History HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood / LiveActionTV

** One of the running gags is that the homeless receptionist Carole sees fit to keep her son Ben and twin daughters Jessica and Emily in tightly shut drawers and cupboards during the day, much to some concern by the other staff members and perhaps one of the reasons why Ben is an EnfantTerrible by Series 6. This does not get into some of the other bizarre stuff that Carole has done with them over the series, such as accidentally keeping a baby in the same drawer as a lit lightbulb and almost roasting him alive. Or taking him around in a dog carrier and keeping him in kennels over the Christmas holidays. Or sounding too enthusiastic about having Ben catch Chickenpox from one of his friends.

* ''Series/TheBrittasEmpire'': One of the running gags is that the homeless receptionist Carole sees fit to keep her son Ben and twin daughters Jessica and Emily in tightly shut drawers and cupboards during the day, much to some concern by the other staff members and perhaps one of the reasons why Ben is an EnfantTerrible by Series 6. This does not get into some of the other bizarre stuff that Carole has done with them over the series, such as accidentally keeping a baby in the same drawer as a lit lightbulb and almost roasting him alive. Or taking him around in a dog carrier and keeping him in kennels over the Christmas holidays. Or sounding too enthusiastic about having Ben catch Chickenpox from one of his friends.

* ''Series/{{Roseanne}}'': Roseanne and Jackie often make quips about how zany their mom Bev was. In the later seasons, it becomes apparent that she is a LadyDrunk.

** She also sent his real father away and never told Barney he was his father.
** Then there's Lily, who at first glance seems like a sweet, motherly type. But, as Marshall says, she has some serious Crazy Eyes. Then, we get the flashbacks to Lily's deadbeat dad, taking her to the racetrack with him so he could gamble. On her birthday. Which he had forgotten. And, later telling a sick young Lily the many ways she could die from tonsil surgery.

** Inverted with Ted, whose parents are so overprotective, they didn't tell him or his sister that they'd been divorced for over a year and that their grandmother had died.

--->'''Nathan''': He's supposed to take me out for the day, so he takes me to IKEA. He buys so much flat-pack furniture there's no room for me in the car, so he leaves me there for three hours. Then some guy with a beard sees me hanging around and buys me lunch. I spent my eighth birthday eating Swedish meatballs with a known pedophile.\\
'''Jamie''': Did he...\\
'''Nathan''': No, no. Dad got back when we were finishing our ice cream, but that sick pervert cared more about me than Dad ever did. He would've taken me to the zoo.
** And later, the story of Nathan's first sexual experience involves a family camping holiday... and his mother's friend badtouching him.

* ''Series/MrShow'' features Bob and David both having one in "Operation: Hell on Earth." Bob's parents bet impossible sums of money against him over things they knew he couldn't win (not falling asleep before midnight) and David's parents accidentally(?) physically abused him as a baby. They're also putting ''[[HasTwoMommies their]]'' daughter Superstar through one as [[StageMom Stage Dads]], despite claiming they wouldn't turn out like their parents. A fourth season episode also reveals that Bob's parents thought they could still abort Bob... when he was 4-years-old.

** Mrs. Benson takes MyBelovedSmother UpToEleven and qualifies Freddie for this as well.

* It is revealed in the episodes "Cassie Come Home" and "Believe" of the series ''Series/MyHero'' that Piers' excessive vanity stems from a crippling inferiority complex, brought on by a multitude of different traumas, particularly an ultra-fascist father. If one had listened to the entirety of his life story, it is likely one would be reduced to tears. Of course, the buried trauma does not resurface until George takes it upon himself to psychoanalyse the man, which reduces him to a blubbering wreck.

* ''Series/WandaVision'': A flashback in the HalloweenEpisode shows Wanda's childhood in Sokovia. Wanda and Pietro are given a single raw fish as a treat ("to share!") while a man is scrapping a car for parts, things are on fire, and there is distant gunfire. This is yet another meta-joke of the series about how immigrants and third-world countries are treated as a joke by sitcoms. [[spoiler:It's almost certainly a fake flashback written by Agatha]], and sharply contrasts with a real flashback in a later episode shows Wanda's family clearly poor, but making the best of a bad situation by watching old American sitcoms, [[MoodWhiplash until a bomb hits their apartment]].

--->'''Michael:''' I need you to get me in touch with J. Walter Weatherman.
--->'''George Sr.:''' Can't. You killed him when you left the door open with the air conditioner on.

--->I often think back fondly on the memories I haven't repressed.

--->You're shaking the caravan, Jeffrey!

----

* ''Series/{{Victorious}}'': [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Cat's]] family life is frequently implied to be rather messed up. Examples include being left beside the road at night, her mother once holding her breath for several hours when she was pregnant with Cat and Cat covering her ears and saying, "I'm under my bed!" when Beck and Jade were arguing in front of her. This is all PlayedForLaughs of course.
* Max Black from ''Series/TwoBrokeGirls'' often randomly brings up stories from her childhood being "raised" by her drug-addicted, alcoholic mother.
-->'''Caroline Channing:''' I got this; I am a brilliant event planner. My sweet 16 was off the chain. Penthouse parties, finger black theme, Music/AlanisMorissette singed songs from "Jagged Little Pill".\\
'''Max Black:''' On my 16th birthday, my Mom took too many jagged little pills, and I had to drive her to the emergency room to get her stomach pumped.\\
'''Caroline Channing:''' Was your childhood based on the novel ''Literature/{{Push}}'' by Sapphire?\\
'''Max Black:''' I wish.
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Joffrey saying something stupid and getting bitch slapped by Tyrion is a RunningGag for the first two seasons. The humor comes from the fact that he deserves it, and that he towers over the one slapping him (who is a dwarf). It drops off as he matures and his insanity grows more dangerous.
* In ''Series/RaisingHope'', the main character fondly remembers being tied to a couch and left to stare at a picture of a deer while his parents went to work. He used to pretend the deer's parents had left it alone for hours to stare at a picture of a little boy.

--> "It's all coming back to me. Oh my God! I slept on an old dog bed stuffed with wigs! I watched a prostitute stab a clown! Our basketball hoop was a rib cage – a rib cage! Why did you bring me here? I blocked all this stuff out for a reason! Oh, Lord, some guy with dreads electrocuted my fish! [Later] All my life I've tried to forget the things I've seen — a crackhead breast-feeding a rat, a homeless man licking a Hot Pocket off the third rail of the G train! [Still later] I've seen a blind guy bite a police horse! A puppy committed suicide after he saw our bathroom! I once bit into a burrito and there was a child's shoe in it! I've seen a hooker eat a tire! A pack of wild dogs took over and successfully ran a Wendy's! The sewer people stole my skateboard! [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking The projects I lived in were named after Zachary Taylor, generally considered to be one of the worst presidents of all time!]] I once saw a baby give another baby a tattoo! They were very drunk!"

* ''Series/{{Monk}}'' has a fair number of references to his childhood, which was also highly dysfunctional. Although it's played a bit more seriously than usual for this trope, there is an explanation for his off-putting behavior. His mother is controlling which is a factor in his OCD, and his father left him because he took advice from a fortune cookie.
* Most of the characters from ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'':
** Dennis and Dee's mother Barbara tricked Frank into raising her children from Bruce as his. Frank would routinely humiliate them as children even giving them Christmas present boxes with nothing inside. He canceled their insurance when they were 9. Barbara slept around behind Frank's back and routinely lavished attention on Dennis while going out of her way to humiliate and criticize Dee. Dee's childhood was all the more traumatic due to her back brace and the nickname the Aluminum Monster.
** Charlie's mother Bonnie tried to abort him but he survived. His mother was also implied to be a prostitute. Bonnie had extreme OCD which resulted in her fear that Charlie would die if she didn't do everything in threes (like turning on a light three times).
** It's also been implied that Charlie may have been molested by his uncle, which makes Charlie's musical ''Nightman'' more understandable - and more disturbing.
** Mac's mother is extremely apathetic and just sits in front of her television all day drinking and smoking. His father was sent to jail for drugs.
** Bill Ponderosa is a [[InvertedTrope Hilariously Abusive Parent]], who flat-out tells his young son that he doesn't love him; and when his daughter is bullied at school and called a slut, he reassures her that she's not a slut... she's far too fat for it. Both children are less than twelve and are well within healthy weight. When Bill becomes suicidal, the entire family [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing isn't particularly sad to see him go and even encourage it.]]
* Arnold Rimmer from ''Series/RedDwarf'', his father vented his frustration at being rejected by the space corp for being an inch too short on him and his brothers by, among other things, using a medieval torture device to make them taller, and withholding food if they couldn't answer questions about astronomy.
-->'''Rimmer:'''' Every morning he'd measure us to see if we had grown, if not it was back on the rack.
** His mother, meantime, was just incredibly cold. Or, as Rimmer tried to defend her, "She just despised idiots, no time for fools. Tragic, really, otherwise we would have got on famously." When his father died, she wrote to her son as follows:
--->I hope this epistle finds you adequately healthy to discharge your duties.
* ''Series/{{Titus}}'':
** Christopher Titus's father actually thinks emotionally damaging kids is better for them than physical violence (which Erin's dad, Merritt, does to her brother, Michael, which Ken thinks makes him a "drunken Irish loser.")
** Creator/ChristopherTitus really did have a messed-up childhood in RealLife and mentions it often in his stand-up comedy routines and on the sitcom. Both of his parents were alcoholics (though his dad, Ken, was a FunctionalAddict); his mom, Juanita, was a violent, manic-depressive schizophrenic who murdered her second husband after he beat the shit out of her for not having dinner done and she eventually killed herself after realizing that her mental illness had ruined her life; his dad married and divorced five times (with his ex-wives cleaning him out to the point that the only things they had in their house were a rubber raft, a box, and a black-and-white TV); and Titus's extended family includes members who are either mentally ill, verbally abusive, addicted to drugs, or [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking a Mormon uncle]].

* In ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'', George's parents are overbearing as it is, so naturally his childhood was less than salutary.
-->'''George:''' As damaging as purely psychological and verbal abuse could be...\\
'''Elaine:''' [[FreudianExcuse Ah, and another piece of the puzzle falls into place]].
** Some of George's worst childhood moments revolve around "Festivus", a holiday his dad Frank made up. Frank wants to revive it and plays a tape of a Festivus from George's childhood:
--->'''Frank:''' ''(on tape)'' Read that passage.\\
'''Young George:''' I can't, I need my glasses!\\
'''Frank:''' ''You don't need glasses -- you're just weak! You're weak!''\\
'''Estelle:''' ''Leave him alone!''\\
'''Frank:''' ...Okay. It's now time for the Festivus feats of strength!\\
'''George:''' ''(in the present)'' ''[[BigNo NO!]]'' Not the feats of strength! I hate Festivus! ''(runs out screaming)''
** Jerry, George, and Elaine play an old home video of George on vacation [[ItMakesSenseInContext to bore a woman to sleep]], only for this to happen:
--->'''Frank:''' ''(on tape)'' You step on it, and it flushes!\\
'''Elaine:''' Why is your father giving a tour of a rest stop?\\
'''George:''' ...Oh God, don't look. This is the part where they change me.\\
'''Jerry:''' ''Change'' you? You were, like, eight years old!\\
'''George:''' I was seven and a half!
* ''Series/{{Roseanne}}'': Roseanne and Jackie often make quips about how zany their mom Bev was. In the later seasons, it becomes apparent that she is a LadyDrunk.
* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'':
** Dr. Cox falls in and out of this. Sometimes his abusive childhood is treated jokingly, and then in other episodes, they'll focus on how messed up he is as a result.
--->"I don't necessarily buy into all that New Age-y crap. I once saw my mom knock my dad unconscious with a frying pan. You know what I did? Kept right on going with my birthday party!"
** So does the [[AlmightyJanitor Janitor]]. Once hinted at when he brings a cage to a baby shower (for the baby). When he gets weird looks he then [[JustJokingJustification plays it off like he was just joking]] and really brought it just in case the child gets a puppy later on. He also claims his mother made him eat off of the floor, hinting that was the [[FreudianExcuse reason]] he became a janitor. Another time, there was a flashback showing that his mother threw away his favorite doll, then claimed it was an accident because his room was too messy, leading him to be the sort of neat-freak who makes a career out of keeping things clean.
* Daphne in ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' has a habit of recounting traumatic or downright abusive stories from her past in a cheery, fond tone.
* ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen'':
** The show often displays the poisonous behavior of Charlie and Alan's mother, both in the show's timeframe and in {{backstory}} presented by "who-did-Mom-scar-more" arguments. There was also an episode where she keeps pushing Charlie to find out why he doesn't like her and why he has issues with commitment. He finally opens up [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech with a rant]]:
--->'''Charlie''': I'm not saying I hate you, but if I did, it might have something to do with the fact that you're a narcissistic bloodsucker who drove my father into an early grave, after which you married a succession of men who couldn't care less about Alan and me, which was just fine with you 'cause you... looked at us like a couple of dancing monkeys you could just haul out whenever it suited you! And when it didn't, you sent us off to boarding school or camp or that kibbutz in Israel, where we got beat up 'cause we weren't even Jewish! And now... now you show up here every chance you get to lay a guilt trip on me for not appreciating my cold, lonely, loveless childhood!\\
'''Evelyn''': [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Well... obviously you're not ready to talk about it]].
** ... although it was probably best summed up here:
--->'''Therapist:''' How's your father?\\
'''Charlie:''' Dead.\\
'''Therapist:''' And your mother?\\
'''Charlie:''' Killed him.

* ''Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond'':
** Ray and his brother Robert. Their mother Marie overbearingly smothered Ray and utterly neglected Robert. One episode ended with Ray realizing his parents followed him to school when he was a child, hiding behind bushes and the like.
--->'''Ray''': You mean, Mom was the crazy tree lady from my dreams?\\
'''Rob''': Yup.\\
'''Ray''': Then... the insane canoe guy was...\\
'''Rob''': Dad.\\
'''Ray''': My God, that gave me nightmares.\\
'''Rob''': For how long?\\
'''Ray''': I had one just last week!\\
'''Rob''': Wow, that is messed up.
** Robert can also be a case of this, though a lot of times it's not funny. They ''lied to him about his own birthday'' rather than admit pregnancy out of wedlock.
* Bill [=McNeal=] from ''Series/NewsRadio'' would often fondly recall childhood events that would charitably be described as child neglect. Good times, good times...
** In one episode, Bill recalls one of his father's pieces of advice: "When I was a child, I spoke as a child and acted as a child. But when I grew up, I took that child out back and had him shot." Dave then asks if his father was in the Khmer Rouge.
**
--->'''Bill''': Another time I was cut from the high school football team and my mother said, "Central's lost a fullback but the [=McNeals=] have gained a daughter" - and in front of the other players too... priceless! Good times... good times...\\
'''Lisa''': And this is a happy memory for you?\\
'''Bill''': Why shouldn't it be?
**
--->'''Bill''': I remember one time my father came home from a night on the town which of course had turned into a week and my mother said, "John, is there anything you won't drink?" and my father shot back, "Poison... I'm saving it for you." (Laughing) And I and my brother, who is now an alcoholic himself, just about died laughing...
** Another episode reveals that Bill loves eating stale sandwiches out of an antiquated vending machine in the office that no one else uses. The reason? They remind him of the sandwiches his mother would make for him; she'd leave a week's supply in a tin box outside the house.

** In one episode, Dewey begins to stop taking part in his brothers' antics and begins acting more responsible and mature, being pleasant to his mother and no longer causing trouble, which causes Lois to stop harassing him. Malcolm and Reese corner him to find out why she isn't harassing him anymore like she does them, but when he tries to explain - that the only reason she acts that way towards them is that they keep misbehaving - they either don't understand or refuse to accept it, and vow to find out how he does it.

** Lois herself had a genuinely abusive childhood, which may have affected how she treats her kids; her mother is a cruel, racist, domineering, AxCrazy lunatic from the [[{{Ruritania}} "old country."]] Even Francis, who loves nothing more than tormenting his mother, fully acknowledges that his grandmother is completely insane, especially when Francis finds out that she has been buying Christmas presents for the family each year - exactly what they wanted - but refusing to send them because of inconsequential slights. Her episodes usually result in a truce within the family who will band together to get rid of her.

* It's possible that Hilariously Abusive Childhood is the backstory for every single character in (and the explanation for the title of) ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment''.
** As an example, George Sr. would teach the kids lessons that involved them thinking their misbehaving led to a stranger being seriously injured. The injured man was a former Bluth Company employee who lost an arm, whom George paid to teach his kids these "lessons."
--->'''Michael:''' I need you to get me in touch with J. Walter Weatherman.
--->'''George Sr.:''' Can't. You killed him when you left the door open with the air conditioner on.

** Episode 13 features a letter from Mrs. Ken Frankenstein, who writes "When I was at school, I was beaten regularly every 30 minutes and it never did me any harm - [[ImmediateSelfContradiction except for psychological maladjustment and blurred vision]]."

* ''Series/TheColbertReport'':
** Many jokes revolve around the character of Stephen Colbert's upbringing, which led him to be an outwardly confident, blustery man trying to ignore the frightened child inside by adhering unerringly to his own version of reality (in which, of course, there's nothing wrong with the way his parents raised him). It's summed up nicely in this line from his book ''Literature/IAmAmericaAndSoCanYou'':
--->I often think back fondly on the memories I haven't repressed.
** This was/is often a device with his and other characters on ''Series/TheDailyShow'', too. See, for example, [[http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-april-11-2000/even-stevphen---elian-gonzalez this Even Stevphen]].
* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'':
** Barney Stinson often alludes to his "hilarious" childhood, involving being left alone by his mother for weeks at a time and being told that his father is [[RunningGag Bob Barker, former host of ''The Price Is Right'']]. They did, however, get a moment of legitimate pathos out of it in the episode where the Bob Barker thing was revealed. Barney goes on ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'' with the intent of telling Bob Barker that he's his son, but can't bring himself to do it. The implication is that deep down he knows Barker isn't his father but won't admit it to himself, and a later episode revealed that many of his mother's lies were due to her actually being overprotective of Barney. She did not want him to feel humiliated or unloved so she would make up outrageous stories that seemed believable to a young child. However, this seems to have caused Barney to have a massive ego and an inability to deal with disappointment as an adult. And the icing on the cake is that his mother was apparently the female version of what he is today. Or ''worse''.
** She also sent his real father away and never told Barney he was his father.
** Then there's Lily, who at first glance seems like a sweet, motherly type. But, as Marshall says, she has some serious Crazy Eyes. Then, we get the flashbacks to Lily's deadbeat dad, taking her to the racetrack with him so he could gamble. On her birthday. Which he had forgotten. And, later telling a sick young Lily the many ways she could die from tonsil surgery.
** And last, but definitely not least, Robin, who grew up with a dad who remained in denial of the fact that [[WantedASonInstead she wasn't a boy]] until ''she was fourteen''. And, when he found her kissing a boy, sent her packing to military camp where she was forced to burn her clothes. She has some daddy issues.
** Inverted with Ted, whose parents are so overprotective, they didn't tell him or his sister that they'd been divorced for over a year and that their grandmother had died.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. Xander Harris had some sort of abuse happening in his home (especially in the episode "Restless"). This trope is played with in the episode "Amends", where Xander appears to make a joke about his "holiday tradition" of sleeping outside to avoid his family's drunken holiday fights-but when he is actually shown sleeping outside and being woken up by the (very rare) Christmas snowfall, it's actually quite poignant. Even more so when you consider that he would rather risk being eaten by vampires than sleep indoors with his family.
* In ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace'', Harper always says something about her horrible life at home almost every episode, and a laugh track follows. Although that makes it fall into DudeNotFunny territory, though this explains why she has been adopted by the family. The parents even seem to [[ParentalFavoritism favor her over their biological children]], and when talking about their plans for the future say "Harper will be the one to take care of us when we are older."
* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSeZxjLhxV4 Daddy Drank]] sketch from ''Series/TheKidsInTheHall''.
* ''Series/TheWhitestKidsUKnow'' did a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p86SFq1DiYY similar version]] involving a Christmas gift... [[spoiler: The dad wanted the kid to bury the pony because they had to clean up after it]].
* ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'':
** Leonard recounts the cold and emotionless way his mother treated him, which led him to become a shy, self-hating neurotic. As a child, he was so starved for affection that he actually built a simple hugging machine... and his father used to borrow it.
** Sheldon is revealed to have been so traumatized by his parents' constant fighting when he was a child that he is unable to be around people arguing. He goes so far as to run away from his apartment when roommate Leonard won't stop arguing with his girlfriend. His mother turned to religion to escape and his father to alcohol, giving Sheldon an aversion to both of those too. As well, despite being a global-level child prodigy, neither parent supported his interest in science. His father especially tried to get him in sports despite a complete lack of interest and physicality.
** Of course, [[CanonMarchesOn much of this is now conflicted]] by the ''Series/YoungSheldon'' spin-off, which shows a much milder level of sitcom dysfunction with plenty of heartwarming moments where the family does their best to support the quirky young genius and his interests even if they don't really ''get'' him.
* Sarah and Laura Silverman from ''Series/TheSarahSilvermanProgram''. Sarah's father screamed in her face for buying the wrong brand of cigarettes when she was 9 years old, beat her imaginary friend with a baseball bat, and faked his death to avoid taking care of his children.
* Happens very often in ''Series/StillStanding''.
** One particular instance is where Judy commented that Brian was the only one of the children who'd be successful, not knowing that Lauren and Tina [[RightBehindMe had just come into the room]].
** What makes it worse was that she didn't try to put any effort into making it up to them.

* ''Series/{{Misfits}}'':
** Nathan borders on this. Although part of it to used to show why Nathan is the way he is, the fact that the stories are delivered in typical Nathan style makes them hard not to laugh at.
--->'''Nathan''': He's supposed to take me out for the day, so he takes me to IKEA. He buys so much flat-pack furniture there's no room for me in the car, so he leaves me there for three hours. Then some guy with a beard sees me hanging around and buys me lunch. I spent my eighth birthday eating Swedish meatballs with a known pedophile.\\
'''Jamie''': Did he...\\
'''Nathan''': No, no. Dad got back when we were finishing our ice cream, but that sick pervert cared more about me than Dad ever did. He would've taken me to the zoo.
** And later, the story of Nathan's first sexual experience involves a family camping holiday... and his mother's friend badtouching him.
** Even later, when confronting [[ItMakesSenseInContext Jesus]] with the rest of the group:
--->'''Nathan''': When I was growing up in Ireland, if [[PedophilePriest the priests weren't fiddling with ya]], you were one of the ugly kids.
* The entire show ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' is pretty much built around this trope.
** From the episode ''And Baby Makes Money'':
--->'''Peg''': You know, I wouldn't have another baby if gold dust dripped out of its nose. I mean, sure, the money would be nice, but all that trouble. The screaming and the crying and changing those diapers three or four times a week.\\
'''Marcy''': Well, at least that left your weekends free.\\
'''Peg''': You'd think! I mean, you go away for the weekend, and when you come home they are never where you left them.
** And later when she complains because she thinks she's pregnant:
---> '''Peg''': Ooh, diapers and doody. Feed me! Wash me! Unlock my door!
* Stewart Stardust's relationship with his father was used as a RunningGag in the Danish Christmas show ''Series/ChristmasOnVesterbro''. OncePerEpisode he would wax nostalgically about something his "papa" used to say, followed by a black-and-white flashback to the father sprouting some words of wisdom, [[CrossesTheLineTwice before trashing him with various blunt instruments]]. Watch a collection of the clips with subtitles [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yqbOFuOiqE here]].
-->Junior, all humans have the right to privacy. And this is a metal ruler. Bend over. '''*WHACK*'''\\
Junior, there are two kinds of women: Whores and your mother, who has retired. And there are many ways to knock out your teeth, but I think it will be most fun to use this pipe wrench. Bend over. '''*WHACK*'''\\
Junior, I once saw a circus artist get stomped on by an elephant. ''(puts a glass in a sock)'' He got fewer bruises than you'll get now. Bend over. '''*WHACK*'''\\
Junior, it is never beneficial to run from the bill. Except in this case when you could have avoided circumcision with this pair of shears. Bend over. '''*ZHACK*'''

* ''Series/{{Homeland}}'':
** In the second episode Carrie visits her sister and remarks on how well-behaved and obedient her sister's children are; her sister nonchalantly replies "I beat them. Don't tell the neighbors."
** That is almost certainly a joke. One might make a case, however, that we are witnessing Chris's HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood throughout the show, with lots and lots of parental neglect.
* On ''Series/{{Justified}}'' this is initially invoked when Raylan's father, Arlo Givens, is introduced. When Raylan's mother Frances died, Arlo got a good deal on some tombstones so he had some premade for himself and Raylan. He then had Frances buried in a plot in front of their house and had the extra tombstones placed there as well. So whenever Raylan would leave the house he would see his mother's grave and his own grave ready next to her. However, a few episodes later we are shown what Arlo is really like and the BlackComedy stops being funny. Arlo was and still is a horrible man and Raylan lives in constant fear that he might turn out just like his father.
* ''Series/MrShow'' features Bob and David both having one in "Operation: Hell on Earth." Bob's parents bet impossible sums of money against him over things they knew he couldn't win (not falling asleep before midnight) and David's parents accidentally(?) physically abused him as a baby. They're also putting ''[[HasTwoMommies their]]'' daughter Superstar through one as [[StageMom Stage Dads]], despite claiming they wouldn't turn out like their parents. A fourth season episode also reveals that Bob's parents thought they could still abort Bob . . . when he was four years old.
* Every now and then Potsie of ''Series/HappyDays'' would say something implying he had this.
* The [=DiMeo=] children in ''Series/{{Speechless}}'' had this mainly due to the family cutting corners on things like furniture and tact in order to support eldest son J.J., who has cerebral palsy. For example, their youngest daughter used an old fish tank as a crib.
* ''Series/{{Mom}}'': Is it any wonder that Christy became an alcoholic junkie while being raised by Bonnie? We get references to Bonnie's past illegal activities or neglect of Christy at least once an episode.
* In ''Series/DansUneGalaxiePresDeChezVous,'' this is a running theme for most of the male cast except Bob and Serge.
** Flavien was an orphan who was moved from foster home to foster home. One of his foster mothers once sent him to a girls' summer camp because the boys' was full and she didn't want him around during the summer. Flavien had a closer relationship with Bob's parents than his own.
** The Captain's father was hilarious distant and neglectful, to the point where the captain considers his father telling him "it's raining" a very intimate moment. Hilariously the Captain seems completely unaware of how odd his relationship with his father was.
** Brad's childhood in particular is a RunningGag. Brad's parents didn't like him because they wanted a daughter (and dressed him as a girl for the first few years of his life), yet at the same time, they disapproved of his dream of becoming a ballet dancer and forced him to go into science. At some point, you just have to wonder if they weren't screwing with him on purpose. He once insults someone by saying terrible things about their childhood, culminating with "Kids at school once had a contest of whom could throw the biggest rock at you, and your teacher won," only to stop and say "No wait, that's my childhood."
* It is revealed in the episodes "Cassie Come Home" and "Believe" of the series ''Series/MyHero'' that Piers' excessive vanity stems from a crippling inferiority complex, brought on by a multitude of different traumas, particularly an ultra-fascist father. If one had listened to the entirety of his life story, it is likely one would be reduced to tears. Of course, the buried trauma does not resurface until George takes it upon himself to psychoanalyse the man, which reduces him to a blubbering wreck.
-->'''George:''' We need to discover what it is that makes you cheat and scheme; some childhood trauma that you've buried, a cold unfeeling mother, were you bullied at school, a successful sibling that you can't quite compete with, a strict father who kept you locked in the cellar?\\
'''Piers:''' ''[beat]''...(in tears) IT'S AS THOUGH YOU WERE THERE!!!\\
'''George:''' (shocked) WHAT, ALL OF THEM!?
* On ''Series/SchittsCreek'', millionaires Johnny and Moira Rose made sure their children David and Alexis had all the schooling and material possessions they could want but were severely emotionally neglectful and distant. Some highlights include the kids' nursery being in a separate wing of the house, Moira devising a game in which her children throw prescription pain pills into her mouth, the time Moira took seven-year-old Alexis to the Playboy mansion, and both parents forgetting an adult David's birthday.
** Twyla will often casually reveal horrific details about her childhood with no sign of it having bothered her.
* ''Series/{{Cheers}}:''
** Cliff was raised by his controlling mother, who among many things forbade ''puberty'' in her house. This is the reason Cliff is the deeply troubled individual he is as an adult, and his mother still hasn't stopped mistreating him (he refuses to leave her, and she refuses to leave him). This is all played for laughs.
** Woody once casually and airily recounts how his parents once tried abandoning him in the same way he recalls all his stories from Hanover.
* ''Series/WandaVision'': A flashback in the HalloweenEpisode shows Wanda's childhood in Sokovia. Wanda and Pietro are given a single raw fish as a treat ("to share!") while a man is scrapping a car for parts, things are on fire, and there is distant gunfire. This is yet another meta-joke of the series about how immigrants and third-world countries are treated as a joke by sitcoms. [[spoiler:It's almost certainly a fake flashback written by Agatha]], and sharply contrasts with a real flashback in a later episode shows Wanda's family clearly poor, but making the best of a bad situation by watching old American sitcoms, [[MoodWhiplash until a bomb hits their apartment]].
-->'''Wanda:''' [[LampshadeHanging That's not exactly how I remember it]].\\
'''[[spoiler:Fake Pietro]]:''' You probably suppressed a lot of the trauma.