# Great episodes of terrible shows **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 9, 2020, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-episodes-of-terrible-shows/849151 "2020-03-09T15:38:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-episodes-of-terrible-shows/849151/1 "2020-03-09T15:38:41Z")
Since we’ve done the reverse, which terrible show had a great episode. #1 on my list is Just Shoot Me’s Slow Donnie. LOL hysterical. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-episodes-of-terrible-shows/849151/2 "2020-03-09T17:11:48Z")
_Lost in Space_ was rarely better than mediocre, but there were two shows that were particularly good. “The Questing Beast” guests Hans Conried as a knight who had been in pursuit of a dragon. The dragon costume is high-school-drama quality, but the story is charming and very sweet. “The Magic Mirror” has Michael J. Pollard as a lonely boy trapped inside a mirror who captures Penny. Some very nice pathos and one of the few that feature her (and neither Will or the robot are shown). There was also a pretty good on when Will was transported back to Earth and couldn’t get people to believe who he was. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-episodes-of-terrible-shows/849151/3 "2020-03-09T17:19:36Z")
Heroes had one okay season followed by three terrible seasons. On average, it was a bad show. But I would put the episode “Company Man” (Noah and Claire’s backstory) up among the best episodes of TV in general. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-episodes-of-terrible-shows/849151/4 "2020-03-09T18:34:41Z")
_Galactica 1980_ was horrible. But the last episode,“The Return of Starbuck”, was good. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-episodes-of-terrible-shows/849151/5 "2020-03-09T20:48:23Z")
Problem here is that if I know it’s a terrible show, I ain’t gonna watch it - so how will I ever know about the great episodes? This is the best I can do - I was aware of this episode, but had never seen it before now. It’s … interesting. Rather funny. Memorable. Odd. I’ll let you judge if it’s great. I don’t like football - er, soccer - so as far as I’m concerned, Match Of The Day, introduced by Gary Lineker, is a rotten show. But then there was [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJktFm0Hlgg) (1 min 47 sec of video, explanation follows, minuscule possibility of offence). Before Lineker was a presenter, he was an outstanding player. As a player, before he hit the bigtime, he played for years for lowly Leicester City. Back in 2015, Leicester had managed somehow to get into the Premier League and, incredibly, almost half way through the season they were actually leading it. > [@](#): > > Former England captain Lineker, 55, pledged to “do the first MOTD [Match Of The Day] of next season in just my undies” if former club Leicester won the Premier League. > > The Foxes [Leicester City] went on to win their first top-flight title by 10 points. [Source.](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37074641) So he kept his word. Uh - enjoy? j ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-episodes-of-terrible-shows/849151/6 "2020-03-09T21:37:05Z")
I have no idea if there is a TV Trope for this, but **Slow Donnie** is so famous for this that it would be the title-giver. One fully funny episode in an only OK(and sometimes terrible) show. My wife hates South Park, but really loved Trapped in the Closet. She would say that counts, but I like South Park. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-episodes-of-terrible-shows/849151/7 "2020-03-09T21:56:44Z")
_Day By Day_ - the Brady Bunch episode. ---
**Author:** ![Calavera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calavera/32/70_2.png) [@Calavera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calavera)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-episodes-of-terrible-shows/849151/8 "2020-03-09T22:07:59Z")
Virtually everything about _Star Trek: Enterprise_ is forgettable, but _Through a Mirror Darkly_, is an excellent double episode, and basically the only good use of the Mirror universe since the TOS episode. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-episodes-of-terrible-shows/849151/9 "2020-03-09T22:11:40Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > Problem here is that if I know it’s a terrible show, I ain’t gonna watch it - so how will I ever know about the great episodes? In the days of streaming that’s true – there’s plenty of good stuff out there, so I’m not going to waste my time watching a terrible show. But back when most people watched TV shows when they aired, it wasn’t uncommon for networks to slot a terrible show in between two popular shows in hopes that it would gain an audience. Fox is notorious for sticking terrible new shows after _The Simpsons_ on Sunday evenings, presumably hoping people will watch just because it’s on and it’s something to do while waiting for _Bob’s Burgers_ to start. And that was how I found myself watching the very short-lived 2000s era Fox sitcom _The Loop_, about a young executive working at an airline in Chicago. The show was generally pretty terrible, but there was one episode in which the main character gets tricked by a beautiful young woman into agreeing to an advertising deal with Stride Gum. Among other things, the deal required the airline’s pilots to mention Stride Gum in every PA announcement. Which led to a scene with two pilots arguing over who had to make the announcements, which absolutely cracked me up. Although I wouldn’t even say that was a great episode, just a particularly funny scene in an okay episode. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-episodes-of-terrible-shows/849151/10 "2020-03-09T22:20:16Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > In the days of streaming that’s true – there’s plenty of good stuff out there, so I’m not going to waste my time watching a terrible show. But back when most people watched TV shows when they aired, it wasn’t uncommon for networks to slot a terrible show in between two popular shows in hopes that it would gain an audience. Fox is notorious for sticking terrible new shows after _The Simpsons_ on Sunday evenings, presumably hoping people will watch just because it’s on and it’s something to do while waiting for _Bob’s Burgers_ to start. Ain’t that the truth. Momentum was a very powerful force for shows that started fine and then dropped off a cliff (looking at you Walking Dead). You get used to watching a show on Wednesday at 8. Eventually you get ready to stop watching it but you can watching any of those other shows on at the same time because you’re halfway through the season already. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-episodes-of-terrible-shows/849151/11 "2020-03-10T02:13:58Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > _Galactica 1980_ was horrible. But the last episode,“The Return of Starbuck”, was good. Beat me to it. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-episodes-of-terrible-shows/849151/12 "2020-03-10T14:32:06Z")
Will & Grace’s first stand out episode was “Will Works Out,” which includes Jack’s line “I’d rather be a fag than afraid.” ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-episodes-of-terrible-shows/849151/13 "2020-03-10T20:56:33Z")
The show Millennium was not good (you probably don’t even remember it existed) but there is one episode where a group of Demons are sitting around a table telling stories that was really good.