# Shows that have one WTF? Episode **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [April 10, 2021, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-one-wtf-episode/939754 "2021-04-10T15:31:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2021, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-one-wtf-episode/939754/21 "2021-04-10T20:19:30Z")
Another one was included a character named Kat Mandu, intended to trigger a new series called Katmandu. They made a TV movie pilot for the show, but I’m not sure if it ever aired. [This Happy Days episode](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0596190/) makes no sense at all. The IMDb description makes some sense out of it now, but possible key plot points were edited out to make room for commercials. I didn’t see it when it aired originally. It looked to me like they threw the script together on the same day they shot the show. This wasn’t even the last season where everything went directionless. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2021, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-one-wtf-episode/939754/22 "2021-04-10T20:30:50Z")
What about all those special musical episodes? Fringe, That 70s Show, Psych, Scrubs…Is there a long running show that didn’t trot that out. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2021, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-one-wtf-episode/939754/23 "2021-04-10T20:43:47Z")
Oh! The _The Cosby Show_ episode with the pregnant men! > **[The Cosby Show S06E08 The Day The Spores Landed - video Dailymotion](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5vmewx)** > > Watch The Cosby Show S06E08 The Day The Spores Landed - Who's the Boss? on Dailymotion > **[A VERY FUNNY PREGNANT PAUSE PUNCTUATES AN UNUSUAL \`\`COSBY\`\`](https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1989-11-09-8901290587-story.html)** ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2021, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-one-wtf-episode/939754/24 "2021-04-10T20:48:19Z")
Don’t know why the review link goes to the main page–I put in the full URL. Go by [the Google search](https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-m&channel=ts&q=A+VERY+FUNNY+PREGNANT+PAUSE+PUNCTUATES+AN+UNUSUAL+%60%60COSBY%60%60&oq=the+cosby+show+pregnant+man&aqs=heirloom-srp..). ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2021, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-one-wtf-episode/939754/25 "2021-04-10T20:51:27Z")
Anime is famous for strange filler episodes but the weirdest had to be the episode of _Samurai Champloo_ where they play baseball. It had cameos of Abner Doubleday and Admiral Perry. Since the whole incident is revealed to be a hallucination caused by mushrooms, it also seems pointless. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2021, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-one-wtf-episode/939754/26 "2021-04-10T20:53:37Z")
If anyone remembers Knots Landing a spinoff of Dallas there was an episode where the female cast spent the night in a real haunted house. It featured some ghost girl children who wanted Val to stay and be a mother to them. ---
**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:** [April 10, 2021, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-one-wtf-episode/939754/27 "2021-04-10T21:01:54Z")
I remember that episode. The thug was hassling Fonzie and Kat was so slight (compared to Fonzie, who really isn’t that tall) that it was kind of silly even when I was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2021, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-one-wtf-episode/939754/28 "2021-04-10T21:11:43Z")
Having just finished the series recently, I remember this episode, and my consideration that. . . “Hrm, the writers must have ‘writers block,’ and needed some more time. I bet they wrote this episode just to buy more time for the next episode’s script.” Tripler Everybody deserves a break. . . . ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2021, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-one-wtf-episode/939754/29 "2021-04-10T23:01:21Z")
When I was growing up in Bakersfield, my favourite thing in the whole world was to go to the movies on Saturday afternoons for the Chapter Plays. Anyway, my favourite was Rocketman, and once it was a no breaks chapter. The bad guy stuck him in a car on a mountain road and knocked him out and welded the door shut and tore out the brakes and started him to his death, and he woke up and tried to steer and tried to get out but the car went off a cliff before he could escape! And it crashed and burned and I was so upset and excited, and the next week, you better believe I was first in line. And they always start with the end of the last week. And there was Rocketman, trying to get out, and here comes the cliff, and just before the car went off the cliff, he jumped free! And all the kids cheered! But I didn’t cheer. I stood right up and started shouting. This isn’t what happened last week! Have you all got amnesia? They just cheated us! This isn’t fair! HE DID’NT GET OUT OF THE COCK - A - DOODIE CAR! ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2021, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-one-wtf-episode/939754/30 "2021-04-10T23:41:15Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Chapter Plays Cliffhangers ---
**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:** [April 10, 2021, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-one-wtf-episode/939754/31 "2021-04-10T23:43:54Z")
The first season of _Mission: Impossible_ had “Zubovnik’s Ghost” with a real medium calling up the ghost to get revenge. An excellent episode, but unlike anything the show ever did. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2021, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-one-wtf-episode/939754/32 "2021-04-10T23:51:04Z")
They also called them serials. I’m not stupid ya know, Mr. Man! ---
**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:** [April 10, 2021, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-one-wtf-episode/939754/33 "2021-04-10T23:54:57Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Another one was included a character named Kat Mandu, intended to trigger a new series called Katmandu. They made a TV movie pilot for the show, but I’m not sure if it ever aired. > > [This Happy Days episode](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0596190/) makes no sense at all. The IMDb description makes some sense out of it now, but possible key plot points were edited out to make room for commercials. I didn’t see it when it aired originally. It looked to me like they threw the script together on the same day they shot the show. This wasn’t even the last season where everything went directionless. IMHO, some ABC bigshot wanted to give Fonzie his own show but couldn’t take him off “Happy Days” so a female Fonzie – Kat Mandu – was created. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-one-wtf-episode/939754/34 "2021-04-11T02:57:01Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > ST:TNG had Genesis, Masks and Sub Rosa. I’ve never understood the reaction to “Masks.” It’s always seemed to me like a typical Data-“possessed” episode. It has the ship also taken over by the virus, and does that TNG thing of exploring a culture through what they’ve left behind. It just seems to combine a bunch of different TNG episodes into one. Now, “Sub Rosa”? That one is utterly bizarre. And, while I like “Genesis,” it’s definitely a departure. But “Masks” never seemed abnormal to me. Spiner’s weird acting is just what he does in these types of episodes. The episode “Family” is also another weird one-off episode, in that it has no science fiction plot at all. It’s entirely about the characters and their families. But I like that one. I can’t say the same for Voyager’s “11:59,” set almost entirely in the past, and not involving our main characters at all. I also note that none of these are backdoor pilots, so they don’t have that excuse. It’s not like “Assignment: Earth” (with Gary Seven) in TOS. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-one-wtf-episode/939754/35 "2021-04-11T03:10:21Z")
There was an episode of The X files, where a seemingly impossible robbery took place. Scully came up with a supernatural theory to explain it. But Muldur worked out that it was a conjuring trick arranged by a stage magician. wait, what? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-one-wtf-episode/939754/36 "2021-04-11T04:14:20Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > Similarly, there was a _Married with Children_ episode There was a _Married With Children_ episode that was a kind of parody of _Pirates Of Penzance_. Not sure what that was about, but Steve Rhoades returned for it, which was an additional highlight. Maybe they were trying for that _Moonlighting_ as _Taming Of The Shrew_ kind of thing. [![](http://static.tvmaze.com/uploads/images/original_untouched/107/268160.jpg) ](http://static.tvmaze.com/uploads/images/original_untouched/107/268160.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-one-wtf-episode/939754/37 "2021-04-11T05:37:44Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > The last episode of [The Prisoner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prisoner) ([Fall Out](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_Out_(The_Prisoner))) left a lot of viewers angry and confused: {…} That and the penultimate episode _[Once Upon a Time](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_Upon_a_Time_(The_Prisoner))_ made [kosho](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORYNsVca608) seem positively mundane! ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-one-wtf-episode/939754/38 "2021-04-11T12:17:50Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > The Fly episode of Breaking Bad was a bit odd I _despised_ that episode. It was like they ran out of ideas and had to fill the time. ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-one-wtf-episode/939754/39 "2021-04-11T12:43:48Z")
Australian soap opera **Neighbours** had an infamous episode which was basically the dream of the dog **Bouncer** - In it he gets married to another dog! TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-one-wtf-episode/939754/40 "2021-04-11T12:49:00Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > SG-1 had 'Worm hole extreme". The whole episode was a fourth wall breaking episode wherein the characters make fun of the writers and basic sci-fi tropes: > > "If I’m “phase shifted’ and can pass through walls, why don’t I fall through the floor” > > Producers: “Uh… we’ll have to get back with you on that” > > It’s one of my favorite episodes actually. The 200th episode which was actually called **200** revisited the idea and took it to the limit. TCMF-2L [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-one-wtf-episode/939754.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-one-wtf-episode/939754.md?page=3)