He definitely thought he was a good guy and was quite concerned for other telepaths. I love that episode. I think Bester is Walter Koenig’s defining role, not that silly Chekov guy he plays on that other sci-fi show. 
I have a dim memory from childhood of a Ben Casey episode that did something similar. I probably wasn’t supposed to be watching it.
Not a complete break, but the Trouble with Tribbles, and one of the Harry Mudd episodes of Star Trek were more comedy oriented than the typical episode.
I never saw that but now I want to.
There was one L&O episode where there was a shortage of uniforms – so Brisco and – Curtis? – had to do uniform duty. There was no murder to be solved, just cops on the beat responding to some very bizarre calls.
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys had an episode set in the present day in which the actors who normally play other characters (such as Ares or Callisto) are cast as the producers, writers, and other staff of the show. It was hilarious, especially the fight scene at the end.
Ooh, good call on that **Hercules **episode. You’re right, it was really funny.
Xena had a couple of musical episodes. It was one of the first shows I can remember doing one. (predating Buffy’s musical by a few years)
I still think Bitter Suite has to be one of the Top 10 Episode Titles of All Time when viewed in the context of the episode.
It’s also interesting to see how early the Corps indoctrination skews people. The intern/very junior psi-cop accompanying Bester is played as a fairly sweet, naive, eager young trainee - and she thinks absolutely nothing of chucking a man out an airlock without a trial.
Getting away from its usual sci-fi morality tales, “The Twilight Zone” broadcast the French short film, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” a faithful adaptation of the Ambrose Bierce story. It was one of the best episodes of the show, but unfortunately, for legal reasons, is not part of the syndicated series. I think it may be available on DVD, though.
I just found it on youtube!
There was a Xena episode that took place during (or shortly before) WWII where Gabrille was reincarnated as a female Indiana Jones who discovered the tomb of Ares (who was awfully excited about this new Hitler fellow) while looking for the Xena scrolls. Joxer was her sidekick an Xena was reborn as a mild mannered secretary or reporter. Another modern day episode was very meta. Xena & Joxer were reincarnated as a couple. “Xena” was obessed with the show. Gabrielle was past life therapist (& a fraud who was shocked to uncover real memories of past lives). It turned out that “Xena” (ie the woman who looked like Xena) was really Joxer’s reincarnation and her boyfriend was really Xena. Who promptly made out with Gabrielle. 
You can here the entire audience collectively realizing that this wasn’t being played for laughes and Edith was really supposed to be in danger. Good episode.
Last night’s CSI departed from the usual formula of slowly piecing together the evidence of a crime (or two). It became a rather good action show, with good tension and some deeper character issues being explored. The mystery was solved in the first 20 minutes, leaving the rest to go full throttle.
Er had an episode where Juliana Marguiles was taken hostage by Ewen MacGregor in a convenience store robbery gone wrong. Not a lot of medicine, but one of the few episodes that really stands out 15 years later.