Another for the above: Hawkeye’s sudden realization that Nurse Kellye is cute and sweet and sexy on MASH in spite of her non Nordic features and round figure and that she has great depth and tenderness besides. True to form, though, next time he’s seen with a starlet type (who’s 25 years too young for Alan Alda).
I don’t really remember much of that episode. How about the payola one? “There’s a monkey on my foot!”
Odinoneeye,
I thought you were going to say the ST : TNG episode where all the crew gets hooked on some game where they put on headgear and do...something. The goal was to get to such and such level. Wesley ends up saving the day in the end. Truly dreadful. It was their own version of the drug addiction episode.I always liked the Family Ties episode where Alex gets hooked on speed. His manic behaviour was just done so well by Michael J. Fox.
“Alex, it’s three in the morning! What are you doing? Painting?”
“Yeah. Want me to paint your room? I’ll throw a drop cloth over you and mom.”
“No, and… Good god, what are those trenches in the yard?”
“Underground sprinkler system!”
I remembered an even better WKRP special episode. Venus teaching the concept of the atom to some hoodlum.
Sam Stone: I love that episode. They also mention that Alex installed a skylight, which became a household joke for us. Ever after, anytime I was a little too caffinated or fidgety, I’d announce that I was going to put in a skylight. 
These are all great, especially sampiro’s comments on the special dates subgenre.
Worst: How about the Nancy Reagan/just-say-no episode of Different Strokes? I haven’t seen that mentioned yet.
Also, I have to agree with previous poster that the Happy Days where Richie almost dies is pretty awful, especially when Mr. C. makes his speech: "Now, Richard’s been in an accident … " and then Leather Tuscadero plays the piano. Was it the first time they used that “slow Happy Days theme” at the end to show they were being serious?
Well, even though it was one of the lamest t.v. series ever, I say we have to give credit to The Facts of Life for actually having a real disabled person as a recurring character. I can’t remember the actress’ name, but she played Blair’s sister with Cerebral Palsy. The actress actually did have c.p. She was never a regular, but she was one the series more than once, and even appeared pretty frequently for a while.
I remember her! She was also a stand-up comic, as was the actress who played her. Geri Jewell is her name.
Then there was the wheelchair-bound secretary on Night Court. I don’t remember if that was a recurring character, though.
Dignan, you are correct, I seem to have combined two very lame VSE Saved By The Bell episodes into one. Your memory of them is better than mine. It was the PSA at the end that I remembered the most, so we have two bad VSEs there instead of one.
As for “special date” episodes, Blanche on The Golden Girls once dated a blind man, but she was the love 'em and leave 'em type anyway. And one of the Facts Of Life girls (I think Blair) went out with the goofy guy who helped set up the audio equipment who had, gasp, acne! I realize teen acne on sitcoms is usually shown as one big red dot on a main character’s nose or forehead before a big date, but they got no karma points for that one. The show acted like that was the only kid in town with zits.
Pretty much any sitcom’s “let’s get a gun for security after we’ve been robbed” episode sucks. They all have the same overheated gun control message, and every character turns into a frightened version of Curly from the Three Stooges when the gun is around. The two that stand out for me are the Family Ties and WKRP episodes.
Two WKRP VSEs I did like: The one about Venus and his military record from Vietnam was fairly well done. The tornado episode was worth putting up with the serious moments just for the part where Les reads the Emergency Broadcast System message for if the Soviets invade and substitutes the word “tornados” for “communists”. Classic.