History TearJerker / AsToldByGinger

* In only the second episode of the series, "Carl and Maude," Carl befriends and falls for an elderly woman named Maude. He invites her to dinner and plans to propose to her, only to die during dinner. Ginger later recounted Carl's off-screen eulogy, with her friends being concerned for Carl.

* Carl is an atheist, and all it took for him to make an exception to go into the Quiet Prayer Room at the Hospital and have a word with "the Big Guy" was to almost lose his sister.

* Most of "Losing Nana Bishop", wherein the kids react to the death of Dodie's grandmother. The death in the family is sad enough, but Hoodsie's subplot is what ''really'' cinches it. His mother ends up asking him to deliver the big eulogy speech at the funeral, which forces Hoodsie to confront the fact that his grandmother always showed more affection to Dodie than she did to him--a fact that most of his family is oblivious to. The fact that he ''still'' manages to deliver a heartfelt tribute to his grandmother, despite not having any of Dodie's rosy memories of bonding with her, really speaks volumes about the kind of person Hoodsie is. If you never [[TheWoobie wanted to give Hoodsie a big hug]] before that point, that episode will do the trick.

* In one of the few moments where Miranda has '''ever''' shown a conscience, during the ''Summer of Camp Caprice'' special; Darren shows her a letter from Ginger, who says that Courtney is having a terrible time at Camp Caprice, is all alone, and hasn't managed to make a single friend. Instead of savoring the fact that Courtney is miserable, because by going to Camp Caprice, Miranda wasn't allowed to vacation with the Griplings and had to go to her dad's military camp. Miranda starts crying and blames herself, saying if she hadn't pushed Courtney into wanting to prove she could survive at Camp Caprice, this wouldn't be happening.

* Hoodsey in "The Easter Ham" and Dodie to a lesser extent; Joann decides to cut off contact between the Foutley and Bishop families after she gets sick and decides they're the source of her stress, then later Hoodsey tells Carl that he can't afford to lose his mother and cuts off contact (at least temporarily). This shows how far Joann has controlled her children, enough for them to not want to rebel against her ever. If Hoodsey said something like "I can't hang out with you Carl, my Mom would have my hide" or "I have enough drama to deal with from her" it'd be fine, but him taking his Mother's orders without so much of a question or a whimper and cutting off contact with his best friend...Joann is no MyBelovedSmother, the kids stopped breathing a long time ago.

* In one of the few moments where Miranda has '''ever''' shown a conscience, during the ''Summer of Camp Caprice'' special, Darren shows her a letter from Ginger who says that Courtney is having a terrible time at Camp Caprice, is all alone, and hasn't managed to make a single friend. Instead of savoring the fact that Courtney is miserable because by going to Camp Caprice Miranda wasn't allowed to vacation with the Griplings and had to go to her dad's military camp, Miranda starts crying and blames herself. She says if she hadn't pushed Courtney into wanting to prove she could survive at Camp Caprice this wouldn't be happening.

* "Hello, Stranger" has Ginger reciting a poem she wrote for her father who never showed up to hear it read. The episode was nominated for an Emmy Award for a reason.

---> '''Ginger''': "And, Mom? ...Thanks for the flowers."[[note]]Lois had sent Ginger flowers after the show with a card signed from her father, trying to fool her into thinking they were from him.[[/note]]

--> '''Ginger''': "And, Mom? ...Thanks for the flowers."[[note]]Lois had sent Ginger flowers after the show with a card signed from her father, trying to fool her into thinking they were from him.[[/note]]

** Darren tries to rationalize Dodie and Macie's actions, but Ginger shoots him down with a hopeless dose of reality; her best friends tried to split them up. And how could anyone ever do such a thing?

* The end of "Carl and Maude" when Maude died and Ginger later recounted Carl's off-screen eulogy, with her friends being concerned for Carl.

* The entirety of the episode "A Lesson in Tightropes," which has Ginger needing an emergency appendectomy after [[spoiler: Darren breaks up with her]]. The song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJaiLJwoe4Y Splinter in my Heart]]" combined with Ginger's surgery, her mother looking back at her life, and a shot of the mantle in their house with photos of the Foutley family including a small candid shot of Jonas (Ginger's biological father), are a perfect example of this trope.

* "Hello, Stranger" has Ginger reciting a poem she wrote for her father [[spoiler: who never showed up to hear it read.]] The episode was nominated for an Emmy Award for a reason.

** Let's not forget the puppet girl who we see in the real world several times as a homeless girl freezing in the cold who disappears with the wind, leaving only crows in her wake. It's quite heartrending to see her suffering in the cold, and it's heavily implied that [[spoiler: she's been DeadAllAlong.]] That combined with the previous points makes for one heck of a depressing episode.
* In only the second episode of the series, "Carl and Maude," Carl befriends and falls for an elderly woman named Maude. He invites her to dinner and plans to propose to her. [[spoiler: She dies during dinner.]]

* The majority of "Ms. Foutley's Boys", where Lois briefly dates Buzz the plumber, is {{played for laughs}}, but the ending is fairly sad. Not for Lois, mind you, but for ''Carl''. Before Lois marries [[spoiler: Dave the doctor]], that episode is one of the few times that Carl briefly has a father figure who he can actually relate to, and he really seems to get his hopes up that Buzz will end up staying with the family. Even though he clearly wants his mother to be happy, it's hard not to feel for Carl at the end, when he has to go back to being the only man in the Foutley house once again.