I was recently rewatching the IT Crowd, which is one of my favourite shows and after finishing Season 2 Episode 1, “The Work Outing” for the hundredth of time I realized this is probably my favourite sitcom episode of all time. I just can’t get bored of the jokes and the delivery. The writing is gold, and the story escalates from funny to absolutely insane hilarious. Makes me laugh every time. Half the dialogue I quote to this day.
There are many good episodes I love, and could put here as close seconds: probably most of the Futurama series, a dozen of episodes of The Office or some classics from the Friends, I could think of.
So I would like to hear what episodes of any TV show is your favourites and why? Doesn’t needs to be necessarily comedy, anything from television is fair game.
Think of it as a “what single item would you bring to a desert island with you” question, just with an episode of a TV show :)
Samurai Jack - The Scotsman
One of the best episodes of one of the best animated series of all time.
It’s always sunny in Philadelphia - “The gang cracks the liberty bell”
‘Charlie Work’ is up there also. just a fantastic job… and all those long takes are icing on the cake!
Charlie Work is my favorite, the setups and payoffs are just chef’s kiss in this episode.
Ah man thats an unpopular one, I’ve got to ask why? I loathe that episode and skip it everything it comes on shuffle. Mac and Charlie Die has got to be my pick for IASIP
I think it’s a great episode because Charlie really plays the “simple minded commoner” role really well, spitting in peoples faces and bartering with people over pumpkins. Macs wooden teeth scenes are hilarious. The part where they try to act like British royalty kills me. And by the end of the episode it’s just very obvious how full of shit the gang is, as usual.
Stargate SG1 S4:E06 Window of Opportunity
Tap for spoiler
Groundhog Day, but Stargate.
That sounds awesome. I watched a couple seasons of the original series, never got to SG1
… sg1 is the original series…
Ha, self burn :) It was ages ago and never got too far into it, I just know there are multiple series and made a guess.
The ones that matter are SG1, Atlantis, and Universe.
https://www.gateworld.net/news/2009/05/stargate-recommended-viewing-order/
Ahem
The ones that matter are SG-1 (until buff Daniel) and Atlantis.
“In the middle of my backswing?!”
Not my favorite, but it’s certainly a good one.
Comtraya!
In the middle of my back swing!!!
Same. I didn’t dare to say it, but since I’m not the only one… I also think that one is an outstanding episode and amongst my favorites. I think the SG-1 writers were crazy anyways. Mixing well-written episodes with the daily grind of almost the same plot happening just on a different planet… for like 10 episodes straight… Then some melodramatic stuff, or more a sitcom in-between. Sometimes it seems they just didn’t give a f— and the main actor wasn’t available so they just made his character invisible…
I’m doing a rewatch of SG1 right now, and I forgot just how charming this show is. I always preferred Atlantis a bit more, but I’m coming around to liking SG1 more than I used to.
Don’t neglect your real life in those 160 hours 😂 But seriously… There are a lot of episodes. Since I’m not watching a lot of anime, SG-1 is probably one of the longest TV series I ever watched. Atlantis was good, too. I still feel for the latter episodes and the end of that show… Give me 10 more years and I might consider re-watching some of that, as well. As of now I’d like some new scifi. Star Trek Lower Decks will come to an end this week… And I need someone to give some money to Seth MacFarlane and order more The Orville…
I really will miss LD :(
Twin Peaks season 3 episode 8 comes to mind. It might not be something I want to watch over and over but it’s probably the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen on broadcast TV. A surrealism short film in the context of a series that both has a self contained story and speaks to the broad narrative of the series. Krzysztof Penderecki’s Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima, Nine in Nails, The Platters’ “My Prayer” on the soundtrack? Amazing! Still to this day I can not believe the artistic freedom allowed by Showtime to create this. Jaw was on the floor for the entire episode. I’ve felt for a long time that nothing could actually be new/shocking/different on broadcast TV. This changed my mind. Nothing has even been close imho.
That was something. We watched it with a group of friends and half the people were stunned and some had no idea whats going on, but enjoyed it regardless.
I watched all of Twin Peaks because I was interested in the hype around David Lynch and wanted to see his most recent work.
This episode made it all worth it.
The Luck of the Fryrish - Futurama
Fry spent his life thinking his brother was a dick who was stealing his personality, when all he really wanted was to be around him. And by the time he realized it, it was too late. Having a similar relationship with my brother, this hit close to home. I keep telling myself if I ever got a tattoo, it would be a 7 leaf clover.
Love that episode
The IT crowd when they go to the theater. Roy gets caught in the disabled washroom and Moss gets a new job
Thats the episode I was describing in the original post :D s02E1, The Work Outing
Brilliant
High pitched voice “I’m disabled”
…acid.
When I read “IT Crowd” that was the episode I imagined before you even described it lol
The whole thing is majestic
Fuck that’s a tough one. Futurama also leaps to mind immediately… but I think it’d probably be a Firefly episode simply due to the density of awesome. Of those it’d probably be Train Job though Shindig is a strong contender.
I would strongly vote for Our Mrs Reynolds for best Firefly episode.
I thought of that one but, at least to my memory, the strong focus on Mal in that episode sort of minimized the fun space cowboy aspects.
Honestly I think any episode outside of Bushwhacked/War Stories/Out of Space is fair.
In my original comment I’d mentioned Jaynestown as a runner runner up and Serenity also probably deserves an honorable mention.
The show, IMO was weakest when it tried to build an overarching plot probably because we never got payoffs for it - so the anthology episodes aged the best. Honestly, I may also love it because it was like bonus Cowboy Bebop - but none of those episodes feel as jam packed with awesome.
God, my comment has probably pissed off everyone on the internet.
The Red Dwarf has so many
Dwayne Dibley’s first appearance is the most memorable for me.
Deep Space Nine: “The Visitor”
Supernatural s03e03- Bad day at black rock.
The best supernatural episode is the French mistake.
For me it’s the penultimate episode. IMHO that should have been the finale.
I always find myself returning to a couple of the earlier episodes. S2 E1 - In my Time of Dying because it raises the stakes before Winchesters sacrificing themselves became a cliche, S4 E6 - Yellow Fever because it is hilarious, S5 E10 - Abandon All Hope because I loved Joe.
Community, season 3, Pillows and Blankets.
It’s a campus wide pillow fight between two friends / armies done as a Ken Burns Civil War documentary.
Winger’s critics suggest he merely improvised hot-button patriotic dogma in a Ferris Bueller-ian attempt to delay schoolwork. Winger decries the accusation as “A slanderous betrayal akin to 9/11.” Later after the war, he would refer to the theory as “essentially accurate.”
There are people who say: ‘I don’t get it, so it was a pillow fight.’ To which I say: ‘You weren’t there.’
Scrubs, Where do you think we are?
A perfect misdirection the entire episode, us as the viewer have no idea what is happening or why Dr Cox is losing it, until it all just shatters. We experience his grief firsthand, not understanding and denying it, until the world shatters around us and reality finally forces its way through. It’s perfectly done, and completely gut wrenching
The epiphany toilet is my fav.
Tied with rabies, ”i know”
The episode is “My Screw Up” (S3E14) if anyone is wondering.
I might actually prefer “My Lunch” from S5 as an episode, but they are both fantastic.
Dang, I definitely remember this scene and it’s been ages since I’ve seen this show.
Star Trek TNG, that episode where Picard has been captured and turned by the Borg.
Backstory: I’ve always considered myself a bit of a geek, but despite this I never watched Star Trek. From 2008 to 2012 I was working on a ship, so I needed something to watch. So I decided to start watching ALL of Star Trek, starting with the pilot, then via Kirk, etc.
Come 2010 I wad at home with my GF, and we were watching TNG together the evening before I was to fly out. And with each episode it got more and more exciting, to the point where it was 0200 in the morning and 8 had to get up early to catch a flight for work at 0900.
“OK, one more episode, and then we HAVE to call it quits for now”.
Well, yeah, that was the episode that ended with the cliffhanger of Picard having been captured. I ended up not sleeping at all that night.
I had to wait for the next season to watch the conclusion the first time I saw it back in the day. Broadcasters were mean with the season ending cliffhangers!
That story arc is still one of my favorites. When Ryker is about to try warping right through the other ship and Data just tells him “standby”, one of my favorite scifi moments in any show/movie. Comparable to Adama saying jump the ship! Where, I don’t have a solution? Anywhere, jump now!
You consider yourself a bit of a geek, but you don’t know off the top of your head that the name of that episode is “Best of Both Worlds”?
Pfft…
/s
It’s cool that Hannah Montana was an inspiration for the title.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Hush
The writing for this silent episode is just wonderful, and the whole cast’s chemistry really shines in their non-verbal acting
Mine is also from Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, but the complete opposite of Hush; mine is Once More, With Feeling. The musical episode.
But I have to admit, the stabby stabby masturbation joke in Hush is one of the best jokes on the show.
I applaud both Buffy answers and would like to add “The Body” to the mix.
Both excellent, but I have to put The Body at the top. I think that’s where I realized how excellent some of the actors in this show were, SMG in particular. Anya’s monologue has stayed with me in a way nothing else from tv or movies ever has. Would I rather enjoy a OMWF singalong? Yes, any day. But The Body felt like a one of a kind thing.
I didn’t recognize the episode title, and had to Google to see which one you meant.
Now I’m crying. Fuck, that episode was powerful.
They wouldn’t work by themselves (for the desert island thing) but there are two season finales I love. Dark season 2 and Mr Robot season 3. Two great seasons with tension being built up and these gave just the perfect ending.
Since you like both Dark and Mr Robot, may I recommend you the Movie ‘Who Am I’?
Without giving away too much, it’s basically Mr Robot made by Baran bo Odar, the creator of Dark, combining aspects of both
But full disclosure, it’s only subbed and finding copies outside of Germany is a bit though
Dark is massively underrated, we were obsessed with it witth my wife. It was a separate evening before each new season to binge recaps on youtube to have a fresh knowledge of every character in every timeline.
Mr Robit is definetly in my top 10. I loved the “heist” episode, where they didnt say anything the whole time. It was just another level of television. Also the season finales are great.
I actually made a graph for the characters in dark while watching the first two seasons. Definitely my favorite show.
