12 TV Moments Made Unintentionally Depressing By Real Life Events

In the Season 3 episode of Buffy "Earshot," Buffy suddenly becomes able to read minds hearing things like "This time tomorrow, I'll kill you all," prefacing an intended school shooting. The gang has to figure out who the killer is and prevent the attack, tracking down the student, who's up in the clock tower with a loaded rifle.

Just one week before this was set to air on the WB, the Columbine massacre occurred. Talk about horrible timing. Naturally it was pulled and replaced with a rerun, probably the best idea given how everyone was feeling at the time, but it was later aired the following September prior to the fourth season.

It's still heartbreaking to watch given that context, and it must have been uncomfortable to see airing even a few months after the tragedy. Granted, the school shooting doesn't actually take place on screen, and it's revealed that the student was planning to commit suicide rather than shoot up the school. 

Either way, it's an unfortunate case of a storyline that came about at the absolute worst time possible for everyone.