10 MORE Times 90s Sitcoms Got Super Serious (Part One) REUPLOAD
This is a REUPLOAD due to an NBC copyright claim.
By the 90s, the sitcom landscape was changing — along with the popular culture. The Very Special Episode became a trope and occasionally the butt of a few jokes.
There were sitcoms in the 90s that still dared to set the laughs aside from time to time and try to get serious for a minute. And that’s what I’m going to talk about in this video.
Hello, My name is Natalie and welcome to My So-Called Gen X Life. This is 10 MORE times 90s sitcoms got super serious.
Link to Part One:
https://youtu.be/PzyEaRPl0hg?si=0nabwiov4RkBH5Jd
Discord:
https://discord.gg/pWxHJ2vuhN
Channel Member:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9retNVEP6tcx88-nS8S5jw/join
@CLW.aka.mr.nobody
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
21:29……craziness
@reno.corona
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
Okay, maybe this series being firmly in the 90's isn't quite Gen X material, but I would LOVE if you did a video on "Lifestories: Families in Crisis" please! They're HBO's version after school specials. Those are the stories that shook me, because they were real stories; at the end the real people would talk to the audience! Had a lot of early star appearances too, like Ben Affleck and Calista Flockhart. Really worth a review!
@SimbaRobyn
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
My friends took stackers in high school, (1998-2001) to lose weight…so this kind of stuff was definitely happening.
@BL00DANDBURIAL
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
im gen z but my dad always loved saved by the bell so we watched it when i was a kid and jessie's song is forever stuck in my head LOL freaked me out a little as a kid and it's a lot funnier than i remember. was there also an episode about pot on saved by the bell or am i misremembering?? i swear i remember zack getting offered a joint and the whole party they're at just goes dead silent 😭 but i could be getting mixed up with other shows for sure
@cynderthenerd
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
As a gen z kid who didn’t really grow up with any of these shows, I find these kind of topics super fascinating! I feel like when I was a kid not many of the shows I watched had “very special episodes” like this, or really episodes that covered topics like these. We had PSAs and stuff, but I can’t remember any specific shows I saw with episodes that covered rather dark but important topics. Not to say they didn’t exist, I just never saw them 😭 all that to say, as someone who didn’t have these kind of experiences as a kid, I find this super interesting and I commend the show runners and actors for being able to handle such topics with all the grace they require.
@SemiDistracted1
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
California Dreams was one of my favorite shows Saturday mornings !!
@problematicprincess6270
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
Oh no, not coffee pills 😂
@ayankabroad
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
"Do you know where to get…allergy pills?" studio audience giving a resounding "Oooh.." "Allergy pills? That stuff is bad news."
@bighoodie4315
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
There are things I have to say about Andy dick that would get my account flagged and the RCMP knocking at my door. I'll just say I'm really enjoying his current life of degenerate livestreaming on the sketchiest platforms with the rest of the earths garbage incarnate people and getting his own behind handed to him on a regular basis, which is what he deserves. I hope he doesn't go to jail, as that would be too much of a mercy for him.
@andrewaeymour
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
Love your videos. 77" BTW 🙂
@jesseandersen9762
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
I don't remember that California one
@wolvebane2
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
The golden palace episode anout racisim is tge only good thing they did hope you cover that
@theresas740
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
23:42. Who wants to "sleep like a baby?" Wake up every 2 hours, s*** yourself and cry?
@curtis-qz4ml
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
Andy dick. wow
@faithburns7243
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
And when Steve and Eddie secret was released that Eddie was still a virgin
@faithburns7243
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
And when Eddie wanted to be a cop and training Carl try to tell him to take his time when making judgement on a hostage situation and he shoots his sister even if it was cardboard carol had to let him know out there it's real life people not cut out
@faithburns7243
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
And Eddie had an alcohol problem and carol told Eddie if he drinks again he's kicking him out then when Waldo didn't want to live with him Eddie knew he had no where else to go
@faithburns7243
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
And it was an episode where Laura got drunk at a party and Steve had to bring her home
@faithburns7243
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
It was another episode of Family Matters where Laura sneaks out and Steve hides in her bed because she was worried about her grades and college also Laura sneaks out because she has another job trying to get a car and she never got any sleep until one night Harriet catches her and she explained why she hasn't been sleeping
@brandonschutte361
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
Alzheimer’s has to be the scariest way to live the end of your life I hope to god I dont end up that way I am already pretty sure my dad is headed down the road
@faulltw
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
I was born in 1966 and didn't watch any of these shows. While deployed to the desert with the Air Force, I met the actor who played the principal on "Saved by the Bell" on a USO tour, but he had to explain who he was. He looked astounded that I didn't know him or the show,
@FourteenWords-n4l
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
I'm on a binge now damn it!! You've lurred me in!! I'm eating crossants and drinking beer while watching these deadly videos. An excellant way to spend a Saturday night. 😃
@JosephTSena
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
Little did I know that Alzheimer's would eventually effect my family as my dad would pass away from it 10 years ago.
@doodlekaboodel
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
So I always wondered what actually got andy dick kicked out of hollywood, because he was so openly awful….
Thank you for showcasing this. 29 is way too young, and it looks like the show did a great job paying tribute to Todd/David.
@karrihart1
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
Golden Girls also had great very special epsiodes: Sophia's friend with Alzheimer's, Dorothy being sick and being dismissed by countless doctors, Rose getting tested for AIDS, Blanche dating a verbally abusive man, etc.
@AndyMillerSJ
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
Watching that 'California Dreams' chapter reminded me of the 'Dinosaurs' episode "Steroids to Heaven" (Season 3, Episode 15)
@Account_Not_Applicable
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
I'm watching this long after the reupload, so sorry about how late this comment is.
I get why, bit it's still a shame you had to take so much out of the Saved by the Bell segment. I remembered the additional information from the episode better highlighted how bad Jesse was with her addiction. Showing how desperate she was to balance everything in her life, her swings from manic to exhausted, the final confrontation before the outburst showing Jesse passed out and disoriented, then desperately taking the pills to perk back up, just all of that added a lot more information leading up to the iconic scene. Seeing the "I'm so excited!" bit on it's own seems like such a hilarious over the top outburst for the sake of an anti-drug message. But in context, it shows the culmination of what the addiction has done to her. The fact it was originally meant to be an addiction to amphetamines makes WAY more sense than just caffeine pills alone, but I understand for a show airing during the daytime to be potentially seen by kids and teens, it wouldn't fly.
@lance134679
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
I really like Married with Children partly because there are no serious episodes in all of its 11 years. I wish more sitcoms were like that.
@ericcolon8561
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
The Hogan Family, when Rich died of AIDS
@ericcolon8561
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
The Hogan Family, when Rich died of AIDS
@ericcolon8561
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
Saved by the bell, caffeine pills, what a joke.
@BZvan
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
It was scary when Arnold and Dudley were in the bike store owners back room drinking on a very special different strokes
@bretalleman9352
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
guys on that calif show are hot!
@markceciljr1354
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
In the 90s Major Dad episode titled Conduct Unbecoming
@Procrastimaster
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
This made me remember a show that was on Teen NBC alongside City Guys – Just Deal. They did a caffeine pills episode too. But it was filmed more as a drama, with no live audience, so it was much more serious. I remember when the main girl had taken too much caffeine, they had all these dramatic close-ups of her hands and face to show she couldn't sit still while trying to do her homework. Made it much more frightening to my tween self!
@faegrrrl
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
Tonight, on a very special click
@twiztid6977420
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
No lmao. You can avoid aids by not having sex with other dudes
@tiffanyrichardson7615
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
Roseanne is a show with a lot of special episodes
@HR98777
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
Also the different world episode where Freddy is in a date rape situation, and the one where Gina is physically abused by her boyfriend, so many actually
@dinosaurwoman
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
I remember the drug use storyline craze in the 80s and 90s really well. Family Ties tackled it, too, with Alex taking caffeine pills. And didn't Ricky take some drugs in Silver Spoons? D.A.R.E. was big in school, too. I always found it odd that the characters could just sleep off the drugs overnight and be perfectly okay the next day. I remember hearing stories on the news about people going to the hospital when they overdosed on drugs, so I was always confused when it came to the way TV handled it.
@DougFagan-g6u
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
Oh and Andy Dick is just that a huge his last name! Andy Dick is also responsible for Phil Hartman's death and Jon Lovitz called him out on it on several occasions. Jon even got into a fist fight with Andy Dick because of it
@DougFagan-g6u
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
Very special episodes hit hard back in the 80's and 90's. Like back then being trans was considered very taboo and trans people were looked at as perverted criminals. One show centered around a trans person abducting little kids and holding them against their will and then a cop explained the dangers of these people on the show. Also back in the 80's only "gay people," caught AIDS and some shows went so far as to insinuate that gay men were purposefully spreading AIDS to straight people. Also in the Facts of Life Tootie, the ugly one, almost got turned out by a pimp in a coffee shop while visiting NYC. Like there was a group of underage prostitutes just chilling in this little coffee shop restaurant crowding the payphone and no one thought to maybe ask what they were doing there?
@rachelstepien2370
March 25, 2026 at 6:24 pm
Andy Dick’s problems just never stop. The man is not doing well😢
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