# Best scene in Television **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [August 30, 2024, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483 "2024-08-30T19:14:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/184 "2024-09-09T02:29:56Z")
If we’re going to get into WW a guy falls in a hole: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZQJ6yqQRAQs/hqdefault.jpg ""What the hell are you doing, now we're both in the hole!"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQJ6yqQRAQs) ---
**Author:** ![epbrown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47774/32.png) [@epbrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/185 "2024-09-09T03:41:45Z")
The speech from the pilot of “The Newsroom” debunking the idea that America is the greatest country in the world. Giles’ speech to Buffy about reuniting with her boyfriend Angel, who had killed Giles’ girlfriend and tortured Giles himself. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/186 "2024-09-09T03:54:42Z")
This far in and nobody’s mentioned the War? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/7xnNhzgcWTk/hqdefault.jpg "Fawlty Towers - Don't mention the war.mpg") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xnNhzgcWTk) ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/187 "2024-09-09T04:39:55Z")
> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > I think the OC is underrated Don’t call it that. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/s78adWHXQ8U/hqdefault.jpg "The OC, Don't Call It That") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s78adWHXQ8U) ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/188 "2024-09-09T05:31:07Z")
> [@kitap](#): > > I have seen the Elephant Story many times and I have yet to find it funny. I’ve tried to find Tim Conway funny but I just don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/189 "2024-09-09T07:04:32Z")
> [@vislor](#): > > Walton is fantastic in that show. God yeah. Here’s a terrific Walton Goggins scene, where his character, local crime boss Boyd Crowder, meets a big-city mob enforcer and the two men size each other up. Some very subtle acting here: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/awp-wud531g/maxresdefault.jpg "Justified | Robert Quarles meets Boyd Crowder | Carpetbagger") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awp-wud531g) ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/190 "2024-09-09T13:54:59Z")
FWIW I’ve never seen the Mary Tyler Moore Show, don’t know any of the characters and instantly saw the humor in Chuckles. The incongruity of two topics (serious of death vs frivolity of the name Chuckles) is about as basic as humor gets. I don’t think it’s that funny or that great a scene, but the source of humor is obvious. ---
**Author:** ![vislor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vislor/32/5933_2.png) [@vislor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vislor)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/191 "2024-09-09T14:29:09Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > FWIW I’ve never seen the Mary Tyler Moore Show, don’t know any of the characters and instantly saw the humor in Chuckles. The incongruity of two topics (serious of death vs frivolity of the name Chuckles) is about as basic as humor gets. > > I don’t think it’s that funny or that great a scene, but the source of humor is obvious. Okay. Glad you saw it. I didn’t. I’m didn’t see an incongruity because if you are reporting on the clown name, it will be strange. I didn’t think the writing made it funny in how they used the name. > [@terentii](#): > > This far in and nobody’s mentioned the War? Because we aren’t supposed to? > [@epbrown](#): > > The speech from the pilot of “The Newsroom” debunking the idea that America is the greatest country in the world. Giles’ speech to Buffy about reuniting with her boyfriend Angel, who had killed Giles’ girlfriend and tortured Giles himself. That Newsroom speech is great! As are your other examples. Thanks! Thanks for the discussion! ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/192 "2024-09-09T14:43:58Z")
Here’s another Carol Burnett/Tim Conway skit to not laugh at. [Tim Conway - Dentist](https://youtu.be/9IUSM4EKcRI?si=P_YYn2mhB_xe4ASs) ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/193 "2024-09-09T14:56:33Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I couldn’t stop laughing when I saw _ **Beavis and Butthead** _ watching the “Sweet Harmony” video: > > **BUTT-HEAD:** Whoa! Naked chicks! It’s like, they must have known the music sucks, so they decided to put in a lot of naked chicks instead! > **BEAVIS:** They did the right thing! The best B&B ep. tho was where Beavis drinks too much coffee in a hipster beat poet cafe’, transforms into Cornholio, goes up to the mike and spews his usual gibberish–and the patrons all become convinced that’s he’s some profound poet. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/194 "2024-09-09T15:55:48Z")
> [@vislor](#): > > > [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > > > FWIW I’ve never seen the Mary Tyler Moore Show, don’t know any of the characters and instantly saw the humor in Chuckles. The incongruity of two topics (serious of death vs frivolity of the name Chuckles) is about as basic as humor gets. > > > > I don’t think it’s that funny or that great a scene, but the source of humor is obvious. > > Okay. Glad you saw it. I didn’t. I’m didn’t see an incongruity because if you are reporting on the clown name, it will be strange. I didn’t think the writing made it funny in how they used the name. It’s not about how they used the name. It’s how the characters reacted to the death. Especially how Mary was sad and scolding the rest of them for making jokes and then loses it at the funeral. The other context you might be missing is that this wasn’t someone they were reporting about, they knew him and he worked at the station. As can be inferred by the term, the humor in situation comedies derives from the situation. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/195 "2024-09-09T17:23:31Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > This far in and nobody’s mentioned the War? Post #83. ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/196 "2024-09-09T17:30:35Z")
[Sherlock and John bicker like an old married couple](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPCnsex4Wlg). It’s still funny after ten years (omigosh, was that ten years ago?). ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/197 "2024-09-09T18:35:49Z")
IMO, it’s not Tim Conway that makes it funny. It’s Vicki Lawrence swearing in character, because she’s just as tired of his crap as I was ---
**Author:** ![epbrown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47774/32.png) [@epbrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/198 "2024-09-12T19:25:35Z")
One of the best twists in recent television was the start of the “Robin Sparkles” arc on How I Met Your Mother. Totally unexpected while still being plausible, and the gift that kept giving, not even counting that it also started the Slap Bet arc. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2024, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/199 "2024-09-13T17:09:15Z")
This may be the absolute best scene ever: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/tAr7jsr0qZQ/hqdefault.jpg "Cheers -- Coach & His Daughter") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAr7jsr0qZQ) ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2024, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/200 "2024-09-13T20:18:03Z")
> [@epbrown](#): > > One of the best twists in recent television was the start of the “Robin Sparkles” arc on How I Met Your Mother. Totally unexpected while still being plausible, and the gift that kept giving, not even counting that it also started the Slap Bet arc. The Robin Sparkles episodes were the funniest ones of that show’s entire run, IMHO. The Canadians on the writing staff must have had a blast creating those. The one with her music video “Sand Castles in the Sand” (featuring a cameo by Alan Thicke) just slayed me. A whole thread could be made from _West Wing_ scenes. The most devastating one for me was in “Drought Conditions” (season 6, episode 16) the two-hander between Toby and CJ, wherein Ton confesses that his brother, for whom he’d been sitting shiva, had killed himself. Speaking of Sorkin, the _Sports Night_ episode “And the Crowd Goes Wild” has the scene in which Natalie breaks down over her split with Jeremy in Isaac’s office and it never fails to make me well up. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2024, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/201 "2024-09-14T12:06:17Z")
Seymour’s final years in the Jurassic Bark episode of _Futurama_. ---
**Author:** ![Newtosite](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/newtosite/32/8623_2.png) [@Newtosite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Newtosite)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2024, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/202 "2024-09-15T03:14:21Z")
I know the writer who wrote this. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2024, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/203 "2024-09-15T03:45:57Z")
The next time you talk to him or her, please convey how much I enjoyed it. It’s a beautiful scene, wonderfully written and brilliantly acted. I can’t watch it without getting choked up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483.md?page=11)