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 :)

  • QualifiedKitten@lemmy.worldEnglish
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    11 days ago

    I wouldn’t say this is my favorite TV episode ever, but my favorite episode from a specific show that I don’t see mentioned elsewhere: Corporate “Natural Beauty” (Season 2, Episode 3). It pokes fun at the different expectations, etc., that men and women face, particularly in the workplace.

    The opening scene shows the female character going through her long morning routine, with occasional cuts to the male character repeatedly hitting the snooze button before rolling out of bed and spending 30 seconds getting dressed. When they each arrive at the office, he’s complimented on his appearance, and she’s told that she looks tired.

    • mommykink@lemmy.worldEnglish
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      11 days ago

      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

      • NegativeLookBehind@lemmy.worldEnglish
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        11 days ago

        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.

    • hendrik@palaver.p3x.deEnglish
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      11 days ago

      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…

      • EleventhHour@lemmy.worldEnglish
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        11 days ago

        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.

        • hendrik@palaver.p3x.deEnglish
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          11 days ago

          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…

  • flux@lemmy.world
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    11 days ago

    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.

    • jwiggler@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
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      11 days ago

      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.

    • Macaroni_ninja@lemmy.worldOP
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      11 days ago

      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.

  • BonesOfTheMoon@lemmy.world
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    10 days ago

    What We Do In the Shadows, “Baron’s Night Out”. Absolutely hilarious. The vampires getting high drinking the blood of high people is great comedy.

  • darkishgrey@lemmy.world
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    11 days ago

    Mine is recent, but I’ve watched the specific episode about a dozen times now because I think it’s just brilliant.

    S2E5 of Interview with the Vampire, “Don’t Be Afraid, Just Start the Tape”. It’s immaculate. I can quote the entire San Francisco argument.

  • Grimm665@lemm.eeEnglish
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    10 days ago

    Samurai Jack - The Scotsman

    One of the best episodes of one of the best animated series of all time.

  • VerilyFemme@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    10 days ago

    This is a tough one. My go-to is usually that episode of the IT Crowd. Second on my mind is Breaking Bad 's Ozymandias, but someone already said that.

    So, I have to pick two to tie for first.

    It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia S3E1 - “The Gang Finds a Dumpster Baby”

    There’s a lot of perfectly written IASIP episodes, but this is probably my favorite. Every little detail is perfect, and I think it’s better than the pilot at showing the characters’ personalities. We have Mac and Dee trying to take care of a baby together, Charlie and Frank becoming homeless because they can’t stop collecting garbage, and Dennis seeking revenge on a hippie because he got called out.

    Tap for spoiler

    This episode really has some of the best Dennis moments. I think about Mac and Dee trying to tan the baby a lot, but the funniest part of this episode to me is when Dennis is trying to act more environmentally conscious than everyone else, so when the hippie long-windedly calls him a poser, Dennis just runs over to the gang and tries to use that insult on them. It shows their dynamic perfectly.

    The Office S6E9 - “Murder”

    This is a much-needed break in the middle of a tense overarching plot about DM’s finances. It’s not the best Office episode, but it’s probably the best Michael episode. There are episodes like “Scott’s Tots” that are iconic because he learns a lesson the hard way. But this episode is one of the few where we see Michael take action. The entire office is miserable so what do we do? Play a game and do funny voices. It’s a Michael activity through and through, but he uses it to help the office take their minds off a bad situation. It’s also one of the only times during the comanagement arc that Jim and Michael really synergize. Really funny, super sweet, and some of the best lines in the series.

    I think about these jokes almost daily:

    Tap for spoiler

    Dwight: Voodoo Mama Juju, explain your dalliance with the Dark Arts.

    Angela: It’s not my fault, I was exposed to Harry Potter.

    Dwight: I know you did it!

    Dwight: I know she didn’t do it. It’s never the person you most suspect. It’s also never the person you least suspect, since anyone with half a brain would suspect them the most. Therefore, I know the killer to be Phyllis, AKA Beatrix Bourbon, the person I most medium suspect.

    Tap for spoiler

    Oscar: [tries to speak in a high-pitched southern accent] This plantation, we’re running low on greenbacks. We’re having problems paying the people who give us the seeds and the dirt. We can’t pay… [in regular voice] – Michael, I can’t – Basically it could mean a lot of things, but it is unprecedented, so its cause for concern.

  • 2ugly2live@lemmy.world
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    11 days ago

    I can’t remember the name, but for IT Crowd specifically, when one of their coworkers thought Jen died and became a vengeful ghost. I laugh whenever I watch that episode.

    Over all, King of the Hill, “Pretty, Pretty dresses.” First off, hilarious, second, I found it strangely touching. Bill has good people around him, even if they don’t show it. Even Dale was coming around the corner in a dress to participate. I thought that was very kind. No matter how bad it gets, they don’t leave him, even if they don’t know how to help him.

    Runner up: “Almost got 'em” from Batman the Animated Series. All the villains were talking about how they almost got Batman, only to find out Batman was there in disguise. He was disguised as Croc. I found that hysterical for some reason.

  • corsicanguppy@lemmy.caEnglish
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    11 days ago

    Firefly s2e1. Because I daydream that fox weren’t a bunch of dicks every now and then.

  • Dharma Curious (he/him)@slrpnk.net
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    11 days ago

    There’s an old comedy/parody of soap operas called SOAP. SOAP is the show Benson spun oft from. It starred, among others, Billy Crystal and Katherine Helmond. Absolutely amazing show that I can and will talk about for hours.

    S1e9 has a scene in which Jessica (Helmond) discovers that her husband Chester is cheating on her.

    She looks to her sister and says Oh, Mary, I would faint if I knew how

    It’s one of the finest examples of writing, acting, direction… Everything. It’s a perfect scene, so much so that it inspired me to want to write, and is the reason I decided to go for a creative writing degree.

    For anyone curious, SOAP was so hated by network execs, Christian right orgs and basically all of conservative America that by the end of it’s run all advertisers had pulled out except for vlassic pickles, and commercial breaks would just be pickle commercials over and over again during the break. You couldn’t watch it in most areas, because locals refused to run it. It featured the first openly gay character in a major network show, a trans story (which did not age as well as it could have, but was progressive for it’s time), a lesbian character, interracial relationships, suicide, race relations, crises of faith, extramarital affairs, divorce… In the 70s. It always punched up, and the black and gay characters were almost always the most clever, most witty and sharpest.

    • chunkystyles@sopuli.xyzEnglish
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      11 days ago

      I have no idea what caused me to watch that show like 15 years ago, but it was great! I was shocked by how funny and generally good it was.

    • thegreatgarbo@lemmy.worldEnglish
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      11 days ago

      K, well the scene with drunk Bert wobbling on the edge of the coffee table makes that the best episode for me!

  • EnderMB@lemmy.world
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    10 days ago

    For some reason, my mind went to first episodes/pilots. Of these, I’d say that Suits and The OC are up there with some of the best.

    As for the actual best episode, I’d go for My Lunch, the Scrubs episode where there’s a rabies outbreak amongst organ transplant patients. Alongside this, probably Tracy does Conan from 30 Rock, and the musical episode of IT Crowd.