Magnum PI: Twice i sat down to watch an ep, and it not only was the same ep, but a famous one that still shows up in references from time to time. The one where magnum shoots an unarmed guy at the end.
The Lucy Show: The one where she builds a booby trap filled vault for Jack Bennys money? And at the end he’s so impressed that theyre sinking to their deaths in quicksand, he elatedly says he loves the vault.
Dennis the Menace: Dennis swivels a street sign around, and somebody digs a swimming pool in the wrong backyard. What a terrible show.
The Honeymooners: Ralph gets a TV set. Norton sneaks in to watch Captain Video.
Home Improvement - I can remember jokes and bits but for the life of me can’t remember an actual “A Story” plotline. Didn’t one of the kids get caught with pot once?
Rockford Files. I know I’d seen quite a few episodes on its original run, but just recently I watched seasons 1-4 pretty much straight through, and although I recognized signatures such as Garner’s sports coats, the trailer, the gold Firebird and the recurring characters such as Angel, Rocky and Beth Davenport, I couldn’t identify a single ep as one I’d seen before.
Cigarettes, maybe, but I don’t think the show ever dealt with drugs. Even being aired in the early 90’s, I don’t recall any Very Special Episodes coming out of that show.
I’ve twice watched an episode of Grey’s Anatomy and like the OP, both times it was the same one. It was the episode where two people were impaled by the same pole. Looking it up online, I clearly didn’t watch it all the way through either time. If there was an episode with a bomb, I might have seen that as well.
More along the lines of the OP, I’ll put down Shameless. I started watching it a few years ago. I got maybe halfway through the first season and just kinda forgot about it. Every once in a while, I’ll catch 20 minutes of an episode here and there. I certainly don’t remember (or know) enough about it to carry myself in a conversation about the intricacies of the show, but I have the general concept of it.
PS, I just saw a few minutes of an episode with Frank’s mom and in looking up who she was, I eventually found my way to the next Ryan Murphy show, Ratched.
Funny, I was just thinking about this the other day with “Wings”. I watched it a lot both first run and reruns, but the only one that really sticks in my mind is the Christmas episode where they all get together for dinner at Faye’s house.
On a side note, this thread brings to mind the television viewing law that states, “If you watch a TV series only twice, the second time will be a rerun of the episode you saw the first time you watched the show.”
Does WKRP in Cincinnati count? I only saw one episode – but it was the famous one – “As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.”
Does Babylon 5 count? I only saw “Grail,” because it was written by Christy Marx (I’m a fan of hers.)
The only episode of “Home Improvement” I remember is the one where the parents were worried one of the sons(the one played by Jonathan Taylor Thomas) might have cancer.
I have watched “Gilligan’s Island” but the only episode I can remember is one where the castaways were about to get off island and Gilligan managed to mess it up.
When “Friends” was all the rage I worked in a small office with people who loooooved “Friends” and talked about it all the time. The premise didn’t appeal to me but I gave it a try. Watched 15 minutes and just couldn’t get into it. Months later I tried watching it again, and damned if the episode that came on wasn’t the same episode I’d turned off way back when. I’ve never seen an episode of “Friends” and don’t in any way feel deprived.
I think I watched every episode of “Wings” and can’t remember a single one. “Wings” was a prime example of what in TV parlance is a “hammock” show. NBC used this tactic a lot with its “Must See TV” lineup on Thursday nights. “Wings,” an amiable but unremarkable sitcom was placed in between two of their popular sitcoms. I don’t recall which two but “Cheers” was probably one of them. The idea was that people would tune in for show #1, in which show #3 would be promoted, and rather than change the channel when show #2 came on, they would watch it in anticipation of show #3. This gave a boost to the weaker show in the middle, and served to introduce it to a receptive audience. CBS used this tactic on its blockbuster Saturday night lineup in the 1970’s. “Wings” lasted a few years and probably much longer than it would have if it hadn’t been between two blockbusters. I don’t know if this tactic is still used today, with so many other choices easily available.
Back around 1970, CBS had a lineup of sitcoms that were heavily promoted (“Critical Acclaim!”) but never found an audience. Two of them were He & She (with Richard Benjamin, Paula Prentiss, and Jack Cassidy) and The Governor & JJ (with Dan Dailey and Julie Sommars). I’m sure I saw every episode of both, but I can remember only one of each: In the first, Julie Sommars (again) was cartoonist Benjamin’s inept background artist; in the second, the Governor was reunited with a wartime love he couldn’t remember.
There was one other that I watched, The Good Guys, which was a vehicle for post-Gilligan’s Island Bob Denver. The only episode I more or less remember is one where Bob and his partner Herb Edelman were filming a commercial for their diner: “Come to Bert’s, where the coffee smells…” [Flip to another cue card] … like a night in Brazil."
Jim Backus and Alan Hale, Jr, also made guest appearances, leading to lines like “Didn’t I see you guys on an island?”
That’s one of my favorites! 
I have only seen one episode of Friends, but I think I can name all the actors and the names of their characters. I am aware that they meet in a coffee shop called “Central Perk”.
The one I saw was one where Monica dated a kid she thought was a college senior. He ended up being a high-school senior.
I remember nothing except that.
I have only seen the pilot of Breaking Bad. I might have seen the second episode if it aired back-to-back with the pilot.
However, I know that it is about Walter White, who is a chemistry teacher. He gets cancer and turns to creating meth and selling it. Turns out, he’s great at it and he rises up to become a drug lord and quite the terrible guy. He has a students named Jesse who helps him.
Yep.
Brady Bunch… The one I remember is where they were supposed to sing a song and one of the boys (Peter?) voice was changing.
Night Court. The only episode I can remember is the one where Selma has died and Bull goes on a bender. That may be the only episode I’ve watched, but I’m not certain about that.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. I loved that show when I was about 10 years old and I’m pretty sure I saw every episode, but the only one I remember featured a diabolical machine that could dissolve people with bubble-bath foam.