Tear Jerker / That '70s Show

• The season five episode "Nobody's Fault But Mine (Hyde Loves Jackie)." In the last episode, he saw Kelso and Jackie together and thought she was cheating; as payback, he cheats with a nurse he just met. After Kelso explains to Hyde that nothing happened, Hyde and Jackie have a talk. Unfortunately...
  Hyde: Come on, Jackie...
  Jackie: No, you know what, Steven? I'm sorry... it's over.
  • And also from the same episode, particularly this dialogue:
    Hyde: Jackie, I love you.
    Jackie: Yeah, well I don't love you.
  • When Hyde promises it'll never happen again, Jackie snaps, "You know, that's what Michael would always say."
• In the final episode, the Eric/Donna montage (set to Big Star's "Thirteen") followed by his appearing to wish her Happy New Year and apologize for having left her.
• The season one episode "Grandma's Dead", where Red's mother dies while Eric is driving. Each family member has their own way of dealing with their grief; Red bottles it up, Eric lashes out, but arguably the most heartwrenching is Kitty's, who had a very adversarial relationship with her mother-in-law, and doesn't know any other way to express it than incessantly cooking. Eventually, she runs out of ingredients and is comforted by her husband and son, bringing their grief to a close as well.
  Kitty: I'm all out of eggs... and flour...
  • Eric's behavior throughout the episode. Being a teenager, he has most likely never lost a loved one before, and has no idea how to process it. Red and Marty have lost their mother, but are still grown men, capable of dealing with loss. Eric has no idea how.
• In season five Red is genuinely hurt when he finally realizes that his daughter, his favourite child that he always treated like a perfect angel who could do no wrong, was actually the town bike.
• The Reveal of the truth of Hyde's home life in the season one finale, which had only hinted at before. His parents are not only negligent, they abandoned him, and if it hadn't been for the kindheartedness of the Formans, Hyde would have ended up just another name among thousands of others in the Social Services network. The worst part is that it didn't even need to be this way, as the man Hyde thought was his father wasn't, and his real father had no idea he existed until Hyde was already a grown man.
• During a flashback on Season 2's Halloween episode, we meet Frank, a friend of Red's who he calls a Dumbass. There is no mention of him in the present, so we are led to assume they just stopped hanging out. But then it is revealed during the hunting episode that he died in a hunting accident. With as few friends as Red has, that must have really hurt him.
• Just about every break-up on the show from Eric and Donna's (save for the last one done offscreen) to Jackie and Hyde's. Jackie and Kelso's break-ups were also rather sad as well.
• Season 8's appearance from Don Knotts, in a parody of both Laverne & Shirley and Three's Company. It's very funny, but he looks so frail, and it would turn out to be his last television appearance.
• Eric's dream shortly before his and Donna's wedding, showing Donna leaving him on their fifth anniversary. In contrast to every other Imagine Spot done on the show, this one is quite serious, and looks exactly like a conversation they could have if they got married and Donna regretted it.
• Although it's Played for Laughs, Charlie's death could be considered this. It's just so unexpected and Charlie seemed like such a Nice Guy.
• Donna and Randy's break-up scene in season 8's "Leaving Home Ain't Easy" is arguably the best performance of Josh Meyers (Randy) all season long. His somber demeanor and tone of voice shows how genuinely heartbroken Randy is. Even though the fans can't stand him, you can't help but feel sorry for the guy.
• The sight of Kelso's feet disappearing up the steps in the closing moments of the series finale, which makes him the very last character we see onscreen. Afterwards, we're left with nothing but the Forman's empty basement while we hear everyone upstairs counting to ten ringing in 1980.
• Most of "The Relapse" is a big one on Bob's account due to the fact that Midge had just up and left Bob, leaving him a single father of Donna and refusing to accept the fact that she is gone. Red has to be the one to snap him out of his delusion that she'd come back, something Red would normally not do for just anybody. Bob knew the truth all along, to make this even more heart-wrenching, but he just didn't want to believe that it was true. To help him cope, Red even offers to buy him a beer. Below is the conversation that made Bob accept reality in that Midge would never come back.
  Red: Bob, she… I… aw, Bob, you poor, dumb son of a bitch.
  Bob: That's mean.
  Red: Bob, she's not comin' back.
  Bob: Yes, she is.
  Red: No, she's not.
  Bob: Yes, she is.
  Red: No, she's not.
  Bob: Yes, she is.
  Red: No, she's not!
  Bob: Yes, she is!!
  Red: (fed up with Bob's denial) FINE! These chocolates are for Midge, Bob? They're for Midge?! Fine! Let's give 'em to Midge! (They walk to a trash can) HERE YOU GO, MIDGE! (He tosses the chocolates in the trash)
  Bob: You're throwin' away Midgie's chocolates.
  Red: And, why would I do that, Bob?
  Bob: (Dodging the question) 'Cause you're mean!
  (Red makes no attempt to refute this)
  Red: And, why else?
  Bob: (Realizing the Awful Truth) ...She's not coming back, is she? (He sits down) I knew that.
  • Really, Bob's entire storyarc during season 3, 4 and 5. He loses his store when Price-Mart moves in and undercuts him, Midge leaves him, and Donna starts acting out, which Bob has no idea how to deal with. Even him dating Joanne for a while eventually falls apart when she leaves too. Despite being a Bumbling Dad (and a handful of Jerkass moments) he's overall such a Nice Guy he doesn't deserve all the crap that gets heaped on him. Apparently the writers felt so too, since season 6 has him finally getting back on his feet, when he starts dating Jackie's very attractive mother, and patents an invention he came up with, making him well-off again.
• The season 5 episode "Your Time is Gonna Come":
  • The death of Burt, Eric's maternal grandfather. When asked by Red on Burt's condition, Kitty's response is heartbreaking.
  Kitty: I don't know how to say this...Daddy's gone to a better place.
• In "It's A Wonderful Life", after Eric is shown what his life would've been if he never dated Donna, his guardian angel offers to erase the relationship and take away the pain that came with it — but then shows Eric a montage of other things that are going to be taken away as well, the happy memories Eric has of being with Donna. When Eric tells him he wants to save everything, he finds that the angel has left, leaving him wondering what to think about what he'd just experienced.
• "Laurie Moves Out": after finding out that Laurie is living with a guy and not a friend, an angry Red agrees with Eric's taunts about Laurie having no respect for herself or the family, even saying "who’s gonna buy the cow, when they get the milk for free?" Laurie looks extremely hurt and Eric goes from loving what's been happening to coming to her defense.
• The deaths of some cast members and guest stars who appeared on That 70s Show.
  • The passing of Lisa Robin Kelly (who originally played Laurie) in August 2013.
  • The passing of Tanya Roberts (Midge) in January 2021.
  • Even the deaths of guest stars (such as Tom Poston, Betty White, and Don Knotts) are no exceptions to this.