I watched a preview of tonight’s season premiere of House, and without giving anything away, I can say that it’s really, really good. I loved it, and I hope you love it — but nothing will ever come close to season 1′s “Three Stories” for me. That was the episode where House went from being a show I liked to a show I loved, from being good to proving it had the capacity to be great. I think of these as time capsule episodes, the ones I’d want future societies to see so they could think “my my, this ancient civilization had marvelous taste and popular art.” It’s the episode where a series really plants its flag and says, “no, this is what our show is about.” For example…
Big Love, “Come Ye Saints”
I was lukewarm on the first season of BL, liked the second season enough, but this third-season episode cut me in half, and proved that Big Love was still discovering compelling — and grounded — emotional storylines. Amanda Seyfried, Chloë Sevigny, and Jeanne Tripplehorn turned in stellar performances and completely refocused the emotional engine of the series. I defy you to watch the last four minutes of this clip and not lose it:
Friday Night Lights, “Mud Bowl”
I’m hard pressed to pick one episode from the knock-out first season of FNL, but the aaaaaalmost-schmaltzy “Mud Bowl” demonstrated what the show was capable of doing: making corny ideas not corny at all. Oh, they’re going to play in the rain, and let their spirits shine, and be the kind of young men the noble Coach Taylor has taught them to be through his sound leadership and ethical decency? I…would very much enjoy watching that. Throw in a thwarted rape and I am there!
The Office, “Casino Night”
It’s not the first good episode of The Office — the second episode, “Diversity Day” was a treat and a half — and it’s not the first emotional episode (“Booze Cruise” had some holy-crap moments). But “Casino Night” was when The Office really arrived, when every character clicked into place, when the plot swept everything towards an inevitable but still glowing conclusion.
The Big Bang Theory, “The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis”
BBT started finding its rhythm most of the way through its first season, with a dead-on finale proving they’d found their game. The second season was even better, as the show started letting a little more warmth into its characters and their relationships, reflecting the affection audiences were feeling. But it was a very special holiday episode, with Penny’s almost-too-perfect gift to Sheldon, that locked BBT in for me; If Penny’s sort of the fish out of water on the show, the Nemoy napkin proved she — and we — had learned to swim.
PopWatchers, I am barely scratching the surface of my list — I haven’t even touched shows that aren’t on anymore. So let’s flesh it out: What’s the episode where you fell in love?
Hands down, “Good Grief” from season two of Arrested Development is an instant classic.
Nice choice! I have to put “Afternoon Delight” on the list as well.
“Pier Pressure” for me is encapsulates everything awesome about AD.
i agree with nick. pier pressure is the episode that won me over on AD
That is my all-time favourite too. Good Grief was riddled with jokes.
Good Call. Awesome awesome episode.
To be perfectly honest, every episode of AD is an instant classic as far as I’m concerned. Every time I watch the DVDs, I see or hear something new and hilarious. The only ep I’d leave off is the finale, but only because I’m still mad it got canceled:).
I would also say “Humbug” is my favorite X-Files ep. Like an hour-long joke with a killer punch-line (1st of 4 amazing Darin Morgan penned eps).
Also, can’t ever let the “Slow Donnie” ep of Just Shoot Me air w/o watching. David Cross, Chicken Pot Pie, ’nuff said.
Chicken pot, chicken pot, chicken pot pie! Forgot about that. Good call.
“Nothing Good Happens after 2am”
-How I Met Your Mother (season 1)
“Black Tie”
-30 Rock (season 1)
“I Will Rise Up”
-True Blood (season 2)
“The New Girl”
-Mad Men (season 2)
I totally agree, especially with True Blood and Mad Men. These shows were both awesome before, but the episodes you mentioned absolutely sealed the deal and reaffirmed my desperate need to see them each week!
Wow. No need for me to post. I agree manish!
LOST, “Walkabout”
This season 1 episode continued the the flashback pattern of exploring characters’ pasts, the twist ending that reveals John Locke was in a wheelchair before 815 crashed, but in the character of miraculously healed John Locke, who encounters the then-unseen Monster in the jungle while on the walkabout he never got to take in the Outback, LOST cements in our minds that this Island is full of strange and wonderous mystery that even now continues to unfold.
This was mine as well. I liked the show for the first few episodes, but it was the moment at the end with Locke being turned down from going on the Walkabout that made me realize that this show was capable of surprising me and entertaining me. I’ve been hooked ever since.
I also agree. I liked the first episodes, I still planned on watching Lost and everything…but “Walkabout” just left me stunned and that’s when I became an unfailingly passionate fan, even through some of the show’s more ill-advised decisions (luckily, there haven’t been many of those). I think with that episode, the show went from good to great.
Agreed. Also, Deus Ex Machina, where Locke says “I’ve done everything you wanted me to do. So, WHY did you do this to ME!” and then the hatch lights up. SO awesome.
Agreed. And to think, this was only the 4th episode of the entire series. To be honest, I was completely 100% hooked from the pilot episode. But “Walkabout” made me love Lost even more.
I’m really partial to “The Constant.”
Yes, Walkabout was the same experience for me. I was just kinda interested in Lost until I saw that brilliant ep. Then I made hubby watch it. The rest is history.
I instantly thought of The Constant when I read this article. Love, love, love that ep. Probably my favorite of Lost so far.
Totally agree!!! The Constant is hands down the best episode of lost. . .it’s mind-boggling, emotional and kick starts the whole time-traveling story line! This episode cemented Desmond as my favorite character. He and Penny have the only romantic relationship that is worth rooting for on the show. Their phone call was perfection!
Yes! i still have it on my dvr….classic episode. that phone call btw des and penny….heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time.
the ending of Walkabout was like personally experience the “Vertigo” effect of backing out and zooming in. Wow, what an episode!
cheers -season 1 – ” Endless Slumper” – sam looses lucky bottlecap and is tempted to drink again, the story behind the cap and diane trying to stop sam from drinking again is classic
family ties – the one where alex and ellen meet and the one when alex sees a shrink after his best friend dies
WOW Watts – Your Cheers pick is right on! I found Cheers in reruns when I was 16 and that episode definitely is everything you said it is and more – you never had more of a reason to emphasize with Sam Malone before, and he was such a more “human” character after that.
In that same spirit, is it cheating to say the pilot episode for Frasier? They hit the ground running by ending the second act with Frasier and Martin’s argument and not ending with a joke to break the tension. Again, I came late to the scene, but I’m sure everyone who didn’t knew it was going to be good.
What episode of Seinfeld is it’s Time Capsule episode?
The Marine Biologist.
Agree, Marine Biologist. Top 5 episodes of any show ever.
i agree with that ep of cheers – sam, in the early seasons, was a deceptively deep character, flawed and charming at the same time, this ep is one of my all time favorites – big contrast to the mindless dope sam would become towards the end of the series
yeah, if you watch the first season and the last season of Cheers – Sam is almost totally different character – they really dumbed him down throughout the years
i agree with “endless slumper” and would like to nominate another season 1 gem, “let me count the ways” – the end where diane explains that as a child the one thing stopping her from commiting suicide was worrying about who would take care of her cat – it was a genuine unpretentious diane moment that was both a little funny and heartbreaking at the same time
i cried at the end – the characters were all real, the relationships werent forced, honestly tv is so vain today, i doubt anyone who looks like carla would get an acting job. enough with coffeehouses and back to where everyone knows your name!!!!!!!
that was possibly the best episode of the best season of one of the greatest comedies of all time – it was actually funny, not chuckle funny AND the characters like sam and coach were great
Coach : “Are you kidding?, he was a great drunk!, everything this kid did was great!”
Diane: “coach, where is your jacket, its 30 below out there?”
a shivering Coach replied: “oh thank God, I thought I had malaria”
The Body – Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 5
Not the most shinning example of what the show is all about, but it may be the most well crafted (and emotionally draining) hour of television I’ve ever seen.
Excellent Choice. I thought of this as well.
Well said!
That’s what I was going to say!
Agreed!
That was one of my choices but the episode of Buffy that has stayed with me the most is Hush, season 4 episode 10. It was creepy and beautiful and after all these years, I was 12 when it first aired, it has stayed with me the most.
I completely agree with both of these Buffy episodes. The Body was definitely emotionally powerful, but Hush is the episode that completely sold me on how amazing the show (and Joss) was.
Both “Hush” and “The Body” are fantastic episodes of Buffy. Two of the best.
HUSH is CLASSIC! I could not believe that was an episode for a TV series! It’s perfection.
I also love Hush and the Body. I also love, love, love Once More With Feeling (although I always fast forward through the Tara parts, SORRY Joss!)
I knew someone was going to mention this episode. It’s my number one.
These are classic Buffys, but we’re talking about the earliest example that the show had found its footing. For me, it was the opening scene of the season three opener “Anne”, with the Scoobys trying to fight vamps on their own.
has everyone else forgot “once more with feeling”? a lot of shows have done musicals before, but this one nailed out of the park. it has the buffy trademarks and the musical trademarks, so it works really well together.
Buffy arrived for me between “Phases” and “Innocence.” Angel vamping out was enough to get me hooked!
Lost–Through The Looking Glass (so cinematic, and such a wonderful send-off for charlie who was never one of my favorite characters)
Designing Women–the episode where Reva from Guiding Light is Charlene’s domestically abused cousin and they triumphantly sing “Aint No Mountain High Enough” at the end, perfect blend of comedy and tragedy
Friday Night Lights–Season 1 Episode where Julie and Tammy have the pre-sex talk and Season 3 Episode where they have the post-sex talk
Mad Men–A Night to Remember (focusing on the real stars of Season 2–Peggy, Joan and Betty)
The Sopranos–Employee of the Month and Anniversary
Moonlighting–the episode where Maddy chases David to NY for his brother in law’s funeral and there’s the oddly placed but wonderfully enjoyable dance sequence
Buffy- Passion, The Body, The Gift, Once More With Feeling
ER-the one where Lucy dies, KILLS ME
Gilmore Girls
Same one I thought.
All three are great examples, but The Body is just so emotionally powerful. The way it’s directed really gives the feel of confusion during a big emotional trauma. And Anya’s speech is so innocent and heart-felt. It really nails what people think when they lose someone close.
The problem with Buffy,is that you can’t really choose just one favorite or stellar episode. So many of them were flawless. But if I had to choose just one,it would be The Body.From the moment Buffy comes home and sees her mother on the couch & says “mom,mom,
mommy”,the episode is sheer genius.Each scene is absolute perfection.The dialog, the acting & the way each character reacts to
Joyce’s death is amazing. When Buffy slips and refers to her mother as “the body”,she gasps when she realizes how quickly Joyce had gone from her mother to just a body. Joyce was no longer in their. I also adore the scene when the Scoobys are in Willow’s dorm room. Anya’s speech about not understanding why people have to die,is such a beautiful way to illustrate the childlike human inside Anya,even though she had lived for centuries. When Zander punches the wall and Tara looks at his hand and says “it hurts”. She does not ask him if it hurts,she tells him it hurts because she felt his pain. Exactly what an empath she feel.I also love when you see the shot from the window of a cop giving Zander a ticket. A wonderful reminder that the world goes on,even when you feel like yours has stopped. Another scene was when they were all at the hospital.Everyone goes to get too many snacks except Buffy and Tara.You can feel the discomfort between the two because Buffy had never taken the time to get to know Tara. Joss even shot the two of them sitting far apart, to duplicate the emotional distance between the two.When Tara shares the story of her own mother’s death. Buffy did not even know her mother was dead.Buffy asks if it was sudden and Tara responds “no…..and yes.It always seems sudden even when you know it is coming”. Buffy was one of the most creative and finest shows in the history of television.The use of real demons as a metaphor of the demons within us all was absolutely brilliant. BRAVO Josh Whedon and all the excellent
actors in the Buffy universe including even the minor characters,like Clem. Thanks for sharing your vision.
The West Wing:
in excelcius duo
In the shadow of two gunmen Pt 1 and 2
The West Wing – Season 1
“Let Bartlet Be Bartlet”
West Wing – The Supremes – It’s on Bravo tomorrow morning!
Great pick–Let Bartlet Be Bartlet is one of my all-time favorite WW eps. Watching Leo call out Jed, saying “all we ever DO is test the waters” is one of the best scenes in the whole series, and the whole episode perfectly sums up Aaron Sorkin’s concept of the show.
“Two Cathedrals” was a masterpiece.
absolutely echoing “Two Cathedrals” – not only is it my all-time favorite West Wing Episode, but it’s the episode where you really see Aaron Sorkin’s brilliance outshine anything he’s ever done before
Posse Comitatus, the season 3 finale, was one of the best episodes of West Wing ever. Alison Janney was amazing and the last 15 minutes was the biggest emotional rollercoater.
Some absolutely stellar picks. In the Shadow of Two Gunmen and Two Cathedrals, of course, but also:
Bartlet for America
The Stackhouse Filibuster
Pilot
Take This Sabbath Day
A Proportional Response
Guh. That’s a lineup I could watch all day, every day.
West Wing-
“The Stormy Present” from Season V. Also, the “Stackhouse Filibuster is a killer ep.
As soon as I read the headline I thought of Mud Bowl for FNL- that is the episode I always go back and rewatch when I want an FNL fix and They Shoot Gilmore’s Don’t They as my Gilmore Girls choice
I definitely agree with They Shoot Gilmore’s Don’t They. Definitely an episode worth rewatching many times.
I agree about the Mud Bowl ep. Isn’t that the one where Julie runs up to Matty Saracen and tells him she loves him? I was swooning.
Friends: The one where Everybody finds out.
The Office: Casino Night.
24: Ep. 18, season 3 (6 – 7 am, I think) where Jack kills Ryan Chappelle.
Gilmore Girls: season 1 finale (I can´t remember the name right now)
I love that 24 ep. I think that was the episode that really showed what lengths Jack would go to.
Friends – The One with the Embryos! One of the best Friends episode ever because it was at that perfect moment in the show where you know enough about the characters to really understand all of the new tidbits of information that you find out through the game they play.
The whole secret relationship between Monica and Chandler was hilarious and greatly entertaining. I actually hated that 24 episode. It was a moment when I felt the show went too far.
I completely agree about TOW Everyone Finds Out! Phoebe screaming Chandler and Monica! Oh my eyes! CLASSIC!!!!!!
i would go with ‘the one with the empbroys’ best part when monicas realises that she has lost, that NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
Lost–The Constant
Breaking Bad–Cancer Man
Yup, “The Constant” is my abs fav Lost episode, even if it’s not really about the Oceanic 815 survivors.
“The Generalissimo” from 30 Rock this year was an absolute classic as well.
Lost – The constant is probably my favorite episode, but the one episode I will always go back to as the greatest LOST masterpiece ever will be “Through the Looking Glass” (season 3 finale)
Twin Peaks- Episode 5, Cooper’s Dream. Nuff said!
Totally agree with Mudbowl and Casino Night! I’d add “The Man in the Fallout Shelter” from Bones.
My favorite too. Nobody seems to talk about Angel much here but there are some that stay fresh, at least with me…now I hope I remember the title correctly, Sense and Sensitivity. A montage of moments is cascading through my head. Veronica Mars, Angel, Bones, better than drugs.
There are so many, but I have to list my favorite episodes in tv history. My favorite is definitely “Employee of the Month” from Season Three of the Sopranos. Lorraine Bracco should have won an emmy for that performance. The episode was haunting, dealing with extremely dark and personal subject matter, and the final conclusion made it all the more chilling. I would also say from House, “House’s Head” and “Wilson’s Heart” are equally tied in my book. “House’s Head” was amazing because we as an audience got to become directly connected to the brain pattern of one of the most popular characters in tv history, and that final haunting shot when House see’s Amber sitting across from him on the bus, then BAM the garbage truck hits the bus and everyone goes flying. Truly amazing stuff. I cried when Amber died in the next episode! I loved her character and felt bad for Wilson. Truly two phenominal episodes back to back. The final three are from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Alias, and Melrose Place. “The Visitor” episode from Deep Space 9 truly made me almost cry and really showed the bond of father and son. The Alias pilot episode was pretty much the best pilot episode in tv history. Too bad the show did not have that level of quality throughout its five season run. And finally, the Melrose Place episode “The Big Bang Theory” was probably the best cliffhanger and watercooler moment in tv history. When Kimberley runs out with a remote device in her hand that triggers a bomb, she screams “It’s not what you think…it’s worse!” One of the best lines ever, and a gripping cliffhanger.
So my five are:
1. “Employee of the Month” The Sopranos, Season 3
2. “House’s Head/Wilson’s Heart” House, Season 4
3. “Truth Be Told/Pilot” Alias, Season 1
4. “The Visitor” Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Season 4
5. “The Big Bang Theory Part 1″ Melrose Place, Season 3
I can’t believe that someone actually picked “The Visitor” from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine! That was an outstanding episode from an excellent series. Tony Todd and Avery Brooks were awesome in that…
Great post, Corran!
Once More With Feeling- Buffy the Vampire Slayer
It just doesn’t get better than Sunnydale’s musical explosion, complete with songs about demons, sex, and bunnies.
Another one of my all time favorite episodes of Buffy. It was amazing and so orginal.
Grey’s Anatomy:
Season 2 Finale
Deterioration of the Fight or Flight Response/Losing My Religion
Grey’s”
It’s the End of the World/As We Know It
Season 2 bomb episodes
Mine would be
Bring the Pain
or
Into you like a Train
This was the episode that orginally sealed the deal for me. But the George and Izzy thing turned me off for good.
YES! I just watched it the other day and I was bawling even though I knew that the bomb guy turns into pink mist and Bailey’s husband pulls through.
greys season 2 finally….dead on!
Rough Seas from Burn Notice S2. Maybe I think this episode is so great/representative of the series because it’s the first one I saw, but it’s still really good.