# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/124 "2024-09-04T05:25:02Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > I’ve posted this before, and I’ll post it again. > Possibly the best scene in the entire Star Trek franchise: > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VhSm6G7cVk&pp=ygUNcm9vdCBiZWVyIGRzOQ%3D%3D/](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VhSm6G7cVk&pp=ygUNcm9vdCBiZWVyIGRzOQ%3D%3D/) I’ll see your root beer, and raise you… FOUR… LIGHTS! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/wjKQQpPVifY/hqdefault.jpg "Star Trek: The Next Generation - Four Lights") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjKQQpPVifY) ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/125 "2024-09-04T06:12:33Z")
I’ll see your Four Lights, and raise you the Great Material Continuum. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/BxHhCh9zA3I/hqdefault.jpg "The Great Material Continuum") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxHhCh9zA3I&t=51) ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/126 "2024-09-04T14:09:37Z")
It may not be the best but my favorite scene in TOS was the bar fight in the tribbles episode. People never change, no matter what breed they are. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/127 "2024-09-04T14:46:04Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Oh boy. That is a good scene, but there is a scene in the finale that made me sob like a baby the first time I saw it. When I saw it a second time a few years with my kids, I sobbed like a baby again. It is the only scene on television that has ever affected me that way. This one? > Picture a wave. In the ocean. You can see it, measure it, its height, the way the sunlight refracts when it passes through. And it’s there. And you can see it, you know what it is. It’s a wave. > > And then it crashes in the shore and it’s gone. But the water is still there. The wave was just a different way for the water to be, for a little while. You know it’s one conception of death for Buddhists: the wave returns to the ocean, where it came from and where it’s supposed to be. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/128 "2024-09-04T14:47:28Z")
😭 dammit (I mentioned this scene to my older daughter–and she reminded me that she hadn’t actually watched it. She recognizes that it’s probably brilliant, but she doesn’t need that kind of emotional gut punch in her life. Which, fair enough.) ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/129 "2024-09-04T15:05:40Z")
From “Babylon 5:” [Kosh, you know what is at stake!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzBDhnWK6zg) ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/130 "2024-09-04T15:12:16Z")
That and 1,771,561 tribbles falling on Captain Kirk’s head. ---
**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 4, 2024, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/131 "2024-09-04T15:16:05Z")
I liked the exchange between Trader and Cyrano Jones when they were bartering for the Tribbles. Unfortunately, the best line ended up on the cutting room floor: **TRADER:** Are they clean? **CYRANO:** [_Offended_] They’re as clean as you are. [_Pause_] I dare say a good deal cleaner… ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/132 "2024-09-04T21:29:28Z")
David Gerrold’s book _The Trouble with Tribbles - the Story Behind_ is a great read on what goes into making an episode for TV. I recall him saying that Cyrano made a “curvy woman” motion with his hands that also got cut/edited out in the final version. If there was a thread about the best book about television, this might be it. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/133 "2024-09-05T01:08:51Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > I recall him saying that Cyrano made a “curvy woman” motion with his hands that also got cut/edited out in the final version. Nitpick. It was the Klingon commander who made the curvy woman motion when he said, “Our ship is not equipped with. . . luxuries.” You can see him start to move his hands, then the rest of the motion is cut. ---
**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 5, 2024, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/134 "2024-09-05T01:42:50Z")
The actual exchange was: (False smiles all round as Kirk and Spock are greeted by a Klingon who very closely resembles the Squire of Gothos…) **KOLOTH:** Ah, my dear Captain Kirk. **KIRK:** My dear Captain Koloth. **KOLOTH:** Let me assure you that my intentions are peaceful. As I’ve already told Mister Lurry, the purpose of my presence is to invoke shore leave rights. **KIRK:** Shore leave? **KOLOTH:** Captain, we Klingons are not as luxury-minded as you Earthers. We do not equip our ships with, how shall I say it, non-essentials. (Makes an hourglass gesture with his hands.) **KORAX:** We have been in space for five months. What we choose as recreation is our own business. **KOLOTH:** I might also add that under terms of the Organian Peace Treaty, you cannot refuse us. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/135 "2024-09-05T02:00:53Z")
Willian Shatner is well-known for his overacting as Captain Kirk but two of the best scenes were when he went understated. In ST2 his telling Khan, “Here it comes.” pause “Now Mr. Spock.” But as this is about TV, Kirk’s badass line (mostly in the way it was delivered) was from _The Conscience of the King_ where Kirk is determined to go after Anton Karidian whom he believes to be Kodos the Executioner. McCoy angrily says, “What if you decide that he is Kodos? What then? Do you play God, carry his head through the corridors in triumph? That won’t bring back the dead, Jim.” Kirk calmly replies, “No. But they may rest easier.” ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/136 "2024-09-05T03:15:10Z")
The worst pun in TV history was in Tribbles. Gerrold wrote in his book, “I haven’t the slightest idea who is responsible for this pun. I’m not. You can’t pun this one on me.” But according to IMDB: > [@](#): > > In his autobiography, “Beam Me Up, Scotty,” James Doohan said that the final line, “…where they’ll be no tribble at all” was his spin on the scripted line, which used “trouble” instead of “tribble.” He only used it in one take and that was the take director Joseph Pevney decided to use. ---
**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 5, 2024, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/137 "2024-09-05T03:25:11Z")
In the cartoon episode, where the tribbles grow larger instead of more numerous, Scotty’s final line is “and may all your tribbles be little ones” ---
**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 5, 2024, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/138 "2024-09-05T15:13:35Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Willian Shatner is well-known for his overacting as Captain Kirk I think this is more in the movies not the series. We got the remastered original series and I was surprised how much he didn’t overact. I was expecting it but didn’t see it. It could be me, though. Too many good scenes. Spike’s first appearance on Angel and his voice over watching Angel help someone. OMWF - “Not exactly Shakespeare is it?” “We few, we happy few.” “We band of buggered.” Serenity - “Define Interesting.” TNG - When Picard refuses the alien transmission after being badgered by them the whole episode. In the same episode, Data showing the colonists how they can’t stop the aliens. Bab5 - Londo Mollari: But this - this, this, this is like - being nibbled to death by, uh - Pah! What are those Earth creatures called? Feathers, long bill, webbed feet, go “quack”. Vir Cotto: Cats. Londo Mollari: Cats! I’m being nibbled to death by cats. (The other Bab5 quotes mentioned.) “Ivanova is god.” “Next time, my way.” Too many! ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/139 "2024-09-05T16:10:22Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > From _The Wire_, “Where’s Wallace”? Yes, absolutely. Also from that show, the conclusion of Omar’s story arc was extremely well done, IMO. There are really too many to list from The Wire- Bunk and McNulty analyzing a crime scene with only one word is fun. ---
**Author:** ![WalterBishop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/aeb1de/32.png) [@WalterBishop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WalterBishop)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/140 "2024-09-05T16:31:14Z")
This is my favourite scene of TV ever. I’ve never seen acting this good before, probably won’t again: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEK5pIfDfzI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEK5pIfDfzI) Edit: Don’t know why the video isn’t displaying. It’s the scene from the 12th episode of season 4 of Breaking Bad (‘End Times’) where Jesse confronts Walt about what happened to Brock. For my money, it’s the tensest scene in the entire show. First time I watched it my pulse was going so fast it made my fitbit buzz! ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/141 "2024-09-05T16:47:37Z")
Dammit. Now I’m going to have to watch BB yet another time! ---
**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 5, 2024, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/142 "2024-09-05T17:06:27Z")
As far as butt-clenching tension goes, I submit the scene in _ **Danger: UXB** _ where Brian Ash and an Australian naval officer are trying to disarm an enormous parachute mine that’s crashed through the roof of a flat. The timer on the mine suddenly starts whirring, and the Australian accidentally drops the widget needed to stop it. The widget disappears among the rubble on the floor, and the Australian turns to Brian and says one word: **“RUN!”** Brian tears out of the flat and starts running as fast as he can down the street to put as much distance between him and the explosion as possible. Meanwhile, the Australian is down on his hands and knees, searching coolly for the widget. He finds it just before the mine is set to detonate and … is able to insert it and stop the timer. I let out a huge sigh of relief and slumped in my seat when the mine stopped whirring and the scene ended. ---
**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 5, 2024, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483/143 "2024-09-05T18:58:37Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > There are really too many to list from The Wire- Bunk and McNulty analyzing a crime scene with only one word is fun. I was trying to think of some from the Wire. I don’t think it’s a good scene show especially compared to Breaking Bad or Better Call Saul. It’s more about a long slow burn. The scene you reference here would be my pick though. Or the previously referenced Snoop scene. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scene-in-television/1006483.md?page=8)