Best/Worst "Very Special Episodes"?

Cafe Society
1

After running a search, no one was more surprised than myself to learn that this hasn’t been used as a thread before.

Which I can only assume means that I just used the wrong search terms. Ah, well.

Anyway…what are your suggestions for the Best and Worst “Very Special Episodes,” from whatever TV shows?

My picks…

Worst,

•The Anti-Gang Episode of "Captain Planet"
Seeing as the show was about enviromental protection, this particular subject was a bit incongruous, to say the least. It’d be like having an episode of X-Men focusing on the plight of independent farmers.

And then there were the ghostly images of civil rights leaders that kept appearing, translucent, in the background. I think it was supposed to be haunting and tragic, but it just comes across as Über-sappy.

On the plus side, we do see Kath Soucie’s Linka with a bare midriff.
Best,

•The Anti-Drug Episode of "G.I. Joe"
Not so much because of the “message” involved, but because of the unique opportunity to see Cobra “in action.”

The Joes and Cobra team up to take down an evil druglord…the Joes’ motivation, to stop him from selling drugs. I know, “Big whoop.”

Cobra’s motivation, to stop the druglord’s forces from “getting in their way”…and, when they’re attacking his fortress, to steal his money for themselves.

It’s not often that supervillains get to act as positive role models, while still remaining “true” to themselves. It’s a good thing. :cool:

Plus, this episode is one of the few times that someone is actually killed in a G.I. Joe battle. We see the twitching corpse, an’ everything.

So…any other nominees?

2

I hope you weren’t only looking for animated VSE’s.

For me, nothing will ever beat the “Richie Almost Dies” episode of Happy Days. I still remember seeing the headline on the National Enquirer: “Fonzie Cries!” In those long-ago, pre-VCR days, I put the microphone from my cassette tape recorder up to the T.V. and audiotaped the entire show. Then I listened to it over and over again until I shredded the tape.

Now look what you’ve done. I’m going to have to go home and pull out my VHS copy. Got Kleenex? :wink:

3

Best : the anti-drug episode of Dinosaurs, followed by a plea from Robbie Sinclair: “Kids, don’t use drugs – keep us from having to do these lame very special episodes!”

Worst: Oy, where to begin?

5

Best - Diff’rent Strokes - Arnold’s best friend gets molested by the bicycle shop guy.

6

With Gordon Jump as the bicycle shop guy.

          Another very well done one is the Family Ties episode with Tom Hanks as the uncle (or someone) that Alex idolizes and then finds out he is an alcoholic.  

          Worst :  ANy episode of Blossom or Full House.  To paraphrase Saturday Night Live, "I don't know if I should have sex with Vinny.....for the sixth time."
7

Worst: Jesse gets hooked on “drugs” (I think it was something asinine like caffiene pills) on Saved By The Bell. (singing) “I’m so excited! I’m so excited! I’m so… (breaks into sobbing) scared!”

Yee gads.

Another Worst: Not sure if it qualifies, but the episode of The Simpsons where Maude Flanders died. I wasn’t necessarily offended by the treatment of the death of one of the characters (I expected it to be pretty flippant), but I just thought the whole episode was stupid. I saw it twice when it originally aired (one on the air, once on tape) and haven’t seen it sense. Not even good enough for syndication, I suppose. :wink:

Best: Thinking… thinking… How about the episode (or episodes) of The West Wing when the president’s secretary was killed by a drunk driver on her way home with her first new car. The scene in the Cathedral with the president cursing God in Latin was just plain awesome. (that may have been in a subsequent episode, but hey it’s related)

8

Not sure if this fits your criteria, but I saw the “Death of Henry Blake” episode of MASH on the Hallmark channel recently. Though I’m rather cynical about dramatic moments in episodic TV, I did feel that one was done very well.

9

Tom Hanks was on a earlier episode of “Family Ties.” The character was Elysee’s brother Ned Donnelly. He had hid a bunch of his company’s assets in a computer program so they couldn’t buy a smaller company and put all the employees there out of work

The character came back as a hard drinking down-on-his-luck guy who couldn’t get another job. He ended up drunk and punching Alex, where Steve orders him out of the house. So Ned called AA for a happy ending.

I didn’t like the special “Family Ties” episodes where Alex got hooked on pills, and when his best friend died and he had to see a shrink.

10

My vote for the best:

Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular!

“The cash register says, “NRA4EVER”, just one of the hundreds of radical right-wing messages inserted into every show by creator Matt Groening.”

“Which popular “Simpsons” characters have died in the past year? If you said Bleeding Gums Murphy and Dr. Marvin Monroe, you are wrong: they were never popular.”
It was pretty funny for a special.

11

" . . . And now, what you’ve all been waiting for, hardcore nudity." I love the Simpsons 138th episode spectacular.

I seem to recall a Growing Pains where the teen dude is tempted to use drugs. Or a Who’s the Boss? where the teen chick is tempted to use drugs. Or the Full House where the guy who likes Elvis is tempted to use drugs. Well, they’re all the same.

12

You forgot the Fresh Prince, where Will tells Carlton his pills are vitamins and Carlton pops a few. That episode was priceless.

13

Best: When the father on Goodtimes dies and Florida ends the episode with, “Damn, damn, DAMN!”

14

I don’t remember that one, but I do remember the Growing Pains where the teen chick’s boyfriend drives drunk, and gets killed. Most notable thing about that episode being that the boyfriend in question was played by Matthew “Chandler Bing” Perry, before the whole Friends thing happened.

15

Nope, that one airs in syndication. It was just on here in Madison a couple of weeks ago. And I think it’s a pretty good episode. The 21-t-shirt salute (with the slogan “Let 'er R.I.P.”), Billy Graham’s Bible Blasters video game (“Can we play now?” “You are playing; we’re a team!” (pause) “YAY!”), Homer’s dating video for Ned (with the loooong pixilation over Ned’s naughty bits and “Dad, there are other wipes besides star wipes!”). The ending’s not great but the ep overall is solid.

16

The thread below was about sarcastic suggestions for Special Episodes, not ones that actually aired:

Very Special Episodes" you’d wish they made.

17

Best VSE doesn’t really mean much, as they all suck. But the “best” one I remember is the Fresh Prince ep where Carlton and Will end up in jail on car theft charges because of the rascist cop. I wish I could be original and come up with a new worst, but nothing is worse than “Jesse gets hooked on caffiene pills” on Saved By the Bell.

18

I do remember the VSE of Growing Pains where Mike is at a party and tempted by drugs. Nothing noteworthy about it. Same as all the others. I also do recall Jesse on Saved by the Bell and the speed pills. Like all Bell episodes, very, very bad.

         The MASH and Good Times episodes were very good.  I had fotgotten about them.  I disagree about the West WIng episode, though.  ANd that speech of Martin Sheen's in the Cathedral is way overhyped.  Other than him speaking Latin, I see nothing that spectacular about what he says.  He actually argues at one point that since he created jobs for the country, this shouldn't happen to him.  I don't even want to get into the fallacies of that argument.  I, in fact, find the speech kind of cheesy.  And the cigareete stomped out....saw that coming a mile away.
19

I can’t believe no one mentioned . . .

Edith Almost Gets Raped!!!

.

20

Who Shot Mr Burns was pretty good. It counts, right? There’s no learning, but it was certainly an event.

“No jury would convict a baby… maybe Texas.”

21

Best: The Who concert trampling in WKRP in Cincinnati.

Worst: Late MAS*H messages with Alan Alda’s moralizing. You know the ones; no laugh track, visiting newsreel crews, caught behind enemy lines and having heart-to-heart conversations with North Koreans … that sort of thing. Even as a liberal, I found those very special MAS*H episodes tiresome.