25 Times TV Shows Skillfully (And Less Skillfully) Handled Terrible Tragedies That Occurred While Being Filmed

Grab your tissues, these examples will get you straight in the feels.

Kylin

• Published in Interesting
• January 15, 2023

Countless movies and television shows have been created based on true events. Likely many more than you would think.

There are the obvious shows or movies that have reimagined historic events, or are marketed with the enticing “based on a true story.” While others may have been dedicated to the lives of famous people, no matter if the subjects were deeply beloved or hated.

Writers have also created shows and movies based on real-life, tragic events. (Whether or not they were all that good is up to personal taste.)

By exploring real-life stories, audiences are given a new perspective on how the events played out (as everyone has their own personal bias, especially writers). And maybe even some food for thought as they continue to process what they’ve watched.

Unfortunately, even with shows and movies inspired by real tragedies educating the masses in the present day, it isn’t enough to stop similar things from happening again.

But, these shows can be helpful for some viewers as they cope with their lived trauma.

Today, we collected examples of television shows and how they’ve responded to and handled public and personal events of great tragedy. Whether it be dedications, postponements, or rewrites, we have 25 examples from all sorts of television shows as they faced creating entertainment alongside tragedy.

Keep scrolling to read more.

Spin City

Due to complications from Parkinson's disease, Michael J. Fox's character, 'Mike,' was written off the show with a forced resignation storyline.

Sesame Street

After 9/11, the producers of Sesame Street knew they needed to address the difficult issues raised by the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. They premiered their 33rd season with an episode about Elmo overcoming his fear of fire by meeting real-life firefighters.

You can watch part of the episode below

Friends

Another 9/11-related change happened with an episode of Friends. Season 8 Episode 3, "The One Where Rachel Tells..." originally had a scene with Chandler joking about a bomb in an airport, but the scene was changed and reshot.

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You can watch the deleted scene below

Documentary Now!

The Documentary Now! episode 'DRONEZ: The Hunt for El Chingon' was postponed due to the shooting of two journalists on live TV in Virginia as it portrayed a similar scene to the terrible slayings.

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Mr. Robot

Documentary Now! wasn't the only show that postponed an episode due to the Virginia journalist shooting. The Season 1 Finale of Mr. Robot was also postponed for a week due to the similarities of tragic the shooting.

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Glee

After the tragic overdose of Cory Monteith, the cast of 'Glee' aired an episode-long tribute to him.

Riverdale

Season 4, Episode 1 of Riverdale paid tribute to the late Luke Perry who passed away after complications from a stroke.

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American Horror Story: Cult

Season 7 of American Horror Story: Cult aired an episode titled “Mid-Western Assassin” a week after the mass murder shooting in Las Vegas. Producers of the show made substantial edits to the episode, removing scenes that had gun violence.

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Frasier

Kelsey Grammer checked himself into rehab after a car accident that occurred while he was driving under the influence. During this rehab stay, the writers of Fraiser created an episode to explain his absence.

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Alternatino With Arturo Castro

After a shooting at a Garlic Festival in Northern California, Comedy Central chose to pull Alternatino With Arturo Castro's 7th Episode, 'The Gift,' as it featured a sketch about mass shootings.

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NewsRadio

The first episode of Season 5 of NewsRadio was written and filmed in tribute to Phil Hartman, who was murdered by his wife in 1998.

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Sesame Street

When Will Lee, the actor who portrayed Mr. Hooper, passed away, producers weren't initially going to address the truth with their viewers. Eventually, they decided to share the news with their audience and wrote a segment with Big Bird teaching him about death and its permanence.

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You can watch this touching scene below

Family Guy

After Carrie Fisher's passing, Family Guy paid tribute to her character, Angela, through a touching eulogy.

You can watch this scene below

Heathers

The series premiere of the TV reboot of the 1988 film Heathers was delayed in light of the Stoneman Douglass High School shooting in 201. Paramount Network released a statement explaining:

"Paramount Network's original series Heathers is a satirical comedy that takes creative risks in dealing with many of society's most challenging subjects ranging from personal identity to race and socio-economic status to gun violence. While we stand firmly behind the show, in light of the recent tragic events in Florida and out of respect for the victims, their families, and loved ones, we feel the right thing to do is delay the premiere until later this year."

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Buffy The Vampire Slayer

The episode "Earshot" was set to air on April 27, 1999. Due to the Columbine High School massacre, which occurred the week prior, the release of this episode was intentionally delayed until September 1999, as part of the story included a scene with a student loading a rifle.

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30 Rock

Actor Rip Torn who played the fictional CEO of GE and a mentor to Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) was written off the show after he drunkenly tried to rob a bank.

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8 Simple Rules

After the sudden passing of John Ritter, the writers of the show "8 Simples Rules" tastefully wrote his character off and gave his TV family an outlet to grieve.

You can watch the heartwrenching scene here

Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown

The final episode of 'Parts Unknown' follows Bourdain through Manhattan’s Lower East Side, a neighborhood he visited frequently as a young man. This episode was filmed 2 months before his death in 2018.

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The Simpsons

Marcia Wallace, who voiced schoolteacher Edna Krapappel for 25 years passed away a week before the episode 'Four Regrettings and a Funeral' (Season 25, Episode 3) aired. In tribute to her dedication to the show, the opening scene with Bart at the chalkboard featured the single line: "We'll really miss you, Mrs. K."

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Castle

In 2013, an episode involving diffusing a bomb was delayed by a week in light of the bombing at the Boston Marathon.

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Shooter

The series premiere of 'Shooter' was postponed due to the 2016 police shootings in Dallas, Texas.

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40th Annual Academy Awards

The 40th Annual Academy Awards were originally scheduled for April 8, 1967, but were postponed until April 10, 1967, due to the assassination of Civil Rights Leader Martin Luther King Jr.

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Law & Order: SVU

Season 3 of Law & Order SVU was dedicated to the families of the 9/11 victims and first responders.

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Hannibal

The episode titled 'Ouef' was pulled from the broadcast schedule after the tragic Sandy Hook Shooting took place. They shared a heavily edited version on the NBC website, and the full episode was later released through iTunes.

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The Last Ship

The season 3 premiere of "The Last Ship" was postponed after the 2016 Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando as the episode contained a scene of a gunfight in a nightclub.

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Here's the trailer for Season 3 of 'The Last Ship'

Did you know about or see any of these examples in your day-to-day life before? Do you think that the producers or writers did the right thing in addressing each tragedy they faced?

If you were an executive for a TV network or a series creator, how do you think you would have handled any of the situations we shared?

Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Kylin