10 Of The Darkest Moments From Kids TV That Were...Just A Lot

Retro

10 Of The Darkest Moments From Kids TV That Were...Just A Lot

It's no secret that growing up, our TV shows were way different than those today.

Forget Peppa Pig, I was living that Magic School Bus life!

But have you ever gone back to look at some of the old shows we used to watch? There are some...questionable episodes that we probably should not have been watching.

Even the movies we watched were pretty dark...

See if you remember these episodes of our favorite old-school shows and juuuust how dark they were.

1.Thomas The Tank Engine and Friends

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"The Sad Story Of Henry" was pretty bleak, if you ask me. Henry drives into one of the tunnels and stops because it's raining outside and he doesn't want to get his new paint job wet. Pretty reasonable, right? WRONG. The Fat Controller gives Henry an ultimatum: leave the tunnel or "We shall take away your rails. And leave you here for always and always and always."

AND HENRY DOESN'T MOVE. The final shot of the episode is Henry being bricked into the tunnel with only his eyes showing. Yikes.

2. Hey Arnold

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In 'Pigeon Man', Arnold's pigeon Chester falls ill so he takes him to the aptly named Pigeon Man who lives in a rooftop lair. Arnold befriends the man, named Vincent, and it turns out he's actually pretty chill. Vincent's friends stopped hanging out with him because he liked birds, so now he lives alone. While Arnold and Vincent are out getting pizza, Arnold's friends sneak onto Vincent's roof and TOTALLY TRASH HIS HOME????

Vincent returns home and tells Arnold he's going to "leave town" and gets carried away by his pigeons. Fans of the show are preeeeetty sure the exit symbolized Vincent's suicide.

3. ALF

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Honestly, was there a worse ending to a better show?

Not only does the finale consist of ALF saying goodbye to the Tanners as he heads to a new planet with his friends, he then gets abducted by the Alien Task Force and....that's it. Legit that's how the show ends. With ALF abducted and probably being tested horribly by mean scientists.

Click through to see more of your childhood shows ruined!

4. PowerPuff Girls

Y'know when you're so tired of chores you create a sister in your dad's lab? Same. The PowerPuff Girls create Bunny, who ends up being a little weird and releases all the criminals and locking up the police. The sisters tell Bunny she's done something bad, and she gets flustered and runs away. Then, as the PowerPuff girls are about to be defeated by all the criminals, Bunny swoops in and saves the day. The girls tell her she's done good and then Bunny spontaneously combusts....because obviously.

The narrator is heard saying "And so, for the first and final time, the day is saved thanks to Powerpuff Bunny," then breaks down into sobs as the episode ends. Cool cool cool.

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5. Diff'rent Strokes

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If I told you kids today were watching a show which had its main characters get lured into a pedophile's house and given alcohol and shown porn with the intention of molesting said children...and the audience was LAUGHING the whole time, what would you say?

Well that's exactly what happened on an episode of Diff'rent Strokes. Arnold and Dudley befriend a local shop owner who keeps inviting them to his store for "treats." He gives them wine and shows them dirty cartoons, all while the audience laughs their butts off. The boys are ultimately 'saved', but it all still feels...wrong.

6. Dinosaurs

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Yes, we all know dinosaurs go extinct. But did the show REALLY have to end with the temperatures plummeting and the Sinclair's trying to stay warm in jackets as snow fell into their home? No. The answer is no.

7. Punky Brewster

Punky and all her friends are given CPR training at school, but some of them start goofing off and not really paying attention. Allen gets sent to the office and is told all about how he many "need this in the future" in the least subtle foreshadowing of all time.

Sure enough, Cherie conceal herself in an old fridge while playing hide and seek and she ends up DYING because she suffocates. Allen is the one who finds her dead body and is reminded that he really DID need those lessons in the future. Luckily, Punky shows up in the nick of time and saves Cherie's life.

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8. Magic School Bus

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Remember when Arnold took off his helmet in space and ultimately DIED because he turned to ice? Then the bus somehow fixed that? Good times, good times.

9. Saved By The Bell

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Jessie stress-singing "I'm So Excited" still gives me goosebumps to this day. After getting addicted to caffeine pills (later revealed to be speed), Jessie has a breakdown and seeks counselling for her addiction in the next episode...but WOW.

10. Tom And Jerry

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This one STILL haunts me. Tom falls in love with White Cat, only for her to be stolen by his neighbor. Tom has spent all his money trying to win White Cat's affection so he's in a pretty bad spot. Tom goes and sits on the train tracks waiting to DIE.

"It's better this way, and for the first time since he met her, he will be happy," says Jerry. IS IT THOUGH?

Jerry then realizes his girl, Toots, has been cheating on him and got married to someone else (this was a kid's show??) so he then JOINS Tom on the train tracks and you hear a train whistle growing closer and closer. Then the episode ends before you actually SEE them get killed.

What dark moments do you remember?

Meagan has an intense love for Netflix, napping, and carbs.