Fraggle Rock/Tear Jerker

• Several instances, but "Marooned," "Gone, but not Forgotten," and "Change of Address" (the final episode) especially.
  • The latter is one giant case from beginning to end. You'll likely be reduced to mush long before, but Sprocket's whimpering at Doc's words (and Doc's words themselves) that they'll never see Gobo again is the definite breaking point. Of course, mere moments later they * do* see Gobo but it doesn't make the emotional impact any less. And dear God, the whole "Magic Be With You"' segment with the tunnel will break you up to and including the very end of the credits.
    • From "Manny's Land of Carpets," there's Gobo's song "Goodbye", sung when the Fraggles consider leaving Fraggle Rock: "Goodbye, goodbye, every eye is dry. Leaving? There's no grieving just a rainbow in the sky. Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye."
  • The episode "Gone But Not Forgotten". That is all.
    • Seconded. This troper considers this episode to be Fraggle Rock's equivalent of "Jurassic Bark".
      • It does become slightly Hilarious in Hindsight if you recognize the Mudwell puppet from a death-related Crowning Moment of Funny from Muppet Treasure Island (He's the pirate who cradles Old Dead Tom until someone patiently explains that Old Dead Tom's always been dead. That's why he's called Old Dead Tom.)
      • The Reality Subtext is heartrending as well. Mudwell's performer was Richard Hunt, who had lost many friends and a romantic partner to AIDS, the disease that would later take Hunt's own life as well. This episode is often considered the show's subtle way of addressing the AIDS crisis. The song "Just a Dream Away" gives one chills in that context.
      • Gobo's story about his pet Twiddlebug that died tingles the spine as well when one remembers that Jerry Nelson had lost his daughter, Christine, to cystic fibrosis a few years earlier.
  • "Mokey's Funeral" manages to evoke this even when we know from the beginning that Mokey's actually okay. Even Junior Gorg angsts, and even cries, when he mistakenly believes he killed Mokey.

Red: It couldn't be Mokey. She's my best friend. Gobo: No, it was her, I'm sure of it. Red: But you don't understand. She's my BEST FRIEND!!!

• • In the Season One episode "The Best of Bluerock," Gobo has a quarrel with Wembley over the latter's wembling, and then storms off on an overnight adventure, leaving Wembley alone for (presumably) the first time. The song Wembley sings, about trying to be brave in a terrifying situation, will haunt you forever. Also, it's hard not to feel bad for Wembley after Gobo had just been such a royal jerkass to him.
  • If "The River of Life" doesn't make you sniffle at least once, you have no heart. Boober stands at the hole to Outer Space, begging the Silly Creatures to stop poisoning the caves, asking if the Fraggles or Gorgs have done anything to upset them. What Boober doesn't know is that Doc and Sprocket are out at the moment, and he's speaking to an empty, uncaring room - except for us.
  • Red's song "Dreaming of Someone" in "I Want to Be You," which is all about how inadequate she feels in comparison to Mokey, whom everyone loves.
  • In "Red's Sea Monster," Red, hurt that no one believes her about the titular sea monster and angry that her friends played a pretty thoughtless prank on her, decides to run away, and the other Fraggles become remorseful when they realize she's probably not coming back. Mokey sings a bluesy, sorrowful song about how sorry she feels that she hurt Red's feelings and drove her away. Red happens to overhear this right at this moment, and all is forgiven, culminating in a joyful reunion song.
  • Lots of tears flow in "A Friend in Need." Sprocket's despair when he gets stuck in the Fraggle hole in "A Friend in Need" will tug at the heart of any dog lover. Then Gobo gets caught in a Gorg trap while trying to find something to free Sprocket, and sings a tearful, bluesy song about how he's not as invincible as he thought. On top of that, the other Fraggles find Gobo's hat in Sprocket's mouth and begin to grieve, thinking Gobo has been eaten by Sprocket. This leads to a moment of Heartwarming when the one thing needed to solve everyone's problems comes from none other than Ma Gorg.
  • The song "Once Upon a Time (I Knew My Name)," whether it's sung by Gobo in the original series or Red in Back to the Rock. It's about how lost you can feel when the one thing you've always counted on is suddenly taken away.
  • Poor Wembley can't catch a break in "Wembley's Egg." First, he's depressed because his life seems to have no meaning. Then his friends laugh at him when he (correctly) predicts that a living being will hatch from the egg, and although he declares he doesn't care, he says this while crying, indicating his feelings are hurt. Then, at the end of the episode, when he lets the Tree Creature go to be with its family, he realizes the thing he thought might give his life meaning is gone, and he looks very sad. His friends are no help, as they just leave him to brood.
  • The Back to the Rock episode "The Glow" has a pensive song sung by Boober called "Glow Away," in which he angsts about his glowing baloobius and wishes it would just disappear, lest the other Fraggles think he's a freak. Anyone who's ever felt insecure about their appearance will relate.
  • Outside of the series, one line uttered in an interview Gerry Parkes gave after the end: "I miss my Sprocket." Parkes has also since passed away, making that even more poignant.
  • Foo Fighters' appearance in Back to the Rock could be considered one in retrospect, as it marked one of drummer Taylor Hawkins' final filmed appearances before his death at age 50 in March 2022.
  • While it's not a sad song, the Back to the Rock version of "Free and High" can reduce one to tears simply because of how beautiful it is. The soaring voices of pop star Adam Lambert and Lilli Cooper (the new Doc) are, to this troper, musical nirvana.