Mad Men has had more than it’s fair share of dream sequences now, extending its homage to The Sopranos. Twin Peaks had its share too…and some movies (Eraserhead, The Seventh Seal) are entirely dreamlike.
What are some of your favorites?
I’ll get these two out of the way, although neither quite fit the OP’s requirements:
Newhart/The Bob Newhart Show, wherein we learn that the entirety of the one show is just a dream within the other.
Living in Oblivion, wherein Peter Dinklage rants about how stupid it is that dream sequences in movies always have a dwarf in them, but the reality is that no one ever actually dreams of dwarves, not even him.
The Big Lebowski has my favorite.
One of the more recent Family Guys had a fantastic dream sequence opening that involved the family from American Dad, and then Hank Hill from King of the Hill, where we find out that evidently the ENTIRE show is just Hank’s reoccurring dreams, and he says, “Damn it I always wake up before I find out if they can understand the baby!”
Loved loved loved it.
Brazil:
Pretty much the entire third act, including the fantastic funeral scene and Tuttle getting lost (literally) in paperwork.
I’m so happy that this was in the first response . . . it’s my all time favorite “dream sequence.”
This was the first movie where I thought the dreams actually looked like dreams, and not just something shot through a lens smeared with Vaseline.
Fletch, dreaming about being a professional basketball player, specifically with the Lakers. “He’s listed at six-six, six-eight with the afro…”
The one at the end of Raising Arizona. “Maybe it was Utah.”
(2 Coen brothers films so far.)
Sheldon Cooper’s Leonard Nimoy dream on Big Bang.
The episode “Restless” of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. No other dream sequence has done as good a job at capturing that feeling dream logic, where events seem to have a sort of reasonable, familiar progression to them despite making absolutely no sense when analyzed.
The *House *episode “Bombshells” (where they thought Cuddy had cancer) had a number of excellent dream sequences, including a zombie scene, an homage to Butch and Sundance, and a great production number of “Get Happy.” (no, not the Partridge Family song)
While the “dreamer” wasn’t really sleeping, that little sequence in Fast Times at Ridgemont High was pretty good.
*Dreamchild’*s Alice Liddell (now an adult) has a dream of The Mad Tea Party with the March Hare and Hatter as conceived of by the Hencson Creature Shop. Don’t think Muppets, think really creepy.
The whole movie Pennies From Heaven has the characters have dreams or daydreams in which they suddenly enter the world of '30’s song-and-dance musicals. The dream sequences (especially Christopher Walken singing and dancing to “Let’s Misbehave”) are better than the rest of the movie.
The Wizard of Oz, of course!
Oh, and when Gilligan dreamed he was a vampire and the one when he dreamed he was Mr. Hyde.
For creepy, Carrie
For comedy, Homer Simpson’s daydream foray into the Land of Chocolate. (Especially like how he bats his eyes at the beginning of the sequence.)
Scopoli (Penn) daydreaming about being a surfer interviewed on TV?
…Oh, you mean the sequence featuring Mrs. Kevin Klein! Got it…
Gomer Pyle: Two nightmares: Sgt. Carter dreams he is forced to marry Bunny and Pyle appears as the organist, the preacher, and the witness to the marriage. Also Sgt. Carter sends Pyle to be a paratrooper and dreams that Gomer gets killed and so Jim Nabors appears as an ominous executor telling Sgt. Carter that Gomer left him TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS in his will…it was Pyle’s Pile.
“Office Space” Gary Cole is banging Jennifer Aniston and says “How about having those reports on my desk this afternoon?” (Takes a big swig of coffee from the company cup) “…Yeah…that would be great.”
Dick Van Dyke dreams up a parody of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
And the one where he dreamed he was a secret agent, and killed the rest of the castaways.
The Simpsons’ Treehouse Of Horror episode with Groundskeeper Willie as Freddy Kruger. First there’s Martin’s dream. “Moris. Yooo die!” Then Bart and Lisa’s. “When I’m done with ya, they’ll have to do a compost-mortem!”
Also The Sporanos had some great dream sequences. Tony as that mild-mannered salesman in Purgatory while recovering from that gunshot was especially memorable.