So I’m up at 5:30 a.m. watching old episodes of “The X-Files,” and they are showing an episode that is filmed in the style of COPS, even down to running the opening credits and music of that show. The premise is that the COPS camera crew is following officers who are involved in an incident that Mulder and Scully are already investigating, possibly caused by a werewolf.
It was kind of interesting, and it reminded me of that episode of “ER” that was filmed live. That episode got panned by the critics, but I thought it was interesting too.
I think the episode of “Friends” that showed how they all could have turned out also qualifies.
Do you mean “unusual” by “one-off”? A lot of series experiment a little to keep things fresh.
My personal favorite is the episode of MAS*H where a kid comes in with a shredded aorta and they have something like 25 minutes to replace it or he’ll be paralyzed. As soon as they announce this, a clock appeared in the lower corner of the screen so you could see how much time was left. The episode was good not only because of the gimmick, but also because:
1.) They kept the clock running even during the commercials – time didn’t “stand still” during those breaks as it normally does, so you came back from the break with two or three minutes gone, and time seemed to be passing even more rapidly.
2.) It was, IIRC, the only episode co-written by their perpetual medical advisor, Thomas Dischell (sp?)
There was an episode of the sitcom “Mad About You” that was filmed as one continuous shot of the couple (I forget their names) sitting on the floor outside their baby’s bedroom, trying to get her to go to sleep.
And except for the ending, I really enjoyed the episode of Star Trek: TNG about the cardassian spy that ignored the command crew and other regular characters and focused on a bunch of background extras playing rank and file starfleet personell.
“Married With Children” had a episode where Al’s guardian angel Sam Kinnison showed him how everyone else’s life would have turned out if he never existed.
That one was pretty good, but my favourite of MASH’s odd-ball episodes was the one done from the POV of a patient (whose injuries prevented him from speaking, IIRC, which improved the immersion). Actually, most of their odd episodes were pretty good - although I’ve always thought the one that was just a sequence of dreams was a little too out there for its own good. Off the top of my head, other than those 3, there were also two (I think)* done as newsreels, in black and white, with the doctors being interviewed (interspersed with colour flashbacks, of what they’re talking about) - they were clip shows, but they were really good clip shows - and one involving the soul/spirit/ghost of a dead soldier - the audience and Klinger (who is feverish) are the only ones who can see him.
OK, I wasn’t sure if it was 2 or 3, so I checked…looks like it’s probably both…there’s 2 B&W interview episodes, but the second one is an hour long, so I would assume it’s split in two for syndication.
I did not see it but read once Letterman did a show where the picture on the screen rotated as the show progressed (as in at one point, the picture is upside down).
I saw this – it was in his early days in the eighties, when they were trying all sorts of odd things. A female voice announced when they hit significant points (“You are now 1/4 rotated.”)
I came in after the show had started, and they were tilted at a considerable angle, and was wondering what the heck was going on.
Seinfeld did one show where the scenes played out backwards in time, like the movie Momento. I didn’t think it was a great episode, but it was an interesting idea.
The West Wing had a live debate episode, where the almost the entire show was just Alan Alda and Jimmy Smits on stage debating. Also I think this was the only episode of that show where none of the original cast members appeared.
I saw at least part of this. They were rotating the picture three degrees per minute, so halfway into the show they were upside down and had righted themselves by the end.
Gimmicks are common. For instance, a couple of weeks ago, My Name is Earl had a “scratch and sniff” episode.
Going live for one broadcast is a pretty common gimmick, too, as is a musical episode: Jumptheshark.com actually lists these as categories of shark jumping.
My personal favorite gimmick episode is the Hercules episode where the regular cast members played the production staff. I still have to chuckle at the scene where they’re all in the bathroom and they spontaneously start whistling the theme song while pissing.
**Late Night With Conan O’Brian ** has done some interesting experiments. They did one whole show in claymation, and I think another where everyone was skeletons.
Angel had an episode where Angel was turned into a puppet.
Either Xena or Hercules (or both?) had an episode where we saw the cast members in “reality” as actors arguing with the writers and producers over things like the script and their salaries.
Early in Law & Order there was an episode where there was no murder to be solved. Instead the cops were temporarily demoted to uniforms and did a “day in the life” thing – Just random emergency response stories.
An episode of Family Ties had Alex largely talking to an invisible psychologist in a dark “room”, after the death of his best friend. (Who was never mentioned in any previous episode).
Of course nearly every show has an episode which has the entire cast (including main characters, their friends, neighbors, or precinct) go off to California, England, Italy, or China.
I think a bunch of Drew Carey episodes qualify. There was one where an entire scene was done with The Sims. Another was a dance party with short little skits about high school.