Mysterious Ways
Mysterious Ways would be a TV show produced by the members of the CSC in which seemingly life-affirming or miraculous events turn out to be incredibly depressing.
Episode Ideas
The Pink of Health
Two women, friends, get pregtant at about the same time. Unfortunately, one of the foetuses is found to have a birth defect of some sort. After wrestling with her concience, and her religion, the mother decides to abort the foetus. The other woman is sympathetic, and continues with her pregnancy. The delivery scene is very touching, until the doctor holds up the baby, which (after an uncomfortable silence) is revealed (by camera movement) to be the wrong race (eg white parents, black baby). Perhaps casually reference a black friend earlier in the episode.
Twister
A tornado rips through a sleepy midwestern town, destroying most of the homes as well as "The Factory" -- the only large source of employment in the town. A family whose house goes largely untouched feels very blessed, until the father loses his job as a foreman at the facotry, and the mother loses her job elsewhere soon after, as the town's economy falls apart. As the town becomes a ghost town, the family is forced to abandon their unmarketable home when the father can only find a job at minimum wage in a nearby town.
Sudden Deceleration
A woman is in a car crash with a drunk driver, and is seriously injured. She is taken to the hospital, and her next of kin -- her now estranged ex-husband -- is notified. Realising that he still loves his ex-wife, he rushes to the hospital to see her. After a long agonizing wait, she eventually comes out of surgery and into recovery. The man tells his ex-wife that he still cares for her, and that he wants to try again to make things work. As she begins to respond with just enough that it is obvious that she feels the same way, she begins convulsing. The doctors take her into an OR, but return later to inform the man that she died after an uncaught or newly-worsened injury caused massive internal bleeding.
Remission: Impossible
A man with cancer visits his doctor's office, and is told that the cancer he has been fighting is in remission. After this good news, he goes home and gives the news to his family. Overjoyed, the family begins to get used to the unexpected idea that their husband/father will live. To celebrate, they take a small vacation somewhere. While on the trip either to or from the vacation, the man falls asleep. After arriving at home/vacation-spot, the family tries to wake him, only to discover that he has passed away. An autopsy reveals a second tumor somewhere else in his body which the follow-up examination had missed.