5 TV shows that make me weepy
The return of Call the Midwife to PBS reminded me that the show ought to be renamed Call for the Tissues, because I can't watch an episode without having a veritable cry-fest. With that in mind, here are 5 TV shows that have the habit of making me cry, ranked in order from "made my eyes water a little" to "I ran out of Kleenex."
5. Glee: I'm kind of ashamed to admit it, but I still watch Glee, and it still makes me cry (on occasion). In this show's first season, I was crying every time those kids would cobble-together some emotional classic rock ballad and sing their nerdy hearts out (which, in those days was at least once per episode). As the show grew in popularity, I noticed two things happening to the music: 1) There was less musical theatre and classic rock and more current pop, and 2) The production value of the recordings gained an increasingly pop sound with more and more effects on the vocals until the singers stopped sounding like humans and started sounding like auto-tune demos. Around the same time, the students got a little less nerdy, and this fatal combination of poppier music and more popular characters meant that my Glee-induced tear-ups almost disappeared altogether. I guess I have a soft spot for outcasts overcoming obstacles by singing amazing songs that have stood the test of time in vocal-showcasing arrangements. On the episodes where those elements are still in play, I still get a little weepy.
4. Grey's Anatomy: This is another show that I've remained loyal to over many years and many changes. Crying in this hospital drama makes sense -- because it's a hospital drama. All that death and birth and illness and miraculous surgery is bound to make anyone a little emotional. Add to that the show's relationship drama that conveniently ties in with the theme of that episode's medical drama, put it all together in a montage playing with an evocative indie-folk-pop song, and throw in a metaphor-laden voice-over and I am a goner.
3. Nashville: I guess shows featuring emotional musical performances that highlight the struggle to overcome adversity and achieve impossible dreams just get to me. I don't think anyone who knows me would really be surprised by this.
2. Friday Night Lights: It's also possible that both #3 and #2 owe their weepiness to the wonderful performances of Connie Britton in both these shows, but I imagine my tears in Friday Night Lights once again have something to do with underdogs fighting to win their dreams. This time the fight takes place not on a stage, but on a football field, where every metaphor concerning trials and pain and love and heartbreak and friendship is dramatized over and over, leaving me reaching for the kleenex once again.
1. Call the Midwife: This show about the work of midwives in the impoverished section of 1950s London was a surprise to me, as I have almost zero natural maternal instinct. But maternal instinct doesn't matter with this show; Call the Midwife speaks powerfully to the most important parts of the human experience and leaves me happily sobbing at the end of each episode. Every time a baby is miraculously born, every time a young family beset with poverty pulls through with the power of love, every time the nuns and midwives give of themselves and show sacrificial service to their community, I become a bawling mess. And I return week after week just so this lovely show can wreck me again.
Do any TV shows have you reaching for the tissues?
4. Grey's Anatomy: This is another show that I've remained loyal to over many years and many changes. Crying in this hospital drama makes sense -- because it's a hospital drama. All that death and birth and illness and miraculous surgery is bound to make anyone a little emotional. Add to that the show's relationship drama that conveniently ties in with the theme of that episode's medical drama, put it all together in a montage playing with an evocative indie-folk-pop song, and throw in a metaphor-laden voice-over and I am a goner.
3. Nashville: I guess shows featuring emotional musical performances that highlight the struggle to overcome adversity and achieve impossible dreams just get to me. I don't think anyone who knows me would really be surprised by this.
2. Friday Night Lights: It's also possible that both #3 and #2 owe their weepiness to the wonderful performances of Connie Britton in both these shows, but I imagine my tears in Friday Night Lights once again have something to do with underdogs fighting to win their dreams. This time the fight takes place not on a stage, but on a football field, where every metaphor concerning trials and pain and love and heartbreak and friendship is dramatized over and over, leaving me reaching for the kleenex once again.
1. Call the Midwife: This show about the work of midwives in the impoverished section of 1950s London was a surprise to me, as I have almost zero natural maternal instinct. But maternal instinct doesn't matter with this show; Call the Midwife speaks powerfully to the most important parts of the human experience and leaves me happily sobbing at the end of each episode. Every time a baby is miraculously born, every time a young family beset with poverty pulls through with the power of love, every time the nuns and midwives give of themselves and show sacrificial service to their community, I become a bawling mess. And I return week after week just so this lovely show can wreck me again.
Do any TV shows have you reaching for the tissues?
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