History TearJerker / FIsForFamily

* Greg being forced to spend the entirety of season 2 repressing his homosexuality, and the emotional turmoil it clearly puts him through, is mostly played for BlackComedy. Him finally gaining the courage to come out to his oblivious wife Ginny, only for her to tearfully tell him to "stop being silly," is [[BlackComedyBurst not. At all.]]

* While watching a home movie filmed during the early 60's, Frank and Sue reminisce about the early days of their family and the good times they had with their neighbors when they first moved in. Younger versions of their current neighbors appear in the film, with one exception, a man who's never been seen by the audience before, but is shown as the life of the party.

* Frank's father, Big Bill, having a massive JerkassRealization in the season 4 finale. It causes him to cry after realizing that it's ''his fault'' for Frank being so messed up.
* Sue's father, Stan, in season 4 telling the tale of his first love, Sophie:

* The way season 4 ends full stop. Frank's new daughter is born and is introduced to the rest of the family. He wants to introduce her to his father whom he finally wants to properly reconcile and just when Frank is introducing her, his father has a heart attack then and there. Frank calls out to him and the episode, and the season, just end...

* The last few minutes of the GrandFinale in Season 5; Frank finally discovers that his fathers last words to him, "Box 16", wasn't some revelation that would have fixed all the pain and misery between them. Frank had simply misheard Big Bill's final, and most likely delirious, final words - it was actually "Bach 16", aka [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZKif28jMUg Prelude In Fugue And G Minor Nr.16]] by Johann Sebastian Bach, which had been Big Bill's favorite piece of music because part of it had been used as a jingle for White House Beer in the 1930's. Frank finally accepts that he's never going to find the meaning and closure he'd been hoping for, and does one last favor for his father before leaving his memory behind forever: playing the tune on a tape in front of Big Bill's grave.

** There's also how Stan basically admits that while he does love Marilyn, he's no ''truly'' in love with her. Heck, given how he words, Marilyn might not even be his SecondLove. Given the dialogue, it's hinted that one of the reasons (or even the main reason) he married her was because she was the "right" type of girl his father would approve of.
* Maureen's utter humiliation when the school play is ruined due to her father and grandfather's fighting just as the second half of the play has begun. Prior to that, Frank and Bill seemed to have mended fences with each other after Big Bill gives Frank a hug that he never received as a child. Obviously, Sue (and the audience) worry that it will not last as, in her words, "one hug doesn't make everything better." And just as expected, Frank's resentment at his father for being unable to own up to his mistakes comes up at the worst time possible during the school play's intermission, culminating in Frank punching his elderly father in front of his family and the audience, shocking everyone in the room [[EvenEvilHasStandards (including a disgusted]] ReactionShot [[EvenEvilHasStandards from]] ''[[EnfantTerrible Bridget]]'', [[EvenEvilHasStandards of all people).]] Maureen is so mortified by it, she runs off the stage in tears. Heartbroken, she refuses to let her father talk to her when he tries to comfort her later that night.

** And then, possibly to avoid looking vulnerable in front of his hated son-in-law, Stan says that despite all of that, he is still grateful to his father for looking out him, and that he wished he had done the same for Sue. Any possible bond between them ruined, Frank tells him to get the fuck out.

--> '''Frank''': Merry Christmas, Dad. *tosses the tape on the grave* We're done.

* Sue's father in season 4 telling the tale of his first love, Sophie. Sophie's father, through misunderstanding, hit Sophie who fell down the stairs and she died. What really hits hard is that Sue's father still doesn't hate his father, but rather believes that his father did the right thing by stopping him from falling in love with a person he really did love but in reality, the event was abusive and traumatizing, but he can't look at his father like he was the failure. The kicker is that he says he wished he'd done the same thing to Frank.

* Maureen's utter humiliation when the school play is ruined due to her father and grandfather's fighting just as the second half of the play has begun. Prior to that, Frank and Bill seemed to have mended fences with each other after Big Bill gives Frank a hug that he never received as a child. Obviously, Sue (and the audience) worry that it will not last as, in her words, "one hug doesn't make everything better." And just as expected, Frank's resentment at his father for being unable to own up to his mistakes comes up at the worst time possible during the school play's intermission, culminating in Frank punching his elderly father in front of his family and the audience, shocking everyone in the room [[EvenEvilHasStandards (including a disgusted]] ReactionShot [[EvenEvilHasStandards from]] ''[[EnfantTerrible Bridget]]'', [[EvenEvilHasStandards of all people).]] Maureen is so mortified by it, she runs off the stage in tears. Heartbroken, she refuses to let her father talk to her when he tried to comfort her later that night.

* Maureen's utter humiliation when the school play is ruined due to her father and grandfather's fighting just as the second half of the play has begun. Prior to that, Frank and Bill seemed to have mended fences with each other after Big Bill gives Frank a hug that he never received as a child. Obviously, Sue (and the audience) worry that it will not last as, in her words, "not everything can be solved with one hug." And just as expected, Frank's resentment at his father for being unable to own up to his mistakes comes up at the worst time possible during the school play's intermission, culminating in Frank punching his elderly father in front of his family and the audience, shocking everyone in the room [[EvenEvilHasStandards (including a disgusted]] ReactionShot [[EvenEvilHasStandards from]] ''[[EnfantTerrible Bridget]]'', [[EvenEvilHasStandards of all people).]] Maureen is so mortified by it, she runs off the stage in tears. Heartbroken, she refuses to let her father talk to her when he tried to comfort her later that night.