History VerySpecialEpisode / WesternAnimation

* Much like [[Series/MisterRogersNeighborhood its' parent series]], ''WesternAnimation/DanielTigersNeighborhood'' often does episodes on special topics:

* Unlike most VSE, ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}''[='=]s "The Misery Chick" is about exploring grief from a teenager's perspective instead of a child's one. In the episode, a previous quarterback is praised as a hero despite being an egotistical {{Jerkass}}. Right after Jane and Daria joke about him dying, he actually ''is'' killed by [[DeathByIrony his own goal post]]. Daria's classmates and teacher, viewing her as "the misery chick", come to her for advice on how to deal with their varying feelings on the tragedy, which Daria gets fed up with. Jane then goes out of her way to avoid her when she starts feeling that Daria isn't taking his death seriously. Finally, Daria explains believing that the world has its losses as well it's gains doesn't make her miserable, just "not like them", and that even though he was a jerk, it's still horrible that he had to die. At the end of the episode, Daria advises a guilt-stricken Sandi to "find some other way to feel, then you won't feel sad."

* The episode "My Fair Mandy" is ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy''[='=]s [[BizarroEpisode take on this trope]]. Once again female body issues are dealt with in a half-hour format instead of TwoShorts as Mandy enters a beauty pageant to outdo AlphaBitch Mindy. Despite the well-known GainaxEnding, the show makes their subject clear as shown in a scene where Grim questions why anyone would participate in beauty pageants. Cue [[StageMom several moms encouraging their daughters to win for the sake of their love]].

** Season 7 brought the episode "[[Recap/SpongebobSquarepantsS7E11OneCoarseMealGaryInLove One Coarse Meal]]", where, after learning Plankton was afraid of whales, Mr. Krabs decides to repeatedly sneak into the Chum Bucket dressed as his daughter Pearl to torment him. However, this winds up [[DrivenToSuicide nearly driving Plankton to suicide]] (lying on the ground waiting for a bus to run him over) -- to the point that ''even [=SpongeBob=]'' thinks Mr. Krabs [[MoralEventHorizon had gone too far]], and informs Plankton of Mr. Krabs' secret fear of mimes as a way to get payback (though afterward, [=SpongeBob=] proceeds to also scare Plankton away with a holographic projection of an entire pod of whales).

* The ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'' episode "Inherit the Wheeze" deals with the dangers of smoking and has a cigarette addicted Brain working along side a corrupt tobacco company. He does speak against the company at the end.

* ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'' had a parody of them called "[[Recap/BeavisAndButtheadS7E06AVerySpecialEpisode A Very Special Episode]]", where the duo find a baby bird (or, as Beavis calls it, "a chicken nugget") and nurse it back to life. [[SpringtimeForHitler By complete accident]], as in typical B&B fashion, they actually wanted to see it die. When the two managed to restore the bird by feeding it, they actually thought that the bird [[InsaneTrollLogic would automatically die only after they fed it]]. They were told by the nurse that the bird was going to die anyway, no matter how much they tried to help it. Of course, being stupid as they are, [[OneDialogueTwoConversations they thought she said to feed it so it could die]].

** "Dino Checks Out", focusing on the ([[spoiler:[[FakingTheDead fake]]]]) death of Arnold's friend and idol Dino Spumoni, was probably the show's most serious episode. It skips the usual opening sequence and its first act is almost devoid of humor save for a handful of jokes [[BlackComedy a lot darker than normal]] for the most part (the most light-hearted bit being a news report on Dino's life and career), not to mention that the skies are quite gray. At least things lighten up a bit in the second act as [[spoiler: it turns out Dino was just faking it to revive his flagging popularity, although he has to learn that his life was worth living as an imitator begins to take over]].
** "Big Bob's Crisis", one of the show's last episodes, is a downplayed version of this, as it centers on Big Bob trying to mend his ways after suffering a medical emergency (an apparent heart attack that turns out to be [[spoiler:a mere gastric inconvenient]]). And even though he seems to [[NewAgeRetroHippie take it too far]] and [[WeWantOurJerkBack is eventually convinced to return to normal]], at the end he seems to have learned his lesson and resolves to become less of a workaholic, self-centered jerk.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' The episode “It’s A Wishful Life” Has Timmy wishing he was never born because people don't appreciate him and sees that the world and his friends are much better without him. This is a clear allegory for suicide and Jorgen Von Strangle even threatens to send hem to "The place where kids wish they were never born" which is an allegory for Hell.

*** Father Figures focused on Maya and Francis having same sex parents and most of the school (Including Oscer Proud) [[GayPanic ostracising them]].

* Even ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' trotted one out, in the form of the episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS21E13TheColorYellow The Color Yellow]]". For Black History Month (which is celebrated by Springfield Elementary despite the fact that the school has a low African-American population), Lisa -- at first reluctantly, and then with increasing interest and obsession -- investigates the mention in a 150-year-old Simpson family diary of a slave named Virgil. It eventually comes to light that [[spoiler:Lisa's great-great-great-great-grandmother, Mabel, had helped Virgil to escape to Canada -- and then married him. Grampa mentions that Mabel and Virgil's son was his great-grandfather, which makes Bart and Lisa one-sixty-fourth African-American. Marge wonders why this had been a family secret so long, pointing out that no one had ever complained about the family having French ancestry. Grampa's answer is that Homer's paternal side of the family is very racist and wouldn't have tolerated a black relative, much like Homer doesn't tolerate Marge's French side of the family]].

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' has some. Most of which are parodies, and some of which are serious:
** The simply titled "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS8E17BrianAndStewie Brian & Stewie]]" (the 150th episode, the only episode in which Creator/SethMacFarlane is credited for doing all the voicework, and the only episode in which there are no background music, cutaway jokes, flashbacks, or {{Take That}}s against whoever's famous) where Brian and Stewie are locked in a bank vault for the entire weekend and Stewie discovers that Brian has a gun in case he wants to commit suicide. Sure, there was that really gross poop-eating scene and some musical numbers at the end (which were only in there in the first place because [[ExecutiveMeddling FOX had some gimmicky music-based "Fox Rocks" episode line-up on on their network for a week]];[[note]]This also resulted in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "To Surveil with Love" having that CouchGag with everyone in Springfield lip-syncing to Music/{{Kesha}}'s [=TiK ToK=] and the ''Series/{{Fringe}}'' episode "[[Recap/FringeS02E20BrownBetty Brown Betty]]" being a MusicalEpisode.[[/note]] in all reruns and on the DVD, the musical numbers aren't there), but other than that, the episode was a serious look at the relationship between Brian and Stewie.
** Another episode ends with this parody of what's found at the end of "very special episodes": "To learn more about drugs, go to your local library. There's probably someone behind it who sells drugs."
** Parodied in the episode where Happy-Go-Lucky Toys[[note]]The toy factory Peter used to work at before his boss died[[/note]] is merged with a cigarette company who uses the place as a front to get kids hooked on tobacco. First, it's played straight, with Peter enjoying the perks of being a company head and backing up his superiors -- until Stewie starts smoking cigarettes, then Peter protests against them. In the end, the message was really about how it's wrong to kill strippers (a CallBack to a short scene where a Senator is freaking out over killing one of the dancers at a D.C. strip joint called "The Oval Orifice" and Peter calming him down by saying that, yes, choking her to death on dollar bills and beating her with a chair were horrible ways for her to go, but at least she didn't die of cigarette smoking), because strippers were put on Earth to entertain horny men and most of them are already dead on the inside from the life decisions that led them to this point, so physically killing them is redundant.
** "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS10E3ScreamsOFSilenceTheStoryOfBrendaQ Screams of Silence: The Story of Brenda Q.]]", aside from the traditional BlackComedy moments, was actually a very serious episode that dealt with Quagmire's sister being abused by her boyfriend (which was first mentioned in "Jerome is the New Black"[[note]]The episode featuring Quagmire calling Brian out on being a pompous asshole who pushes his atheist and liberal views on others[[/note]]), and is one of the few (if not only) times that DomesticAbuse is actually shown in a serious light on the show.
** Earlier in the series, there was an episode where the Griffin family meet a family of nudists (Peter saved the father from being swept in an undercurrent while fishing, thinking he lost his trunks in the water). Meg ends up dating the son, and the family aren't too comfortable with that. They eventually warm up to the idea, even exhibiting their own tolerance for the practice by going nude when he comes over. Despite the ruthless amount of innuendo and situation gags, it's really quite touching.
** "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS3E17BrianWallowsAndPetersSwallows Brian Wallows and Peter Swallows]]" had some funny moments, but was really a very special episode (and one of the few episodes, according to Creator/SethMacFarlane and [[Series/MADtv Alex Borstein]], that actually has human emotion in it) about coping with loss (Brian caring for the elderly shut-in who used to be a jingle singer and Peter caring for the baby birds that have nested in his newly-grown beard).
** Parodied at the end of an early episode in which The Griffins go to an Indian casino and Peter and Chris go out in the woods on a spirit quest. After Stewie makes a racist comment about Native Americans, Lois launches into a "The More You Know" PSA about how Native Americans are people too (followed by Stewie stating the same thing about Mexicans, Meg saying the same thing about Swedish people, and Peter bashing Canadians, and concluding the episode with "Canada sucks!")
** "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS10E12LivinOnAPrayer Livin' on a Prayer]]" was about Lois kidnapping a baby so it can be given cancer treatment much to the disapproval of his Christian Scientist parents, who don't believe in letting doctors treat illnesses.
** The banned episode "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS8E21PartialTermsOfEndearment Partial Terms of Endearment]]" was actually praised for showing realistic arguments for and against abortion -- and, at least until the end [[spoiler:where Peter flat-out tells the audience that the baby Lois was carrying was aborted]], treated the subject matter with respect. No wonder it was banned from American TV (it is available on DVD and UK viewers have seen it on Creator/{{BBC}}3).

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' is quite prone to this.
** "[[Recap/ArthurS13E5TheGreatMacGrady The Great MacGrady]]" has the kids finding out lunchlady Mrs. [=MacGrady=] has been diagnosed with cancer. It was dedicated to its writer, Leah Ryan, who passed away from the disease, to the point where Mrs. [=MacGrady=]'s name was changed to Leah (it was usually Sarah) for the episode (however, in the series, the cancer is gone by the end of it). Unfortunately, Lance Armstrong guest-starred in the episode, and it was pulled from rotation after the doping scandal that also cost him all of his Tour de France titles; a revised version of the episode, this time omitting Armstrong in favor of Uncle Slam, premiered in 2020.
** "Binky Goes Nuts": It's revealed Binky is allergic to peanuts. His mom is very worried. The episode gives advice such as checking the ingredients in your food and knowing what to do if you unknowingly trigger the allergy. Binky's nut allergy has stuck since this episode, becoming a plot point in episodes such as "Take a Hike, Molly" and "Too Much of a Good Thing".
** "Buster's Breathless": Buster finds out he has asthma when he comes across a stack of dusty joke books. His friends begin to treat him differently, fearing that they may "catch" his asthma. Buster takes his class on an imaginary tour so they can visualize what goes on in his lungs and nose. In the end, he tells his friends not to give him any special treatment, and that he's "still the same old Buster."
** "The Boy With His Head in the Clouds": The show's resident ButtMonkey George is diagnosed with dyslexia.
** "[[Recap/ArthurS15E5ToEatOrNotToEatSWEAT To Eat or Not to Eat]]": A very strange case. There's a candy bar that makes sparkles come from your mouth that Buster covets. George and Fern keep eating it. The metaphor gets more obvious as Binky buys every piece from the local stores and becomes a sort of dealer, with George and Fern being regulars and going as far as to constantly buy from him despite him being a more expensive middle man. And then George and Fern are shown tired and depressed when they don't eat it. It seems to be a shallow drug metaphor, or at the very least an episode warning the dangers of addiction... until Buster investigates what the candy's made of, and finds out that it actually contains drugs. The effect is even illustrated, with the candy's "secret ingredient" attaching to the brain and making the consumer feel really good, until the material breaks down and the consumer feels really depressed and wanting more. Overall, the real Aesop seems to be about the lengths {{Corrupt Corporate Executive}}s will go to get money. It ends with Buster's mom exposing the candy in the news.
** "When Carl Met George" (also known as "George and the Missing Puzzle Piece") features George befriending a rabbit named Carl, who happens to have Asperger's Syndrome. The episode deals with George learning about Asperger's and autism in general. Unlike most [=VSEs=], however, Carl averts the LongLostUncleAesop trope by appearing in later episodes, such as "Carl's Concerto" and "He Said, He Said".
** "Bleep" features D.W. learning a [[SwearWordPlot "swear" word]] and accidentally causing other kids in her class to say it. Rather than explaining that certain words may be considered offensive or rude, D.W.'s mother basically says "It means I want to hurt your feelings". Not helping is that the swear word is never given any context as to its meaning. (Granted, the beginning of the episode does explain how and why the bleep is used, so the episode is probably more of a demonstration of how the bleep is used than a VSE about swearing. The production team probably focused more on the bleeping.)
** "[[Recap/S3E10AttackOfTheTurboTibblesDWTricksTheToothFairy Attack of the Turbo Tibbles]]" features the Tibble Twins becoming obsessed with a ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' [[CaptainErsatz parody series]]. The episode centers around the twins pretending that everything (including school) is part of the show's world and that they are the main heroes of said show. It ends with the twins hitting DW with a swing causing her to need stitches on her lip and learning two important lessons. First being that there's a time and place for playing pretend and that real life comes first. The second being that not everyone might want to play the same game as you, and that you should never do something that might hurt them.
** "[[Recap/ArthurS7E10April9th April 9th]]" is a unique case, as it was [[RippedFromTheHeadlines made in response to]] the 9/11 attacks, though it does not mention them directly. Instead, the focus is on [[http://bluehairedspidey.tumblr.com/post/147990335662/manamana6672-missespeon teaching the target audience to deal with the emotions they may face in a similar crisis]]. The episode's main storyline involved the students dealing with the aftermath of a large fire at the school, a situation which would evoke similar reactions to 9/11 from kids.
** "[[Recap/ArthurS18E10ShelterFromTheStorm Shelter from the Storm]]" is similar to "April 9th" in that it's related to real life events -- in this case, the episode is a response to Hurricane Sandy. One of the two main plots involves Brain becoming overly anxious after Hurricane Sadie and being sent to a therapist (Creator/IdinaMenzel), and Muffy having to stay in a shelter instead of a hotel while traveling with her parents. The other two sub-plots have Arthur fundraising for pets abandoned during the hurricane and the other involves a character worried her father would be too busy working to come home for her birthday.
** "[[Recap/ArthurS15E10GrandpaDavesMemoryAlbumBustersCarpoolCatastrophe Grandpa Dave's Memory Album]]": Arthur and D.W.'s Grandpa Dave is getting older, and has begun to forget things. They help him remember by making a photo album of important moments in their lives. The name of the condition isn't stated in the episode, but it's implied to be Alzheimer's.
** "[[Recap/ArthurS21E4MuffyMissesOutArthurTakesAStand Arthur Takes a Stand]]" is about the importance of peaceful protest and standing up for your beliefs. Mrs. [=MacGrady=] is overwhelmed as the sole cafeteria worker and the school board won't provide the funding to get her some assistants. With the help of SpecialGuest congressman John Lewis (who's apparently an old friend of Mrs. [=MacGrady=]), Arthur and his friends stage a sit-in and refuse to go to class until the principal guarantees they'll find the money for cafeteria assistants.
** [[Recap/ArthurS22E1MrRatburnAndTheSpecialSomeoneTheFeud Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone]] has the kids finding out that their teacher is marrying another man named Patrick. You gotta admit of how the show has the courage at that year to tackle homosexuality.
** The show had two episodes dealing with characters coping with death: "So Long, Spanky" and "Listen Up!".

[[folder:H-J]]

* The ''Franchise/{{Peanuts}}'' special ''WesternAnimation/WhyCharlieBrownWhy'' is an entire TV special dedicated to this. Linus's new friend and crush Janice has been [[LittlestCancerPatient diagnosed with leukemia]], and the special concerns Janice's coping with the disease, as well as how friends, family, and strangers react to it as well ([[KidsAreCruel it's not all positive]]). The special was created out of a request for the Peanuts characters to explain how cancer works (Janice explains to Charlie Brown and Linus when they visit her in the hospital), and Janice as a character was praised by critics for handling the situation with bravery and dignity.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls2016'' has an episode where the girls discover a talking pony who says that in his heart he's a unicorn, and initially appears wearing a cardboard horn. The episode was promoted as being a metaphor for being transgender, though its moral is shot in the foot in numerous ways [[note]]For instance, the attempt at giving him a horn via a scientific experiment (a clear metaphor for medical transition) has a very high chance of going terribly wrong which he cheerfully disregards. It does indeed go wrong, he undergoes a grotesque transformation into a monster, and he regrets it greatly. In reality, complications from medically transitioning are uncommon, people typically put a lot of thought into the process, it's practically unheard of for anyone to actually regret medically transitioning, and managing to do so in the first place is very difficult, partially because of the misconception that trans people are taking massive risks/''will'' regret it later/are impulsively deciding to "ruin their bodies", which results in massive amounts of gatekeeping, so... this part of the metaphor doesn't really help actual trans people at all, to say the least[[/note]], most notably due to the ending featuring said pony being discovered to have ''had an actual horn'' the entire time - his horn was tucked away under his mane, which, as his mother points out, he would have noticed sooner if he'd ever cut said mane. Emily Brundige, the writer of the episode, later came out and stated that the gender identity allegory [[ExecutiveMeddling was not her doing, but that of the higher-ups]] who looked at the episode and thought that a UsefulNotes/{{transgender}}-friendly message could come out of it. Actual trans people were... [[UnfortunateImplications not pleased by the results]], [[https://jitterbugjive.tumblr.com/post/142485553459/jitterbugjive-jitterbugjive-jitterbugjive As you can tell here]].

* ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'' had a parody of them called "[[Recap/BeavisAndButtheadS7E06AVerySpecialEpisode A Very Special Episode]]", where the duo find a baby bird (or, as Beavis calls it, "a chicken nugget") and nurse it back to life. [[SpringtimeForHitler By complete accident]], as in typical B&B fashion, they actually wanted to see it die. When the two managed to restore the bird by feeding it, they actually thought that the bird [[InsaneTrollLogic would automatically die only after they fed it]]. They were told by the nurse that the bird was going to die anyway, no matter how much they tried to help him. Of course, being stupid as they are, [[OneDialogueTwoConversations they thought she said to feed it so it could die]].

* ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'' had a parody of them called "A Very Special Episode" where the duo find a baby bird (or as Beavis calls it, "a chicken nugget") and nurse it back to life. By complete accident, as in typical B&B fashion, they actually wanted to see it die. When the two manage to restore the bird by feeding it, they actually thought that the bird would automatically die only after they fed it. They were told by the nurse that the bird was gonna die anyway no matter how much they try to help him. Of course, being stupid as they are, they thought she said to feed so it can die.

* ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'' The episode "The Case of the Cola Cult" is about Gadget after many of her gadgets malfunction joins a cult where they worship a soda named Coco Cola. The episode is about the dangers of following a cult, which is ironic seeing that there is a real life russian cult based around the character Gadget.

** "A Storm In The Neighborhood; After The Neighborhood Storm" focuses on emergency prepardness and safety.

** "Miss Elania's Bandage; A Fair Place To Play" focuses on how to make accomodations for others in situations that aren't fair, in this case making bandages that match darker skin tones and building a playground ramp for the disabled.

* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'': "[[Recap/KimPossibleS4E7GrandeSizeMe Grande Size Me]]" subverts this. The writers were forced by Disney to do a [=VSE=] on healthy eating, so they decided to write an episode that took that aesop and made the message as extreme and unrealistic as possible. Even the ending depicts Ron giving an completely different aesop about avoiding vats of mutagenic chemicals to the camera while everyone else in frame just wonders who he's talking to.

** "Traffic Jam," which dealt with racial stereotypes in comedy, had a similarly funny PSA at the end.
** The episode "My Own Private Rodeo," about Dale coming to terms with his father being gay[[note]](though it's revealed that he hated his father because he caught him kissing Nancy before their wedding, which his father did to cover up the fact that he was about to kiss a busboy)[[/note]], was nominated for a Gay And Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Media Award...and this was in 2001. As [[http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1330542-i-don-t-get-as-much-fan-mail-as-an-actor Mike Judge later pointed out when recounting letters about the episode]], this was two years before Lawrence v. Texas legalized homosexuality throughout the United States. It's not as preachy as most other TV show episodes about coming to terms with homosexuality, but it does show that gays are people too, can be anyone in your family, and do need love and support, especially if they live somewhere where people aren't tolerant of the LGBT community.

** A lot of episodes of ''American Dad'' (according to the DVD special about the creation of the show, seen on the volume one DVD set) can be seen as {{deconstructive parod|y}}ies of the "very special episode" in which all conventions and expected twists, turns, and plot points seen in a "very special episode" are either mercilessly subverted, mocked, or [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome played out realistically]]. Case in point: "A Jones for a Smith" (the episode where Stan becomes a crack addict). At the end when Stan is rehabilitated, Francine is the only one happy that he is cured, Steve is pissed at Stan for ruining his chances at hooking up with a hot high school virgin who is attracted to nerds (and whose father is willing to let Steve sleep with her), and Hayley is begging Francine to let her into rehab for her marijuana problem (with Francine ignoring her).

* Mercilessly spoofed in ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'', in an episode appropriately named "A Very Special Drawn Together Afterschool Special". Started as a roleplay by the housemates to help Xandir decide how to inform his parents of his homosexuality, the effort quickly derailed, which resulted in nearly all of them getting killed by the end of the episode.

** The episode "I am Temple Grandin" focuses on Yadina trying to connect with an autistic boy in her grade. The plot for the episode was based off another autistic boy named CJ, who diednbefore the episode aired.

** "Dino Checks Out", focusing on the ([[spoiler:[[FakingTheDead fake]]]]) death of Arnold's friend and idol Dino Spumoni, was probably the show's most serious episode. It skips the usual opening sequence and its first act is almost devoid of humor save for a handful of jokes [[BlackComedy a lot darker than usual]] for the most part (the most light-hearted bit being a news report on Dino's life and career) and even the skies are unusually gray. At least things lighten up a bit in the second act as [[spoiler: it turns out Dino was just faking it to revive his flagging popularity, although he has to learn that his life was worth living as an imitator begins to take over]].

** "Dino Checks Out", focusing on the ([[spoiler:[[FakingTheDead fake]]) death of Arnold's friend and idol Dino Spumoni, was probably the show's most serious episode. It skips the usual opening sequence and its first act is almost devoid of humor save for a handful of jokes [[BlackComedy a lot darker than usual]] for the most part (the most light-hearted bit being a news report on Dino's life and career) and even the skies are unusually gray. At least things lighten up a bit in the second act as [[spoiler: it turns out Dino was just faking it to revive his flagging popularity, although he has to learn that his life was worth living as an imitator begins to take over]].

* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'':
** The episode "Big Bob's Crisis" has Bob suffering a heart attack.

** The 2022 revival [[WesternAnimation/TheProudFamilyLouderAndProuder Loud and Proud]] revival had Father Figures where Maya and Francis having same sex parents and most of the school (Including Oscer Proud) [[GayPanic ostracising them]].

** "Rock TV," which has Koopa play it straight when he hypnotizes the cave people with [[SelfParody addictive television programming.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/CraigOfTheCreek'' has the episode "The Sunflower" about the trio meets the girl named Sun who have a hamster named Cookie. But when she realized Cookie is killed by a cat, Sun drives to tears and refuse to accept the death of a pet. So Kelsey come by her trying to reason with her.
** "Scoutguest" is about Craig's former enemy Jason is neglected by his father and stepmother so Craig invites him to meet his family at his house.

** "[[Recap/StevenUniverseS4E8GemHarvest Gem Harvest]]" is a pseudo-ThanksgivingEpisode about dealing with extended family members with opposing political views. Greg's conservative {{long lost|Relative}} cousin Andy [=DeMayo=] pays a visit for the first time in ages, and turns out to be quite the TroubledSympatheticBigot, angry with Greg for (among other things) changing his name, [[HeroicBastard having Steven out of wedlock]], and associating with the Crystal Gems (calling them "hippies" and "alien refugees"), being clearly uncomfortable with their eccentricities. Andy warms up to Steven nonetheless, who eventually gets him to [[JerkassRealization realize]] that his AppealToTradition had a hand in estranging him from his family. This episode's air-date is notable ([[AnimationLeadTime whether intentionally or not]]) for being a week after the 2016 Presidential Election, an event that divided America like never before.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLastOfTheCurlews'', a Creator/HannaBarbera special that kicked off ABC's highly successful series of Series/{{Afterschool Special}}s, is another broader case of this trope.