12 Sitcom Breakups That Made Us Legitimately Emotional

Eric and Donna's relationship on That '70s Show is special. Aside from being neighbors and lovers, Eric and Donna are best friends at heart. They take their relationship understandably slow at first, easing into things like making out and even hooking up. They even experience their first big breakup together in the heart-shattering third season finale after Eric gives Donna a promise ring, but much to Eric's shock, Donna rejects the ring. Confused, Eric takes Donna's lack of commitment personally and decides to end the relationship right then and there. 

The fallout from the breakup is lengthy and afflictive for both of them, but it makes it all the more powerful when the two get back together in the show's fifth season premiere. From there, Eric and Donna continue their relationship, even getting engaged to each other until they amicably break it off in the seventh season finale. Although Eric leaves for the entirety of the show's eighth season to help underprivileged kids in Africa, their relationship is reconciled once and for all when Eric returns in the final episode of the series.

Although they do wind up together, that first breakup still stings to this day. 

Cory and Topanga's breakup is hard to watch because our beloved Cory is the guilty party of the breakup. On a ski trip, Cory hurts his ankle and winds up bedridden at the lodge while everyone is out skiing. There, he forms a relationship with an employee, Lauren, and winds up kissing her before the trip is over. So, not only does Cory kiss another girl while in a serious relationship with Topanga, but he lies about it, too. Topanga even offers Cory the chance to fix the situation, but he blows it by taking Lauren on a date. 

Topanga has every right to break up with Cory, which makes it even harder to come to terms with. Cory isn't the perfect protagonist, but hurting Topanga is one of the worst things he does. They do, however, wind up reconciling and even getting married later in the series, but Cory's betrayal is never forgotten. That is until the spinoff series, Girl Meets World, which focuses on Cory and Topanga's daughter, Riley. At least Cory has grown up to be a loving husband and father. 

Lily and Marshall have always been couple goals since day one. In Season 1, they are presented as the "ideal" couple in contrast to Ted's taxing "single guy in New York looking for love" storyline. The ultimate shock comes in the finale of the show's first season when Lily chooses to leave Marshall in order to experience different things and chase her dreams of being an artist. For fans of Lily and Marshall, and believers of "true love," this was a hard moment to bear, especially since the two of them got engaged in the first episode of the series. 

Not that there's anything fundamentally wrong with what she did. Lily and Marshall were each other's first everything, and it's hard not to sympathize with Lily wanting to venture out of her comfort zone and experience new things - even if that means throwing away a perfectly good relationship in the process. But like the show's been trying to hammer into its viewers' heads since day one, if Marshall and Lily were meant to be - they would find each other again. And luckily, that's exactly what they did. It was obvious that Lily and Marshall weren't going to spend the series apart, but every waking moment the two of them weren't together was rough. 

Michael has a pretty questionable dating history over the course of The Office. From his real estate agent, to his boss, to Pam's mom, Michael seems to take whoever can put up with his overzealous (and often misunderstood) behavior for long enough. That is until Holly comes around in Season 5, and for the first time, it seems like Michael actually forms a genuine connection with someone. The two of them hit it off right away and eventually begin a relationship until Holly is transferred back to her branch in New Hampshire that same season. They break up almost immediately due to the unrealistic expectations of long-distance dating. 

Losing Holly is a devastating blow for Michael. She is the first love interest in the series to actually accept him for who he is and not treat him like an imbecile. Although Michael "moves on," he never totally gets over Holly - hoping that they will one day be together again. He gets his wish in Season 7 and doesn't waste a single second committing himself to her. The two end up getting married and moving to Colorado to live happily ever after, which is what Michael truly deserves. 

Winnie And Kevin's breakup on The Wonder Years was sad for multiple reasons, first and foremost being that it was Kevin's first heartbreak. Kevin always seemed mature for his age, but it's easy to forget that he's really just a kid at the end of the day. Experiencing love and heartbreak for the first time is a huge deal, and Kevin got to experience both at the same time. It was especially awful to see Winnie leave Kevin for "someone else" on a school field trip, leaving him to sulk in front of all his peers. 

The hardest part was seeing the hurt and shock on his face. Fred Savage did an exceptionally good job portraying Kevin's life turning upside down in an instant. If anything, the breakup led to Kevin having a genuine heart-to-heart with his father, who teaches him that life just sucks sometimes. The way Winnie broke Kevin's heart was an indication that they probably wouldn't end up together - and for the better. Although Kevin and Winnie do reconcile in the series finale, older Kevin's final narration reveals that the couple go their separate ways shortly afterwards. 

Although Ross and Rachel end up together in the series finale, they really had a rough go of it for a while there. Their relationship slowly builds up during the first couple of seasons until it all explodes in the third season. After a bad fight, Rachel opts for the couple to take a break. Immediately regretting her decision, Rachel tries to get back together with Ross, only to learn that he's already slept with someone else. Although Ross begs Rachel to take him back, she can't live with the fact that he slept with another woman, permanently ending their relationship. 

Their breakup was truly hard to watch. If there's any scene in Friends that made you cry - it was probably this one. Out of all the relationships in the show, Ross and Rachel have the most genuine love for each other. No matter how much they try, they always end up reconciling - even just for a night. Eventually, the two wind up together for good in the series finale, proving that just like lobsters, the two of them are mates for life.