# Most absolutely ridiculous sit-com episodes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 29, 2004, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885 "2004-10-29T17:33:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/21 "2004-10-30T17:02:56Z")
On a long ago SDMB thread, somebody brought up the companion of the “two dates in one night” piece, which is the “Special Date” episode. A character (usually somebody “cool” and “hip” and “groovy” like Jack Tripper or Zack from Saved by the Bell) somehow gets roped into going out with a girl he has somehow fall in love with without meeting (Internet chat room have probably revolutionized this tired line). When cool boy meets the person, they’re obese or they’re in a wheelchair or otherwise not “Grade A” dating material. Invariably the cool guy comes to the conclusion that “You know what? Obese people/people in wheelchairs/people with extra digits/whatever ain’t so bad, they’re just like everybody else and it was a really fun date…”, but then the person they dated is never seen again. (The unaired question of these episodes is “So cool guy- you say she was a cool girl- you gonna go out with her again?” Cool guy: What, are ya drunk?) Meanwhile the glass unicorn loses its horn and the special date blows out her candle for nowadays the world is lit by lightning. Episodes: Zack dates a girl in a wheelchair, Tripper accidentally asks out an obese lady, Alex Rieger asks out an operator who’s obese, etc… (Of these, only Rieger ever sees her again, and that’s in a special episode when she’s lost the weight.) ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/22 "2004-10-30T17:03:24Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > There was a M_A_S\*H where a homosexual soldier came out to Hawkeye, and he was all understanding and talked about diversity, etc. Hawkeye was a doctor in the 1950’s, not the 1970’s . Well, there were a few enlightened doctors, even in the 1950s. Evelyn Hooker began studying gay men in 1953, so it’s not too unreasonable that Hawkeye within a couple years of that showed tolerance and understanding doesn’t stretch my credulity that much. Now if you want to talk MASH, how about Potter in one episode acting to take an incompetent officer off the front line even though he was an old friend versus Potter a couple seasons later fighting like hell against taking an incompetent officer off the front line because he was an old friend. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/23 "2004-10-30T17:05:41Z")
> [@Laughing Lagomorph](#): > > IIRC the aliens breathed (meaning exhaled) walnuts. > > IMHO the “it was all a dream” syndrome is not inconsistent with light never serious sitcoms like the Dick Van Dyke show was. It is more jarring on a sometimes serious sitcom like Roseanne, and damn annoying in a drama like Dallas. > > That episode was worth it for the scene where Mary Tyler Moore slides out of the closet in an avalanche of walnuts. Also, in that Dick Van Dyke Show, the alians had eyes in the back of their head, which, towards the end of his dream, is how Laura showed Dick that she was an alien. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/24 "2004-10-30T17:09:09Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Now if you want to talk MASH, how about Potter in one episode acting to take an incompetent officer off the front line even though he was an old friend versus Potter a couple seasons later fighting like hell against taking an incompetent officer off the front line because he was an old friend. Or the fact that there were about 8 Christmas episodes in a war that only lasted three years and had not just begun when the series started. Or Margaret’s complete transformation from Frank’s hose-beast girlfriend to a totally cool and alright comrade of the other soldiers in what would have been, in real time, a matter of months or even weeks rather than the course of a couple years as on the sitcom. And I’m still working on how a Lebanese guy got the name “Max Klinger”. (None of this is to imply I didn’t really like the show, btw.) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/25 "2004-10-30T17:14:13Z")
The problems with _The Cosby Show_ and _Friends_ were typical of those shows. Both shows were what’s been called “time pornography.” Real people in those circumstances (a doctor and a lawyer with five kids and a group of six employed single people) _never_ have that much free time. The Cosby couple would be lucky to see each other once a day for a couple of minutes and would never be able to do all the things they are supposed to do with their kids. The six people on Friends wouldn’t have time to all see each other more than once a week and certainly wouldn’t be able to spend several hours a day in conversation. These shows are, respectively, the fantasies of married and of single people about what their lives should be like. _MAS\*H_ is a fantasy in a different way. Despite being set during the Korean War, it was clearly about the Vietnam War and the period just after the Vietnam War. The attitudes of the characters were never right for the 1950’s. _Happy Days_ was also untypical of the 1950’s. _The Jeffersons_ was typical of many shows in that the main character is supposedly very successful (a man who worked his way up from a working-class background\_ to running a chain of dry-cleaning establishments) and yet most of the time acts like an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/26 "2004-10-30T17:18:58Z")
I liked the ending of _Rosanne_ because it went back to the shows roots of someone just barely hanging on in a rough world. It also dumped the last season as being total imagination. The _Rosanne_ episode which totally made no sense was the prince coming from Moldavia to romance Jackie. Next episode, no mention of it. As someone else said, during the last season when Goodman was in a show, it was closer to the series origins while shows where he was absent were insane, such as the terrorists on the train. _Golden Girls_ had one recurring plot which drove me nuts. Something would happen and Rose(Betty White) would not have enough money to pay her share of the rent. The other women would either say “we will let you live here as long as we can”(implying she was going to get kicked out eventually or **nothing**. They were such great friends but none of the others ever offered financial support or said anything to the effect of, “Pay us whatever you can toward the bills and we will make up the rest”. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/27 "2004-10-30T17:28:05Z")
> [@The Long Road](#): > > The _Rosanne_ episode which totally made no sense was the prince coming from Moldavia to romance Jackie. Next episode, no mention of it. As someone else said, during the last season when Goodman was in a show, it was closer to the series origins while shows where he was absent were insane, such as the terrorists on the train. In the episode where Roseanne finds out that Dan is cheating on her, we find out that the Prince is also cheating on Jackie (hilarity ensues earlier when Jackie starts talking about what pig men are and Roseanne thinks she’s talking about the Prince and not Dan). ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/28 "2004-10-30T17:36:52Z")
I have to admit there was one (1) episode from the last season of _Roseanne_ that I loved: Debbie Reynolds as Dan’s psychotic mother who tries to kill him and bury him alive. Otherwise it blew (even the cameos by Patsy and Edina didn’t add anything other than a long applause from the audience). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/29 "2004-10-30T18:41:09Z")
> [@Agrippina](#): > > In the episode where Roseanne finds out that Dan is cheating on her, we find out that the Prince is also cheating on Jackie (hilarity ensues earlier when Jackie starts talking about what pig men are and Roseanne thinks she’s talking about the Prince and not Dan). I missed that episode so didn’t know that the prince was ever mentioned again. The episode after she meets the prince, they go to a health spa and he never comes up. Ending parts which made me cringe. The two gay friends over at her mother’s apartment: Seriously unfunny episode. When everyone is leaning over the baby’s cradle: Really unfunny, drawn out and annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/30 "2004-10-30T20:14:34Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Episodes: Zack dates a girl in a wheelchair He also dated a fat chick. I think she won a date with him during the cheerleaders’ auction for new uniforms or something. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/31 "2004-10-30T20:52:24Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Actually, my brother-in-law did this when he was about eleven. The victim was a blind guy (aged about 15) who considered himself quite the junior Casanova among the in crowd at the Foundation for the Junior Blind. Jimmy was puttin’ the moves on Eddie in the back seat of a station wagon all the way from Inglewood to Huntington Beach. When they arrived at the party, Eddy removed his wig and told Jimmy who he’d been trying to cop a feel from for the past thirty miles. See, that’s a pratical joke. I was referring to the “Neither of us have dates for the big party. Hey, I know! You dress in drag and be _my_ date!” gag, as seen in _Silver Spoons_. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/32 "2004-10-30T21:04:19Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > One oft repeated sitcom episode that irritates me is the “Oops, I have two dates tonight at the same time so I’ll go to both” one. Oh yeah, one is casual and one is formal (or one is normal and one is a costume party.) It’ll be a breeze. I’ll just run back and forth between the two dates and change in the bathroom on the way. They won’t notice as I get increasingly exhausted and little by little screw up the way I’m dressed. > > That horrible Robin Williams movie, _Mrs. Doubtfire_ employed this too. > > Haj However, so did the Black Adder episode, “Beer,” which was unarguably freaking hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/33 "2004-10-30T21:07:21Z")
> [@Wendell Wagner](#): > > The problems with … _Friends_ is typical of those shows. Both shows were what’s been called “time pornography.” Real people in those circumstances … The six people on Friends wouldn’t have time to all see each other more than once a week and certainly wouldn’t be able to spend several hours a day in conversation. These shows are, respectively, the fantasies of married and of single people about what their lives should be like. Tell me about it. I grew up watching Saved by the Bell and came of age while Friends was on and I remember being dissapointed that high school was nothing like Bayside and that after I graduated, I didn’t have a swank apartment with half a dozen friends to hang out with all the time. I should sue. ---
**Author:** ![bluecanary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bluecanary/32/3614_2.png) [@bluecanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluecanary)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/34 "2004-10-30T21:12:02Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by **Pokey** > Just, to me, it’s not reasonable that an adult would catch his adult sister masturbating in the bathtub and they can both go on knowing each other. _ **Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?** _ If you really believe what you just said in this thread you have serious problems with female sexuality. Please please please tell me I’ve been whooshed here. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/35 "2004-10-30T21:20:12Z")
Really. If I caught my sister masturbating, (or vice-versa) there would be plenty of embarassment for both of us, but I can’t imagine that we’d stop talking to each other. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/36 "2004-10-30T21:30:00Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > See, that’s a pratical joke. I was referring to the “Neither of us have dates for the big party. Hey, I know! You dress in drag and be _my_ date!” gag, as seen in _Silver Spoons_. That was the episode where the other kid saved Ricky from being killed by falling rocks in a cave, and guilted him into being his “date” as repayment? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/37 "2004-10-30T21:51:02Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > That was the episode where the other kid saved Ricky from being killed by falling rocks in a cave, and guilted him into being his “date” as repayment? Yeah, I forgot about the lifesaving part. Two clichés for the price of one! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/38 "2004-10-30T21:52:14Z")
> [@bluecanary](#): > > _ **Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?** _ If you really believe what you just said in this thread you have serious problems with female sexuality. > > Please please please tell me I’ve been whooshed here. I’m pretty sure it’s the _sister_ part of things that is at issue, and while I don’t have a sister I don’t blame **Pokey** in that regard. You know, the poster in a subject like this _would_ be named **Pokey** , wouldn’t he? Just had to happen. ---
**Author:** ![pokey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ebca7d/32.png) [@pokey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pokey)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/39 "2004-10-30T22:20:44Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I’m pretty sure it’s the _sister_ part of things that is at issue, and while I don’t have a sister I don’t blame **Pokey** in that regard. Well, “never talk again” was hyperbole, but I would still think it would bother them for more than 15 seconds. The way it came off on the show was as if he caught her trimming her nosehairs or something. Also I’m a female and I have a brother and even though I’m not a prude, if he ever caught me masturbating (or vice versa) there’d be reverberations for at least 24 episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/40 "2004-10-30T22:32:18Z")
My mother’s caught me twice and I would say that’s much worse than any of my three sisters catching me. Aside from some initial embarassment (and her knocking from then on out), there were no lasting side-effects. Hell, I even finished what I was doing when she left in both circumstances. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885.md?page=3)