Favorite Episodes of popular TV series...

Since every successful series has highs and lows, the Jump the Shark thread started me thinking about shows which stood out as exceptional for one reason or another. Apologies if this theme has been covered before in another thread. I'll start this off with several of my favorites from over the years.

During it's four year run, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis had quite a few clever episodes, especially in the first season. The comedy was almost always rooted in Dobie's dating frustrations and the antics of his best friend, Maynard G. Krebs (Bob Denver), but one episode stands out for daring to go way over the top in an otherwise normal world. That show was titled The Chicken from Outer Space. It may not be representative of the series as a whole, but it's hilariously funny nonetheless.

The second stand out episode was from the series Third Watch which involved an auto accident with partying teenagers and a carefully constructed story that studied what happened to them after the fact. The episode is from the second season and titled After Hours. Again, the writers of this episode took risks by going outside the realm of real world police procedural drama and into the metaphysical plane with stunning impact. Alas, I can't recall the title of that episode, but it left a big impression at the time.

For variety's sake, the last one I'll post in this a thread starter is the special Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical episode from season 6 titled Once More, With Feeling. The Broadway level numbers took Joss Whedon's series into unchartered territory (Amber Benson had one of the stand out performances). Even for those who find vampire series not to their particular taste, this musical episode is bloody good.


Cat

 

On some of these I don't know the titles, so bear with me:

The Mary Tyler Moore Show -- "Ted Baxter's Famous Broadcasters School". My favorite sitcom episode ever.

The Rockford Files - "Nice Guys Finish Dead". The one where Jim, Lance, and Beamer attend a PI convention.

Maverick - "Shady Deal At Sunny Acres"

Bonanza - "The Crucible". Adam is held prisoner by a crazed miner (Lee Marvin).

The Big Valley - "Journey Into Violence". Heath is held prisoner by a religious cult.

Have Gun Will Travel - "The Ballad Of Oscar Wilde"

Wagon Train - "The Prairie Story"

Rawhide - "Incident of the Prophecy"

The Virginian - "Ride A Dark Trail". The origin story for Trampas. However my favorite scene is from "The Brazen Bell", which climaxes with George C. Scott reading Wilde's poem "The Ballad Of Reading Gaol" (I kid you not).

Alias Smith & Jones - "Smiler With A Gun"

The Monkees - "The Devil & Peter Tork"

The Dick Van Dyke Show - "The Gunslinger"

Columbo - "A Friend In Need"

Twilight Zone - "Eye Of The Beholder"

77 Sunset Strip - "The Silent Caper"

All In The Family -- the "Rashomon" episode where we see the events of one night (plumber and his helper come to fix the fridge) from both Archie and Mike's perspectives.

Taxi -- the one where Latka assumes Alex's personality. Features a tour de force performance by Andy Kaufman where he plays five different characters.

Get Smart - "Don't Look Back". A parody of The Fugitive. Not the greatest episode, but for a Fugitive fan there can be no other.

As for The Fugitive itself (perhaps my fave show of all) I can't really single out any one episode. Same for MASH and The Odd Couple.

 

"Once More, With Feeling" is what first came to my mind when I read this thread's title.

Also: "Objects In Space" on Firefly.

 

"Love's Labor Lost" from ER. I am still waiting for ER to come to a streaming site somewhere. It was such a brilliant show, especially the first 6 seasons. In that episode, Dr. Mark Greene attempts to save a woman in a difficult birth but it just gets worse and worse. It was an extraordinary hour of television and beautifully acted.

Others:
"A Trip to the Dentist" (Veronica Mars): Veronica pieces together the events of the night of her rape
"The Constant" (LOST): Incredible. Desmond's love for Penny helps him stick in one timeline. Season 4 was the best for this series.
"Blink" (Doctor Who): I converted three different people into major Doctor Who fans just by showing them this scary, funny, brilliant episode.

 

"The Beverley Hillbillies" pilot episode.

 

The Dick Van Dyke Show - "It May Look Like A Walnut" and "When A Bowling Pin Talks, Listen"

 

Green Acres - Beauty is Only Skin Deep. Lisa opens a "cosmetetical" counter in Sam Drucker's store -- or, rather, she takes over Drucker's store. Not many sitcoms that run six seasons have some of their best episodes in the later seasons (this episode was in season five).

SpongeBob SquarePants - Bubble Buddy Returns. Maybe -- maybe -- my favorite SB episode. I love the Looney Tunes-esque destruction and reconstruction of SpongeBob at the hands of Bubble Buddy's son, Shiny, who -- despite being a bubble -- is attracted to sharp objects. My favorite gag the first time I saw the episode was when they eventually wind up at a pillow factory, and SpongeBob is relieved because he thinks they are finally out of danger. Of course, once the door to the factory is open it is fraught with all kinds of machinery that could easily pop a bubble. Another example of a great episode from later in the run of a series (in this case, season eight).

 

Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Thought long and hard about this one. Ended up going for 'Hush'. Anthony Head's nod to 'Jonathan Creek' was inspired.

Captain Scarlet & the Mysterons 'Attack On Cloudbase' Symphony Angel crashes in the desert. Has a dream in which all of her friends are killed. Heady stuff when you're 10.

Saint Elsewhere 'The Last One'. Bittersweet ending which I never saw coming.

Dr Who 'A Good Man Goes To War'. Not for the telegraphed ending, but for the opening minutes where he's selecting his team, one by one.

Hill Street Blues 'Parting Is Such Sweep Sorrow'. The one where they scatter Phil's ashes. Not a dry eye in our house.

Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased). The first episode, 'My Late Lamented Friend And Partner', when Marty is killed. Kenneth Cope, best 'best-mate' ghost EVER.

 

I'm impressed - in my case stick with favorite shows - but not so specific episode driven

 

My favorite MASH would be The Conference. All of the best characters make an appearance including Sidney Friedman and Col. Flagg.

For All in the Family, probably the episode where Archie has a fender bender and hires the law firm of Rubinowitz, Rubinowitz & Rubinowitz.

 

The last Mash episode, never missed an episode until this one ( I was in middle school) unfortunately I got BUSTED skipping school, and was restricted from the television ( that's how restriction went for me, I idolized the kids retricted to the house to watch tv) I strained to hear the tv down the hall.. I'm still pissed at everybody for that! Dang!
I finaly got to see it. I'm making a phone call now to complain.

 

South Park--the Bon Laden episode The Looney Tune nods had me absolutely crying hysterically.

 

I don't think that's a particularly strong episode. The cast hadn't really gotten into their roles yet, and Drysdale is still a fairly conventional banker, instead of the maniac wheeler-dealer he would become later.

For me the pilot is most interesting for the fact that future TCM host Robert Osborne plays a small role.

FWIW Buddy Ebsen's favorite episode was "Admiral Jed" (where they consider buying a Navy ship)

 

The fancy eatin' table, the oilman, granny and her three-week limp due to a broken hip...
YMMV

 

"Upstairs, Downstairs." I can't remember the name of it but Sir Richard Bellamy is visited by a brother that he can't stand while Angus Hudson is visited by relatives who have spent years in Africa and think he is a close friend of Bellamy, not his butler. Richard's brother takes an instant disliking to Hudson, who is trying to keep his cousins in the dark. Eventually the two parties meet in a restaurant. Remember, at this time everyone in England knew his place and if they somehow forgot, someone would remind them.
'The New Avengers" the team is in Toronto. Gambit is continually being arrested by local police who don't think his secret agent card is valid while Steed and Purdy are in the new building trying to find mole who is betraying and killing people.
'Untouchables" Rusty Heller Story. Elizabeth Montgomery as an ambitious Southern prostitute who at one point hooks up with David White (Larry Tate) and charms Eliot Ness and gets him to smile.
''Combat!" Hills are for Heroes. The company has to capture two German pillboxes without artillery or armor. Gut wrenching end.
"Rome" probably both openers because it shows the young Octavian's mind at work (explains whyCaesar doesn't care about the eagles and why Brutus and Cassius have no real power despite killing Caesar).
Get. Smart" Not so Great Escape" two parter where Siegfried and Starker run a prisoner camp to hold Control agents.
"You fed the prisoners food to the dogs, Starker? Dumkopf, you could have made them sick. No wonder they ran away"
"Dobie Gillis". Dobie and Milton Armitrage stage a best dressed competition to impress Thalia Menninger,whose father is 60 years old with a kidney condition, her mother isn't getting any younger, her sister is married to a loafer and her brother is looking likes public charge.
'' I, Claudius" probably an episode dealing with Caligula as emperor.
'' Dick Van Dyke". That's my boy...Rob worries his son was switched with another at the hospital and invites the family over to straighten it out. Loudest laugh ever which took a lot of doing to get network and producer Sheldon Leonard to approve it.
''Mary TylerMoore". Death of Chuckles the clown. Also a nod to the episode where at the awards dinner the demure Georgette does a smoking version of "Steam Heat"
''Columbo" the revival on ABC was often week but they hit a home run when he goes to college to solve a murder of a law professor

 

Breaking Bad- Ozymandias. Everything comes to a collision course for Walt and his family.

The X Files- Home. One of the strongest and most unsettling episodes of the entire series.

 

Monkees versus Machine

The Munsters -- when they built and raced the Dragula dragster

Batman -- any of the Julie Newmar episodes

 

Barney Miller - The hash brownie and werewolf episodes.

 

I forgot to list my favorite Combat. Actually, I have two: "The Glory Among Men" and "Survival".

The latter episode is directed by Robert Altman and features flaring shots straight into the sun, then essentially unheard of on TV. Even more striking is the fact that almost half the episode (concerning a wounded Saunders separated from the outfit) has no dialogue.

 

"The Honeymooners" - "A Matter of Record" ("YOU are a BLABBERMOUTH!')

"The Odd Couple" - "I Gotta Be Me" (Felix/Oscar Role Reversal)



"The Young Ones" - "Bambi" (The lads appears on "University Challenge")

"The Dick Van Dyke Show" - "The Impractical Joke" (Buddy thinks Rob is pulling a practical joke on him with a fake IRS agent)

 

M*A*S*H- "Lifetime" (presented in 'real time', Hawkeye must perform an aeortic transplant in twenty minutes)
The Simpsons- "Sideshow Bob Roberts" (Sideshow Bob runs for Mayor of Springfield)
House- "DNR" (House defies a jazz trumpeter's DNR request and ultimately saves him)
Rescue Me- "Discovery" (Tommy discovers his brother is having an affair with Tommy's estranged wife, much chaos ensues)
Law & Order- "Under The Influence" (ADA McCoy tampers with witness testimony to win a case until his conscience gets the better of him)

 

Been reflecting, as you do, and come up with a few more (in my mind) classic favourite episodes that left a lasting impression.


Doomwatch: ‘Survival Code’. More commonly known as ‘….the one where Robert Powell gets blown up’. Lasting impression on me. The first tv program I’d ever seen where a major character gets killed. Apparently the BBC received more letters on his unexpected death in the series than any other subject except WW2.

The Edge Of Darkness: ‘Fusion’. The last episode, naturally. Jedburgh’s noble demise choked me up. Bob Peck’s final words to his dead daughter before dying himself on the hillside, and a backdrop of politicians and corporate big-wigs chinking glasses at High Table, all pigs around the same trough. I can still feel the anger and futility now, 30 years later.

Peter Kay's Car Share: 'Episode 4'. The snippet of conversation about dinosaurs not being real because they weren't in the Bible was snot-shootingly funny. Also, Kayleigh's aquaphobic panic attack in the carwash was surreal; going to her happy place...underwater, singing Hanson's 'Mmm Bop' with cartoon sea creatures. Very Bedknobs And Broomsticks. Oh, and how she admitted to losing her virginity on a mechanical bull..... That made me cringe. A delight of a series.

Supernatural: ‘The French Mistake’. Oh, so many classics to pick from! Eventually chose this one. A chance for the actors to see the ‘real world’. Too funny!

Red Dwarf: 'DNA'. Lister's curry gets genetically transformed into a homicidal curry-monster. Just another day in deep space.

The Singing Detective: ‘Skin’. The introduction to the main characters. I recall how shocked I was seeing Michael Gambon’s full body peeling-skin psoriasis make up. His emotional breakdowns were heartfelt. And, just when you’re squirming with empathy and embarrassment at his vocal breakdown to the surgical team on rounds, they suddenly start into “Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones…”. I’m like “What….??”. Justifiably lauded as one of the best tv series ever made.

LA Law: 'Splatoon' ......the paint-ball episode. Genius. What a cast. Much missed.

Ultraviolet: 'Terra Incognita'. Trapped alone and defenceless in an empty room with a coffin that's soon to open. One of the most tensely-written pieces of television I've ever seen.


Now I'm trying to whittle down the best episodes of 'Sapphire & Steel', '24', 'Auf Wiedersehen Pet', 'Northern Exposure', 'Steptoe And Son', 'Firefly'........... So much great tv in my 58 years. So much to reflect on. To be continued....

 

The Office - Casino Night
Breaking Bad - Ozymandais
Breaking Bad - To hajiilee
Curb Yer Enthusiasm - So many good epis in Season 3 to pick from, The Nanny From Hell, Krazy Eyed Killa, The Terrorist Attack, The Corpse Sniffing Dog, The Special Section, Mary-Joseph-and Larry. I'll go iwth Corpse Sniffing Dog as we get to hear Suzie at her dog cussing best

 

I, too, really like those Columbo and Get Smart picks. The All In The Family episode you are referring to is entitled "Everybody Tells The Truth" and is a masterpiece. I still laugh to tears each time I see it! "The Bunkers and the swingers" ain't very far behind...

 

The Dick Van Dyke Show was pretty good at dealing with racial and ethnic issues in an intelligent but light-hearted manner. (It was too soon for All in the Family-style confrontation.) I especially like the episode with Godfrey Cambridge ("The Man From My Uncle"). I became tired of shows in the 1960s and 1970s that included African-Americans in which the show felt compelled to comment of the character's race and/or use it as part of the plot. I liked "The Man From My Uncle" (and nominate it as a favorite episode here) because there was no reference to Cambridge's race and it played no part in the show's plot. He simply was an FBI agent who happened to be black.