her when the alien infection takes over? Pass the bucket.
- When Alternate!Destiny plunged into the star at the end of "Twin Destinies"
- T.J. not only learns that she has Lou Gehrig's, but watches videos of the disease progressing in her alternate self, leading to her death less than ten years in the future.
The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody
- The ending of "Birdman in Boston", when Cody watches his son, Bubba the hawk fly away.
- Cody: *voice breaking* Mom, when you left, did your mother cry?Carrie: *hugs Cody* Only after I was gone.Cody: *breaks down in tears*
The Suite Life On Deck
- Marcus' goodbye party in "Bon Voyage", especially when he's thanking everyone and telling them how fondly he has always thought of them.
- The ending of "Computer Date". Poor Callie...
