Tear Jerker / Space Goofs

Even Little Green Men has their tear-jerking moments.

In general

• Even though it's often Played for Laughs, it can be pretty sobering whenever the aliens' attempts to return to their home planet fail. Especially since, out of all the aliens, Candy is the most homesick.

Season 1

• Any time Bud tries to break out of his TV addict and keep himself occupied with other things, it becomes sobering whenever something takes him away from them, just as he's about to enjoy himself.
  • The episode, "The Flyling" has Bud raising an injured fly, until it becomes too much trouble for the other aliens. After being convinced to let him go, he teaches his pet to fly and succeeds. The two laugh in rejoice, only to start crying, before they have an emotional farewell. It's pretty saddening considering how Bud had tried to break out of his TV addict and find some meaning in his life, and now the closest thing that came to that is now taken away from him.
    • Earlier in the episode, Bud's TV addict had become so bad that he's literally unable to properly participate in his friends' activities. It gets to a point where, after an unsuccessful game of chess, Etno gives up and calls Bud out on his behavior, causing the latter to break out in tears. This can actually hit pretty hard for anybody suffering an addiction.
  • A similar episode, "Showdown in Tiny Toon" has Bud, obsessed with western movies, attempting to win the affections of a flea named Ramona, while shrinking himself down and playing sheriff in a Western-themed bug town. The episode ends with said bug town being set on fire (thanks to Gorgious) and Bud crying over losing Ramona. His friends try to console him, but eventually, Status Quo Is God when Bud starts becoming obsessed with war movies.
• Any episode with Candy suffering a Downer Ending, including "Flora and Feast" and "Snoutra". It's REALLY hard not to feel sorry for him.
  • "Flora and Feast" is especially depressing, considering the other aliens don't seem to care when his giant plant (which had eaten a chunk of their house) he grew for a contest, departs.
• A minor one, but in "Holiday Heave Ho", Gorgious crying over his teddy getting destroyed when Etno and Stereo use it to test a mousetrap on Santa (who they mistake for a red blob trying to break in). However, it becomes heartwarming when Santa manages to deliver the aliens' presents through the chimney (which he had been unsuccessfully trying to do throughout the entire episode), with one of them being a new teddy for Gorgious.
• "No Account Art" has Gorgious discovering his talent for art, only to get upset when the art critic, Vladimir Zakarov takes credit for them. This line from him basically sums up the frustration of the situation:
  Gorgious: That fake is getting all the glory, while I have to hide in poverty and obscurity!
  • Additionally, after his first attempt to frame Zakarov fails, rather than getting angry, Gorgious briefly goes through a Heroic BSoD. Even before Etno manages to convince him not to give up, it's still pretty sobering and relatable to artists who go through something similar.
  Etno: Gorgious, you know, life is not always what you want it to be.
  Gorgious: (tearing up) Yes, but... it's so unfair! (breaks down crying)
• In "Dingo Bingo", Gorgious wins the lottery and moves into a large skyscraper mansion. The other aliens become jealous and attempt to work for him to get some of his money, but angrily quit when he only pays them in peanuts. They return to their old house, happy to enjoy their pumpkin soup, when they see a party erupting from Gorgious's mansion, complete with loud disco music. Disgusted, they leave for bed, but unbeknownst to them, the "guests" are actually cardboard cutouts, and Gorgious is actually alone and visibly depressed. It later culminates with him starting at a snowglobe with the old house and breaking down in tears out of homesickness, before he blows up his mansion and reunites with his friends.
• The episode "Mother from Another Planet" has the aliens roasting marshmallows at night. Candy sees a shooting star and makes a silent wish on it, before his eyes fill with tears.
• The episode "We, Robot" also has a Downer Ending, in which Etno's robot becoming overworked when all the aliens become lazy. As a result, he becomes fed up with the chores and builds a female robot out of Candy's vacuum cleaner, and they both build a spaceship to take them away to the aliens' home planet. The now-obese aliens can only watch and cry as the two take off and depart.
  Etno: My— my robot!
  Candy: (crying) My— my vacuum cleaner! (sobs)
• Candy and Gorgious getting upset over their precious items getting ruined at the beginning of "Spook to Rent". Gorgious even has a small funeral for his backscratcher.
• The episode "Toon In, Drop Out" involves the aliens unsuccessfully trying to get rid of the Looney-Tunes-esque cartoon characters, Foxy and Ducky, who escaped from the TV. It's eventually revealed that they had been created by a man named Ronald, who had been warned about the dangers of cartooning. Despite this, he went ahead and created Foxy and Ducky anyway, but his characters were rejected for being too unoriginal and politically incorrect. But by then, Foxy and Ducky had already come to life and began wrecking havoc, resulting in them being shipped to Timbuktu. After hearing their backstory, the aliens now feel sorry for the two characters, who have thrown themselves into a garbage can, believing their talent is doomed to failure, just like their creator before them. Not helped that the aliens are on the verge of tears themselves, as Candy begs them to reconsider:
  Candy: (tearfully) Your too-sensitive heart has misled you! Where are the reasonable creatures for whom our admiration knows no bound? Life cannot be fathomed... life must never be sacrificed to disillusion!
  • However, the moment turns into Tears of Joy when Foxy and Ducky recognize the garbageman as their creator, after which, following a happy reunion, Ronald and his characters drive off into the sunset.

Season 2

• Candy breaking out in tears in "The Thing from Beyond", when it appears that the aliens get lost in the forest. Also counts as a small Heartwarming moment, considering even though he desperately wants to return to his home planet, he considers the old house on Earth as his second home, as he laments about missing his bed and vacuum cleaner.
• In "Space Cruiser to the Rescue", the characters from Bud's favorite science-fiction series find themselves materialized inside the aliens' house. They eventually realize they're only cartoon characters after going through a series of disadvantages in the "real" world. It eventually comes to a point, where the two of them are staring sadly at the TV with Bud, and this exchange occurs:
  Steve: I miss our world.
  Barbara: (crying) So do I.
  Bud: So do I.
  • The sad thing is, we know that Bud's really referring to his home planet.