Top 10 Disturbing Sitcom Moments Because of What We Know Now

When Abed’s strange behavior becomes stranger than usual, his fellow community college students gather to stage a psychiatric intervention. To explain the change, Troy compares Abed to actor Robin Williams in his later years. At the time, it was just a cheap joke, but now that we know Williams was privately experiencing mental health struggles and dealing with a diagnosis of Lewy body dementia, the whole thing leaves a bad taste in our mouths. Williams would take his own life just a couple of years later, making the line one we’re sure the writers wish they could take back.

Seeing that it’s a show about a group of women facing their golden years, topics like old age and death are often tackled in episodes. This meant that viewers watching at the time also had to confront the mortality of the performers. In this scene, the four make a pact to stay together as they age and Rose asks what will happen when only one of them is left. It’s horribly eerie how life imitates art here, given that actress Betty White would go on to outlive her three co-stars by over a decade. It casts a rather disturbing shadow over a touching moment that’s hard to ignore upon rewatch.

Sam Puckett’s eating habits became a running joke on “iCarly,” and then followed the character over to her spin-off series, “Sam & Cat.” In her memoir titled “I’m Glad My Mom Died,” Jennette McCurdy revealed that Sam’s constant gorging on food had a profound psychological effect on her. As someone who was struggling with disordered eating, McCurdy dreaded filming the scenes, as they gnawed at her own insecurities. Although she looks back on the scenes without anger, it definitely makes them harder to revisit for the rest of us. Then again, with all the revelations revolving around the network, many of the series in their entirety are now difficult to reckon with.

Lovable sergeant Terry Jeffords spends the beginning of the show relegated to desk duty. And that’s with good reason. His anxiety about the dangers of his job left him unable to cope in the field and, in the fifth episode, we get a few gag cutaways showing just how quick he was to pull the trigger when scared. In the show, Terry only shoots at inanimate objects, but the parallel to real-life reported incidents of excessive force by police since the episode’s release makes this segment a jolting experience to watch over a decade on.

Tina Fey’s whimsical comedy about a woman who broke free of a kidnapper’s basement after years of imprisonment has a bit of a retrospective jump scare in its first episode. Kimmy Schmidt appears alongside other kidnapped women, who are all interviewed by “Today’s” Matt Lauer. A comment he made would take on a twisted irony down the line. Two years after the episode aired, Lauer was accused of several instances of inappropriate and sexual misconduct in the workplace, and was subsequently fired. Instead of his character sympathizing with the victims, it now appears he knows exactly the thing to exploit.

Most classic sitcoms’ humor is based on some seemingly innocuous misunderstandings. But this episode “I Dream of Jeannie” hits way differently when you know what was really going on behind the scenes. In season 5, Jeannie is mistakenly believed to be pregnant. All the characters excitedly discuss Jeannie becoming a mother, only to find out it’s a huge misunderstanding. It can’t have been an easy performance for the show’s star. Barbara Eden suffered the loss of a pregnancy around the time the episode came out. It makes the several times the characters have to break the news that her on-screen persona is not actually pregnant take on an almost haunting tone.

Just like real life, siblings on sitcoms often trade barbs back and forth. One running theme of the show’s dialogue was insults about Carol Seaver’s weight. Given the show’s feel-good family tone and, despite the audience’s raucous laughter, the jokes already felt rather out-of-place. Later, though, actress Tracey Gold would come forward about her experience with disordered eating. At one point, producers had even ordered her to lose weight, all the while handing her scripts that contained jab after jab at her character’s frame. It really makes an already tired brand of humor seem crueler.

“The Quarterback” episode will always be a hard watch. Not just because of actor Cory Monteith’s real-life death, but also for the tragically prescient song Naya Rivera performs years before her own premature death. The third-season episode titled “Yes/No” also hits hard. In it, Finn learns that his father was not a war hero who died in combat as his mother told him. He was dishonorably discharged, and later passed away due to an overdose. While the content itself is horribly sad, the character’s circumstances mirroring the end of Monteith’s own life is devastating and chilling.

The 2024 documentary and Nickelodeon exposé, “Quiet on Set,” brought to light the rumors that had dogged some of these childhood classics for years. Executive producer Dan Schneider’s warped sense of humor was the focus of much of the documentary. The repeated adult-themed jokes permeating his shows were a major talking point, and reignited the discussion surrounding the inclusion of foot-based humor in many of the network’s sitcoms. From performers giving each other foot massages to other, more random scenes, knowing what we know now makes it look way less innocent.

Cliff Huxtable was America’s favorite dad. And, like any great American dad, he loved to barbecue. During this now-unfortunate episode, he brags about the effect his barbecue sauce has on anyone who tastes it due to a certain ingredient. He even makes a joke about keeping some on the nightstand. Given his legal troubles over the past few years and the specific allegations against him that span decades, this one is almost too wild to believe. Hindsight makes it almost impossible to watch as the unaware audience laughs. The implications are so uncomfortable, in fact, that the episode was actually pulled from syndication.

What sitcom moment is hardest to go back to for you? Tell us in the comments.